What is self-worth?
This is the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person that we develop from our childhood. Unfortunately, that is also the value the world will place on you. It influences your self-esteem. It’s a direct measure of how you value and regard yourself in spite of what others may say or do. It’s, therefore, something that doesn’t quickly or easily change when external factors or circumstances change.
Self-worth is at the core of our very selves. It influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions because this is how we view ourselves as a person. A high degree of self-worth naturally enhances our self-esteem, thereby providing us with the self-confidence needed to follow through with our chosen decisions and actions. Self-worth is an internal state of being that comes from self-understanding, self-love, and self-acceptance.
People who know their self-worth tend to have more satisfying, loving, and stable relationships than those who do not, precisely because they know that they find their worth, esteem, and happiness within themselves. Some people’s self-worth was destroyed when they grew up and were always told that they will never yield to anything so now they feel as though they are never enough but that needs to change.
What does it actually mean to have a high level of self-worth?
To have a high level of self-worth means having a favorable opinion or estimate of yourself. It means having unshakable faith in yourself and in your ability to follow through and get things done. Having a high degree of self-worth means feeling worthy of good things such as happiness, health, wealth, success, love, etc. irrespective of the difficulties you face, the disappointments you experience, or people’s opinions.
To have a high level of self-worth means accepting yourself wholeheartedly at all times despite your flaws, weaknesses, and limitations. It’s about recognizing the real value of who you are, right here, right now, at this present moment.
To have a high level of self-worth means never allowing yourself to be defined by outside forces, including people’s opinions. It means never allowing outcomes to shake your confidence, faith, or resolve.
All this essentially means that no matter what happens you are steadfast. Nothing outside of your “being” influences how you feel about yourself. Your influence alone is the only thing that matters. You alone are the most significant factor in how you feel about yourself, your life, and your circumstances. And that is essentially where your personal power comes from.
How to Build Your Self-Worth
This is something that you must consistently work on. It takes time.
Step 1: Understand yourself
You need to know yourself at a deeper level. You need to understand yourself as unattached to anything, relationships, money, or any other possessions or person. How do you understand yourself when you are unattached to everything? That is your self-worth. It is the measure of your inner value that is unaffected by any externalities. Remind yourself that your bank account, job title, attractiveness, and social media following have nothing to do with how valuable or worthy you are as a person. Build self-understanding. You need to learn who you are.
One of the most common mistakes you see people with low self-esteem make is to base their self-worth on one aspect of their lives and often, that aspect is a relationship. It’s an understandable tendency to let someone else’s love for you encourage you to feel better about yourself. However, you should work on feeling good about yourself whether you are in a relationship or not. Your partner’s love is not what makes you worthy.
Do not tie your self-worth to anything, your job, you can be laid off, another person may leave you, etc. These things don’t define you, yes you can be proud of them but don’t base your entire self on them. You are still worthy without a job or any relationship.
Step 2: Accept yourself
Accept who you are. Acknowledge what you are and accept your own person. Regardless of what you don’t like about yourself, that is who you are. Stop beating yourself up about your flaws, embrace who you are. We are all imperfectly perfect, stop judging yourself, what you need is acceptance, of yourself by yourself. Commit to forgiving yourself and accepting yourself without judgment or excuses. Acceptance means being at peace with who you are.
Step 3: Love yourself
Self-love is the best kind of love. Treat yourself with compassion and kindness. When you understand and accept yourself, you can love yourself. Know that you are worthy and valuable. When you love yourself, you take pride in who you are and what you have to offer. Too many people place the needs of others before their own, but in order to respect others, you need to meet your own needs first.
Step 4: Treat yourself with respect
If you want to be respected, you ought to respect yourself first. You hold the power to determine and teach the world how you ought to be loved and valued. Self-respect is the most crucial aspect of one’s life. If you do not understand how to appreciate yourself and your worth, how do you expect others to? |You need to work on yourself first. “Don’t expect anyone to love or respect you if you don’t fully love yourself first.”
People accept crappy jobs and relationships because they do not respect themselves enough to realize they deserve better. Too many people become complacent in these aspects and stop striving for greater things. Relationships become detrimental when self-respect is lacking. Love yourself enough to choose the ones that make you happy and motivate you to grow.
“Respect yourself enough to walk away from anyone or anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.” When everything else in the world fails, you will always have your self-respect to fall back on. You must love and respect yourself before anyone else can.
Step 5: Share this value with the world
The world will take you at the value you present yourself at. You are the captain of your ship.
You are Valuable
We accept what we think we deserve. Stop selling yourself at a discount or marking yourself down unnecessarily. You deserve good things just like everybody else. You are valuable and have something incredible to give the world. So go out there and live life fully with your head high.
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