>*"What do I do? How do I maintain the belief that I am worthy or can actually successfully function in this world? I can do so much and have so much talent and skill but feel I will die with everything still inside. I feel like a broken toy that needs to be thrown away."* According to a PhD [researcher](https://books.google.nl/books?id=_u8vEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false), we should not link our self-esteem to speech-performance. **In my opinion**, I would even go a step further, in that we should not depend on any thoughts, feelings or sensations (or sensory experience) which is explained further in [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/12s3g3z/comment/jh50knr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) and [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/12vfia0/strategy_to_reduce_anticipation_anxiety_checklist/) post. Needing confidence and blaming or needing (to reduce) anticipatory anxiety is what led us in this situation, in my opinion