I write a lot about standing up for yourself, accepting your flaws, positive thinking, and learning how to take time for yourself. All this in counter-active with knowing your worth. When you begin to accept yourself and make positive changes in your life this is when you can truly see it. Don't shy away from letting people know and make sure you do this with kick-ass confidence!
Now, there's not a set list of 'this is what it means to know your worth' as people would think. Yes, there are plenty of articles and posts about it, but everyone is subject to their own "checklist" essentially. Knowing your self-worth is more than just checking boxes it's really believing in yourself, whether that's in your work life or in your personal life, it's all in your belief system.
During the course of your life, you may recognise your self-worth, you may lose it, and you may find it again. I'm sure as many of you will and have experienced life is not always sunny and positive, there are hardships that push us back, and people that undermind our success and often make us feel worthless. Even through hard times, it's important to remember what we have achieved, what we are trying to achieve, and that one moment in time does not have to define us.
The first steps ( I know I said there wasn't a checklist, but these are all subjective to the individual) in knowing and understanding your worth is to first:
Listen to yourself
Listen to what your body is telling you and make sure you take time to look after it. How many of us feel guilty for taking a day off from work because you're exhausted or emotionally drained? How many of you have been told that taking time for yourself is selfish? It's not selfish at all, in fact, it's taking responsibility for your body and mind and looking after it. Without proper care for ourselves, we can turn tired, moody, angry, and unmotivated which can affect all areas of our lives. Nothing about self-neglect will do you any good so stop pushing your own health and self-care to the back burner and look after yourself starting today!
Stand up for yourself
When you don't believe in yourself or stand up for yourself you allow others to walk over you or you allow a different version of yourself to represent you instead of the real version. There are different ways you can stand up for yourself, to others and to yourself. As I mentioned in my other blog you could be a people pleaser and have trouble saying no to people, or you could be a performer being the life of the party, being what people want you to be, or you could be a doormat letting people walk over and disrespect you.
All of these allow you to give, give, and give whilst attracting the kind of people that will just use this to their advantage and only take from you. This can lead to a downward spiral of working yourself into the ground. Figure out who is just using you and who actually contributes back. Find a happy medium so you can have more time to do what you want to do, or be who you want to be.
What values are important to you?
Everyone has their own values that are most important to them, the hardest part is working out what yours are and sticking to them. Are you just following suit because you think it's the right thing to do or because others are doing it, or do you genuinely feel that your values align with your actions? Once you figure out what is most important to you stick to it, as the hardest part is not letting others sway your own morals or values. Be confident in your values and that they are positive influences on your life and you'll find you'll be a lot happier and sure of yourself if you follow this.
Be true to you
Lastly, remain intact with you are, your friendships, your core values, knowing your time and talent is valuable, and taking time to look after yourself. Many events, people, and things can detract us from who we really are or who we want to be. It's important to remember who we are when we're alone, how we want to treat people, and how we want to live our life.
These aren't always the key factors in knowing your self-worth but it definitely helps you realise what you stand for, how to achieve future goals, how to help you make changes in your life, and how to get to a point where you are happy with the person you are and the life you lead.
I myself am constantly learning new things about myself and who I want to be, and how I want to live my life. I know that I work damn hard and that I don't have to prove myself to anyone, and that self-care is so much more important than I thought. I am realising that my values haven't been aligning with my lifestyle lately so I need to make changes so they can align again and that temporary happiness is just that, temporary.
Be happy with the choices and decisions you are making because watch out world a new and improved version of you is coming through to take over!
T, x
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