Welcome to Part 1 of the "Secrets to Increasing Your Self-Worth" series.
According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of self-worth is the same as self-esteem, which is to have a good opinion of oneself.
In his book, "Six Pillars of Self-Esteem," Nathaniel Branden, the father of the concept of self-esteem, wrote the following definition of self-esteem. I highly recommend this book, by the way, if you feel you need to improve this area.
The author says: “Self-esteem fully realized, is the experience that we are appropriate to life and the requirements of life.
More specifically, self-esteem is:
- Confidence in our ability to think, confidence in our ability to cope with the basic challenges of life, and
- Confidence in our right to be successful and happy, the feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to assert our needs and wants, achieve our values, and enjoy the fruits of our efforts.”
The above definition of self-esteem is the most potent one.
- Firstly, when we feel we are appropriate to life we believe that we fit in. However, when you have low self-esteem you feel out of place. Have you been in a situation where you felt awkward? You did not think that you fitted in whether at work or among a circle of friends. Perhaps, because it was a new and unfamiliar environment, a new circle.
The first thing that comes to my mind is this private party you went to where you only knew one person, and you had to feel comfortable with the other guests. That can feel very awkward, can’t it? When you have low self-esteem. Conversations like: will they like me? Am I interesting enough? Do I fit in etc.,? might go through your mind.
- Secondly, when we experience that we are appropriate to the requirements of life, we believe we can cope with and handle anything in life. It is the bring it on mentality! You are willing to tackle anything.
Both ideas of being appropriate to life and the requirements of life suggest developing adequate self-confidence.
When we build self-esteem we develop a healthy mind. On the other hand, allowing our critical voice to control our behaviour, beliefs, thoughts, and actions can have devastating consequences. Thus, cultivating self-defeating thoughts goes against creating a balanced and happy life.
Consequently, for a more harmonious, healthy and happy life become increasingly aware of how you view and describe yourself. In general,
- Do you have a positive or negative self-image?
- Do you tend to put yourself down? or
- Do you humbly recognize your brilliance?
For my readers who tend to have a negative self-image and low self-esteem, Nathaniel Branden gives this very relevant call to action in "Six Pillars Of Self-Esteem:" “the turbulence of our times demands strong selves with a clear sense of identity, competence, and worth. It is a dangerous moment in history not to know who we are or not to trust ourselves. The stability we cannot find in the world we must create within our own persons. To face life with low self-esteem is to be at a severe disadvantage.”
In other words, to best cope with life’s challenges in today’s world, we need to build resilience and a strong self. This strong self has a great sense of identity, competence, worth, inner knowing and self-trust.
When you have low self-worth it seems harder to cope with modern times’ challenges. Subsequently, we need to become stronger and more confident as individuals.
Key steps to accelerate your success:
- Should you suffer from low self-esteem, make the decision today to be at an advantage from now on and choose to realize your self-esteem fully. You can do it!
Relevant resources:
How To Solve Any Problem With A Positive Approach
Discover One Key Component Of Your Creative Power
Learn My Three Tips On How To Raise Your Self-Esteem
Prescriptions For Self-Confidence
Free tool to accelerate your success:
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