Throughout our lifetime, we tend to forget about how worthy we are and the significance of our worth. We may be oblivious towards our self-worth for various reasons such as the prioritization of a certain person, excessive need of academic validation, or even the lack of motivation. Self-worth refers to sense of worth that a person has towards themselves. Self-worth is often used synonymously to self-value, meaning that when you value yourself, you think that you are self-worthy. Self-worth is also used interchangeably with self-esteem, which means perceiving your own qualities and characteristics in a positive manner thus believing that your ideas, traits, and opinions are of prominent worth. Knowing your value would bolster your self-worth, which would also increase your self-esteem. Having high self-wroth is a predecessor to attaining your set goals, accepting yourself, and having an augmented faith. Thus, self-worth is of paramount importance that is often undermined.
The Self-Worth Theory
The Self-Worth Theory claims that the major priority in the life of an individual is self-acceptance. There are several steps that need to be taken in order to fully accept yourself. Basically, self-acceptance is sought to be found through utter achievement, which can be found through competition. In other words, competing with others would render us feeling like we have outstanding achievements, making us feel very triumphant. All this process would consolidate our self-acceptance and would ensure that we accept ourselves for who we are. The theory states that there are four elements that complement self-worthiness – ability, effort, performance, and self-worth. That is a hierarchical structure that starts from our perceived ability to pursue a certain task then move on to putting the effort required then move to performing well then, in return, that would increase self-worth.
How to Boost Your Self-Worth
The first pertinent step that you need to take to increase your self-worth is to stop comparing yourself to others. Halt that inner voice that compels you to compare your actions and your persona to others. This inner voice is a critical one that induces destructive and detrimental thoughts towards yourself and others. This critical inner voice often dwindles your self-worth and self-esteem, making you feel horrible about yourself. Fortunately, there are ways to conquer this critical inner voice. First, you must be conscious of what your inner voice is telling you, so you should pay attention to your mood swings since they likely are a product of your inner voice. After identifying the negative thoughts that your inner voice enchants, you can avoid listening to it and seize your inner voice instead. Moreover, self-compassion is an integral aspect that establishes self-worth. Self-compassion is treating yourself with kindness, which is the same way you would treat your friend. Dr. Dan Siegel claims that you must impose the COAL attitude to practice actual self-compassion. The COAL attitude entails – Curiosity, Openness, Acceptance, and Lovingness. You should implement those 4 attributes towards yourself.
Non-Determiners of Self-Worth
There are many preposterous things that people think are determiners to their self-worth. However, in reality, the following things are of very miniscule value that people should not take them into consideration at all. First, the amount of likes and followers you have on social media platforms are definitely not determiners of your self-worth. A number should not degrade you since you are a much more complex person than what you portray yourself to be on social media. Your physical appearance should not determine whether you are worthy or not. Nowadays, the idealistic beauty standards are the Caucasian Eurocentric ones. If you want to alter your own appearance, do it for your own validation and not for others, as you should view people as third-class citizens of your life.