KNOWING YOUR OWN WORTH
As women around us all achieve great things, grow in confidence and strength, and generally just get on at being incredible, it can be difficult to judge your own self-worth as you compare yourself to others.
More than ever now it seems as though women enjoy celebrating and empowering other women, but if you’re not feeling all that great about yourself, it’s easy to feel a little lost in it all.
If you’re looking for ‘how to value yourself as a woman’ and ‘increase your self-esteem’ so you feel as great as those you look up to, look no further…
The Most Important Relationship Is The One You Have With Yourself
You’ve heard RuPaul say it, and it’s true: “If you don’t love yourself, how IN THE HELL you gonna’ love somebody else?”.
The foundation for every relationship you hold with anyone else is based on your relationship with yourself.
Are you content?
Are you confident?
Are you able to interact with others the way you’d like to?
Are you able to involve yourself with others in the way you’d like to?
Everything comes back to your own self-esteem.
What Is Self-worth?
Self-worth and self-esteem are the same thing, essentially it’s the value you place on yourself. This shapes the way you take in everything in life, from feeling as though you deserve opportunities and happiness to having the confidence to take on new challenges and relationships.
If you’re unsure of how you feel about yourself, try writing out a list of the things you like and the things that you don’t (the latter is worth listing so you can stay aware of things to work on in the future).
This can be a challenging task so don’t be afraid of the way it feels if you find it tough – just remain mindful of who you are, who you want to be and what you’d like to achieve.
The opposite of self-worth is self-doubt and another word for self-doubt is insecurity.
Having self-doubt doesn’t necessarily mean that you dislike yourself, but it does mean that you’re insecure in who you are and what you should and shouldn’t have in life.
If you experience this (and it’s super common, so you probably have at some point), don’t worry, it’s totally workable. There’s lots you can do to rid the doubt and improve your self-worth so that you feel confident and capable before long.
Be Kind But Not Just To Others…
Improving your self-worth starts with kindness towards yourself. Women have a tendency to focus primarily on nurturing relationships with other people and end up neglecting themselves along the way.
Find practical ways to improve the personality traits you’d like to build on (let’s work on those weaknesses, not fixate on them), forgive yourself for your mistakes and include positive affirmations about yourself and your abilities in your day.
Perhaps most importantly, don’t get swept in the mantra that “a strong woman can do it all by herself”. A strong woman can do lots by herself, but she also knows when to ask for help.
Stay mindful of how you talk to yourself and how you treat yourself, and remember… everyone deserves some indulgent ‘me time’ once in a while, so take some time out and do what makes you feel good.
Stand Up Tall
Self-confidence is often built and improved upon by taking risks and moving outside of your usual comfort zone. If you feel passionately about something, learn more about it, stand up for it and involve yourself more in it.
If you enjoy something, do more of it.
Equally, if you don’t like something or feel uncomfortable with something, say so, and stand your ground.
Having self-worth is as much about knowing when to say ‘no’ as it is saying ‘yes’, and daring to be different.
It doesn’t need to be a big step – you could pick something different to eat from everyone else next time you order food, or wear what you feel comfortable in rather than what’s expected of you.
Small steps make for long journeys and if you view yourself as a woman who never stops learning or improving… you never will!
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