Self Worth Archives

Self-love and self-esteem are not the same, but they do support each other. They are built from similar factors. One can help you build the other. They are different aspects of how you treat yourself. Self-esteem is being proud of your abilities and who you are, whereas self-love is accepting who you are despite knowing your flaws.

One of the popular beliefs is that you can have good self-esteem without loving yourself fully. In reality, self-love is accompanied by good self-esteem. It is not easy to develop good self-esteem, but it is possible to develop by changing your habits and practicing self-love.

Do you also have your own self-love goals for 2021? Read this article to find out how you can achieve your self-love goals this year.

Lets learn more about self-love and Self-esteem

What is self-love?

Self-love is evaluating your well-being and taking actions for betterment. It is being happy and taking care of your own needs. It is not sacrificing your needs for the good of others. Knowing what self-love looks like for you is an integral part of your mental health.

How do you practice self-love?

Self-love begins with acceptance, which is followed by the act of kindness. It is enacted through compassion. Here are a few wonderful ways to practice self-love and achieve your self-love goals for 2021.

Put yourself first: you might be under stress while working under deadlines. You require a bit of self-love. Just take some time off for yourself. Take care of your health. Go on a holiday and explore something new.
Do what you always love: Try your favorite recipe, dance to the tunes. Do whatever pleases you and comforts you. Practice your hobby. Let that cheer you up.
Do not self criticize: you have to quit the criticism about yourself. Stop thinking like: “Oh no! I should not have done that”. Have a little faith in yourself. Do not lower your standards for yourself.
Exercise: Incorporate any kind of exercise into your routine. It makes you feel positive and happier.
Reduce social media usage: You have to provide your mind a bit rest from social media. Constantly looking at other people’s lives can lead to comparing yourself to others, which may hurt your feelings. Instead, follow and engage people who encourage you.

Increase Self-love and self-esteem by reduce use of social media — Reduce social media usage

Barriers to self-love.

Ask yourself, how much time are you spending to take care of yourself. The answers are surprising. You may not even think about it, let allotting time for it. People have excuses for that, like, “I do not have time for that,” “I can’t because,” and “It’s tough while managing kids.”

Everybody plays many roles in life, but it is essential to spend time taking care of yourself.

What is self-esteem, and how to develop that?

Self-esteem is how to view yourself. It is the self-image that is molded through life’s experiences. If you develop healthy self-esteem, you will feel confident in your abilities to meet life’s challenges and feel content in your skin. In contrast, too high self-esteem leads to overconfidence which leads to the willingness to explore your flaws.

People with lower self-esteem do not accept compliments or comets. They lack confidence and harshly judge their abilities. They have a poor sense of self-worth.

Here are a few unique ways to develop self-esteem.

Identify the negative thoughts and replace them. Challenge the negative beliefs about yourself and write those. Remember that those are not true.
Write down positive things about yourself. Write about your achievements and the nice things that people have said to you. When you feel low, remind that there is plenty good about you.
Surround yourself with positive people. Some certain people and relationships make you feel better when you are with them. Avoid people and relationships that make you feel bad about yourself.
Take a break. You may feel overwhelmed or struggle to maintain your self-belief and feel a bit down. Self-esteem varies from person to person. One may feel comfortable with friends and colleagues but uneasy with strangers. Others are totally in command of themselves and may fee vice versa.

Boost Self-love and self-esteem by writing positive things — Write down positive things about yourself

Can you practice self-love without self-esteem?

When you allow engaging in self-love, you learn how much you are worth. You will know how much you can grow from both difficult and joyful moments in your life. However, it is not easy because it demands a lot of compassion for yourself. This begins with developing healthy self-esteem and learning to love yourself.

As you grow up, you develop self-esteem, but sometimes you grow up without unconditional love, which lowers your self-esteem. When others care about you, you won’t have a chance to take care of yourself. Then you won’t care about yourself. You will be emotionally attached to your caregivers.

But in reality, if you put yourself first and tend your emotional and physical well-being, you will be able to care for others.

If you have lower self-esteem, you won’t think that you are worthy of self-love and self-care. You only take care of things that value you. You will only nurture things you love and do not spend the time or effort to nurture yourself. If you do not believe in yourself, diet, yoga, meditation, or exercise will not help you. First, you need to fix your self-esteem and then make time for self-love and care.

Self-esteem is more prevalent than self-love. You can have good self-esteem in some aspects of your life and not in others. You might be confident with your abilities and work on that but may lack the confidence to maintain relationships. When you love yourself, you accept yourself with all these shortcomings. It helps you to improve overall self-esteem.

