Self-esteem is what we think and feel and believe about ourselves. Self-worth is recognizing 'I am greater than all of those things.’ It is a deep knowing that I am of value, that I am lovable, necessary to this life, and of incomprehensible worth. -Dr. Christina Hibbert
Self-worth is what enables us to believe that we are capable of doing our best with our natural born talents, and that we deserve all of the great things that life has to offer. Self-worth is an internal state of being that comes from self-understanding, self-love, and self-acceptance. You are able to accept yourself wholeheartedly despite your flaws, weaknesses, and limitations.
Self-worth is such an important part of our lives and shows up in how we value ourselves and how others value us. It comes from self-understanding and holds enough power to drastically change our life for the better or lack of self worth for the worst. Often times we find ourselves interacting with individuals who suffer from low self-worth and who feel that it is easier to pull your self-worth down than to work on themselves and pull theirs up.
But, how can you obtain a high level of self-worth when it has been taken from us by broken individuals or if we have never been taught to have it in the first place?
To begin this rebuilding process, we have to be willing to examine and change our internal dialogue with ourself. You know those brutal conversations we have with ourself lead by our "saboteur" saying over and over again that you are not worthy? We must begin to reprogram our thought patterns to believe that we deserve happiness, success, love, great health, and so on. No matter what disappointments we may experience in the past, or what anyone thinks of us, we have to start to believe that we are worthy! Period.
The second thing is to feel confident enough to say no. No to people and things that do not serve you and are a negative force in your life. No to toxic situations. No to shrinking yourself in order to make others feel good about themselves. No to being disrespected or belittled. I do understand that there are situations in life where you can not cut people out all together due to work or personal relationships. In those cases, limit your interaction with these people on a need to interact basis and use the next technique, mantra as often as needed to counter these negative encounters.
Using mantras will help you to begin the process of rewriting your core beliefs. Once you are able to pinpoint the negative core belief that you hold about yourself, you are then able to counteract it through the use of your own created mantra. You do this by designing a saying/statement that is the exact opposite of your core wound.
For instance, If you feel weak and/or powerless, your mantra may be something like "I am strong, I am powerful, I am enough, I am complete". If you feel as though others keep stealing your joy, your mantra may be "Thief get away from my house because you are never going to steal anything from me".
These mantras/ affirmation statements should be repeated over and over again until the negative thought dissipates. At first, this will feel a bit uncomfortable and feel odd, but that’s only because your mind has been conditioned to believe the opposite of what you are now saying. After working with this tool for a while, you will start to see a significant changes in your thinking, behavior, and over all feeling. Stick with process of repeating it every day for at least ten minutes for as long as you need, and get ready to witness a true transformation in your life by claiming back your self-worth and the power.
#ProtectYourSelfWorth If you don't who will? It's all up to you.
#DareTribe, how will you reclaim and build up your self-worth? The time is now.
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about your relationship with self-worth good, bad or otherwise. Please leave your comments in the contact section. Have a great week!
Video Credit: OWN/Oprah Life Class
Oprah on Taking Responsibility for Your Life | Oprah's Lifeclass | Oprah Winfrey Network
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