At my age, I am still a work in progress and probably will be until the day I die.
I was quiet and meek growing up, now I'm just a bit "retiring" and prefer my privacy. And I can be a bear when I have to be. I learned to stand up for myself a long time ago.

I had an overbearing, controlling mother who never encourged any self esteem.
She grew up during the Great Depression and always erred on the side of caution.
I had big dreams and a passion for life which she never understood. I managed to pass that on to my kids. My brother (on the other hand), stayed within the rules of her mind set and had never ventured anything for himself. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". He raised his kids like that. One bought into it, the other (my niece) has broken the mould. I'm proud of her. She and my daughter are just like me. We have big dreams and we go after them.

I think we are all "conditioned", ....by our parents, the media, our schooling, the TV ads, etc.
Weak people can't see through the manipulation, and end up like talking parrots. I think the hardest thing I have had to learn is that in most instances we are creating our reality bu our thoughts. Most of our "external dramas" are scripts we've written for ourselves. Therefore think carefully of what you really want, because that may be the very place you are going.