5 Effective Strategies for Building Your Self-Worth
You’re probably familiar with the terms self-confidence and self-esteem. While these concepts may differ, they definitely play into how you view and measure your self-worth.
Self-worth isn't something that often changes in relation to external factors. Your sense of self-worth is not likely to significantly change. If you’re one who has a lower self-worth, it can be a bit of a challenge to raise that up.
Here are five strategies you can start implementing to boost your self-worth.
1. Practice Compassion
You are naturally going to be your own worst critic. When you find yourself in a challenging position or faced with the realization that you’ve made a mistake, it's easy to spiral down the path of negative self-talk.
One way to challenge this thought process is to think about how you would respond if a loved one or friend of yours was going through a similar situation. How would you treat them? What would you tell them in this instance?
Odds are you’d be much more encouraging and forgiving to them than you are to yourself. Learn to treat yourself with that same type of compassion and grace. This will be a vital step in building your own self-worth.
2. Establish Personal Boundaries
At face value, having boundaries can feel like you have walls up. There’s no crash course in school and most people aren’t outright taught the value of establishing boundaries for both personal and professional matters. But they’re absolutely key to having healthy relationships, including with yourself.
Boundaries reflect your beliefs and your self-worth. Spend some time reflecting on what matters most to you, what you would consider being non-negotiable behavior, and what adds value to your life. Think about your time, energy, and physical space.
Once you have that list, begin communicating those boundaries to others. This conveys the message that you value your time, energy, and space. It will also help strengthen your overall sense of self-worth.
3. The Power of Positive Affirmations
Between social media and the current state of the world, there can be a lot of negativity circulating. You may default to thoughts of “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t deserve [insert thought here].” After a while, you begin to believe these thoughts are true.
Change your narrative to include more positive affirmations. This may be easier said than done and feel strange at first, but once you start, it will soon become a habit. Instead of defaulting to some negative headspace, you’ll make strides in your self-worth.
Write phrases that resonate with you. Keep a journal or use sticky notes to jeep your affirmations handy for when you need them. And most importantly, repeat, repeat, repeat.
4. Gain Understanding Through Reflection
Before you can fully build up your self-worth, you need to get to know yourself as best as possible at this exact moment. Take some time to go through a bit of self-reflection. Write in a journal, practice meditation, deep dive into your beliefs and values.
Evaluate your strengths and what type of contributions you make to your personal life, your professional life, and your social circle. Having this positive understanding about all aspects of who you are can help you improve your current sense of self-worth going forward.
5. Redefine Growth
So often, success is defined by achievements and reaching the end of a hefty goal. Many people also associate growth and development with this idea of success.
Your self-worth shouldn’t be measured by your list of achievements, but by the growth along the process. Success is found in your journey. Redefine what growth means to you and teach yourself to celebrate the small victories along the way.
If you find you’re struggling with your self-worth, fear not. Through anxiety counseling, you can develop additional strategies and put them into practice. Contact us to get started on building and embracing your worth.