“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you’re worthy of the trip.”
These words reflect how our self-worth can hold us back. How you see yourself is key to how you see your value to others and the world. It is at the very heart of almost all of our actions. If you have a low self-worth you are likely to believe that people do not want to be with you or that you are worthless. Often people who have suffered abuse in childhood have look self-worth because experience has taught them that others see them as worthless and almost objectify them.
This article is not about abuse though this is about the silent minority who talk themselves down through social insecurity. Often they worry more what others will think more than what their own opinion will be. You need to be comfortable that you can choose the best path for you and sometimes that will be at odds with the opinion of others in our lives.
Of course if you have spent many years with a negative self-talk going on in your head it can be difficult to change it to a positive voice one that values you and your actions so are there ways in which you can do that?
One of the many ways that you can boost you self-worth is to allow yourself to accept compliments. So many of us will bat away compliments, “Oh it was nothing!”, yet perhaps getting used to saying a simple “thank you” would help you to recognise the value you bring to others’ lives.
Similarly some compassion and judging yourself by the same standards as others, for example if you get cross because you have forgotten something – what would you have said to your best friend, are you judging yourself more harshly – why is that?
If is easy to run yourself down, “I’m stupid”, “I’m not good looking”, “No one would look at me twice” in saying them you are giving yourself (& others) permission to think badly of you, again attacking that self-worth.
Learning to trust your own feelings can be hard