The inner mantra of “I’m not good enough” is a struggle that many of us face. This problem is not widely discussed, but if this is one of your struggles then you should know that you are not alone.
People who find them struggling with their own self-worth often feel helpless and isolated, but these feelings do not have to last. There is a way to turn this struggle around and begin to discover your self-worth. Read on to learn about several strategies for building your self-love back up to where it belongs.
Make Connections with Friends
This one is hard, especially if your insecurities build anxiety or social anxiety of any kind. However, connecting to friends is extremely important for the sake of your self-worth. We will talk more about finding friends in a moment, but friends are necessary for your self-worth and having friends can help to ward off the inner struggle of “I’m not good enough.”
Having friends means having someone to cheer you on when you succeed. Similarly, friends are there to support us when we feel defeated. Either way, having a system of emotional support is extremely beneficial to our own self-worth.
If you struggle with making new friends, you may want to consider reaching out to old friends first. You already have a history with old friends, they know you, and they already like you. This makes old friends way less intimidating to reach out too. Send them a text and set up a dinner or a movie night.
Related: How To Empower Yourself With OPTIMISM
Look at Less Social Media
The constant parade of unrealistic life stories that we see on our social media feeds is ruining our self-esteem. Think about what you post on your own feeds for a moment. Is it the truth about you life? It might be, but the odds are that you are posting mostly positive moments, things that have earned you bragging rights, and only one out of the one hundred and forty eight pictures that you took to make it look Facebook worthy.
Taking a significant cut on your social media activity can do wonders for your self-worth. Sometimes we need to take a break to focus on what it is that makes our own lives positive instead of being sucked in to everyone else’s feeds.
Separate Yourself from Your Mistakes
We have a tendency to blame ourselves for every little thing that goes wrong. Of course, we should take some responsibility for our mistakes, but we also have to remember that our mistakes do not define us.
When something goes wrong, you have to learn to let it go and move on. You are more than a mistake, and you are so much more than the worst mistake you ever make too. Learning to distance your identity from your wrong choices can do a wonder for your self-esteem.
Take Care of You First
You cannot be a good friend, a good parent, a good child, or even a good employee until you learn to take care of yourself before others. Taking care of yourself encompasses a whole list of details from eating right, to hygiene, to mental health, to having a little fun. There is no limit or boundary on what it means to put yourself first.
Time for a haircut? Call the salon and book the big package. Need some new shoes? Go to the store and splurge a little. You cannot put yourself last all the time and then expect anyone else to treat you differently than you treat yourself. Put yourself first and see how your own view of yourself affects the views of those around you.