It is also good to think about yourself and not beer than others. With good self-esteem, feel positivity but not in an arrogant way. This often happens when you do not love yourself. When you integrate self-esteem and confidence, it can blossom into strong self-love. Pay attention to how you react to life’s problems and difficult situations. Notice yourself when you feel confident and accept yourself as you are.

Finally, know that true self-esteem and self-love require accepting as you are. We hope that this article helped you in achieving your self-love goals and allowed you to be comfortable in your own skin.

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Self-esteem mirrors your opinion of yourself – how you perceive your abilities, shortcomings, and your own worth. In simple words, it reflects how much you appreciate and like being yourself. There is a reason why Self-esteem, Self-respect, Self-love start with the word ‘Self’, and this is because you cannot find them in someone else. The essence of self-esteem lies in- Feeling lovable and feeling capable. Self-esteem is the key contributor to success, i.e., Belief you can do it, belief you deserve it and belief you will get it.

Self-esteem develops when one can interpret the world in their own terms and decline to abide by the judgement of other people. When one has healthy self-esteem, they feel good about themselves, are motivated to achieve more, and feel a sense of satisfaction. They focus on the progress and enhancement of their skill set and are less vulnerable to anxiety. Possessing little self-regard can result in one feeling depressed, unwilling to work on ideas, and constantly worrying about not being good enough. They focus on being cautious about making mistakes and live in a state of fear.

However, you must have heard this common phrase- ‘Excess of everything is bad’. While low self-esteem can force people to make the wrong choices or decisions, fall into traps, and enter disturbing relationships. An excessive sense of Self-worth will also make you subdue others and can be destructive for your relationships. So it is important to strike a balance between the two and it is the biggest achievement to be yourself in a world full of people who constantly try to make you behave or act differently than what you are.

Signs of Healthy Self Esteem Vs Low Self Esteem:

Healthy Self Esteem	Low Self Esteem
Confidence	Self-doubt or weakness
Expression of thoughts/ needs	Difficult to express thoughts/ needs
Positive outlook of life	Negative outlook of life
Say No when the need be	Have trouble in saying No
Focus on gearing towards success	Focus on fear of failure
Easily makes friends	Difficulty in making friends
Feelings like Joy, Happiness, Worthy of Love	Feelings like Shame, Anxiety, Unwanted

Self-esteem can be – Global or Situational. Global self-esteem is a constant belief about who you are. Another is the situational self-esteem which fluctuates basis circumstances, events, and roles. It can be high when you are promoted at work or can be low if you are going through a break-up.

Causes of Low Self-Esteem:

Unsupportive Parents/ Friends
Stressful circumstances like divorce/ break up
Constant Bullying
Lack of motivation
Mood disorder or medical issues

While everyone at some point in their life lacks confidence, but people with low self-esteem do not realize their worth and are pulled down as they feel unhappy and unsatisfied the majority of the time. When you value yourself and have high self-esteem, you feel stable and worthy. It takes time to cultivate healthy self-esteem and following are the tips to work on the same:

Eradicate Self Criticism- Be Kind to yourself. Make an effort to quieten the voice of doubt created inside you. Focus on replacing criticism with care and concern.

Stop Comparing- Focus on being the best version of yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others and stop striving to become like them.

Accept yourself– Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. So, accept what is not perfect for you. Focus on what you can change for the better. Let yourself feel good about that because beauty begins when you decide to be yourself.

Don’t judge yourself basis other’s opinion- The one who knows their worth does not get disturbed by what you think about them. So, do not degrade your value basis someone’s inability to understand your worth. Don’t let anyone dimmer your shine.

Exercise- Set goals for work out and achieve them. This motivates and helps in improving confidence.

Recognize your strengths– Find out your competencies and work to strengthen them. E.g., If you are good at organizing, help your friend in planning and organizing an event. What holds you back is not what you are, but what you think you are not.

Surround yourself with a positive support group– Having a safety net of loved ones to fall back on, from time to time helps in strengthening your belief about yourself.

Understand that it is unlikely to achieve high self-esteem overnight, but small steps matter as the journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step. You will find improvements over a period. So, do not rush and try to be normal, which others think, for you will never know how astonishing you can be. Lastly, remember that ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. So, don’t bend your head, rather hold it high and tell them that you are Worthy of Love’.

How to Achieve Your Self-Love and Self-Esteem Goals In 2021