Many people suffer with understanding their true value and how much they bring to the table. According to Psychology Today, around 85% of people struggle with self-esteem. This is particularly true for women who often put themselves last, prioritizing their family and friends instead. The problem with this scenario is that if someone doesn’t understand their self-worth, they won’t get out of life what they deserve.
We often run into issues related to our self-worth when we rely too much on external factors that are outside of our control. For example, our self-esteem may dip when we link our self-worth to how well we are doing at work/on a certain project, or in terms of our progress towards goals. Additionally, we should do our best to reduce aligning our self-worth with things like approval and appearance. Instead, we should be relating it to our strengths and the virtues that we have as individuals.
What’s more, when we realize our own value, others will recognize it as well, which will lead to additional opportunities and blessings in our lives. Having a strong sense of self-worth involves understanding that we are worthy of happiness and all of the other good things that come our way.
If you struggle in this regard, consider the following actions to improve your self-worth:
- Prioritize yourself. When you put yourself last, you are saying to yourself and the universe, that you are less important than everyone else and that is simply not the case. You must prioritize and advocate for yourself in order to increase your self-esteem. You matter!
- Be kind and compassionate with yourself. Sometimes our self-esteem takes a hit because we beat ourselves up over things that we haven’t done correctly or mistakes that we’ve made. No one is perfect. Ensure that you are as kind and compassionate with yourself as you are with others.
- Take a deep dive into your strengths and positive traits. Nothing gives you more of a confidence boost than revisiting those things that you really like about yourself. Sometimes we forget how wonderful we are.
- Remember what’s important. Remind yourself that it’s not about your looks, accomplishments, job, or relationship status. It’s about the kind of person you are, and how you treat yourself and those in your community.
- Examine your internal dialogue. Learn to monitor your inner voice and speak kindly to yourself. You should be your biggest cheerleader and advocate. Fix anything negative that you are telling yourself. That narrative is false. Your mindset shift is critical in this regard.
- Come up with an affirming mantra. I have a couple that I like to use to boost my self-esteem when I need to. They are “You can do this,” and “I deserve kindness.” You can use them too or choose your own. They don’t need to be anything fancy; just something that you can repeat when you feel your confidence waning.
- Learn to love yourself. At the end of the day, our self-esteem is tied into how much we love and value ourselves. If you don’t love yourself yet, take the steps that you need to do so. I promise that you have something wonderful to offer the world.