Looking Inward For Self-Worth

Finding Your Self-Worth Through Self-Awareness

Throughout life we all face many obstacles. No one is free from the challenges and obstacles that accompany any life. Often the pitfalls of life can begin to pile up and affect the way you think about and see yourself. Between romantic disasters, money and job issues, self-image crises, and family problems, it can seem like the problems are endless and you are at the center of them. It can be so easy to see all the problems surrounding you and place the blame and pressure on yourself. At a certain point this self-blame can morph into self-doubt and even self-hatred. You feel that not only are you the cause of the problems in your life, you are also a bad, worthless person. When this happens it can seem as if the world is imploding.

When you hit rock bottom, you begin to doubt that there is any way to feel better. You have resigned yourself to the idea that your worthlessness is not a matter of opinion it is a fact. The problem with this idea, however, is that no one is worthless. Not even in your most down-and out moments are you ever without merit. The trick to regaining your self-worth is to become self-aware.

Self-awareness is a state of complete understanding of how your mind is working. Many people feel out of control of their own lives. They feel as if they can’t make decisions, can’t complete tasks, can’t follow through with relationships and are stymied by the reason. They can’t seem to figure out what they are doing wrong. Working on your self-awareness is the only way to regain control of your life.

The trick to being self-aware is the question: why? Being self-aware means constantly asking yourself, Why am I doing this? Often, because of our history and defining moments in our life, we perceive the world around us differently than others. We see and hear things that others may not. Stopping and asking yourself, Why am I reacting to this situation in this manner? Or, Why am I bothered or upset? Can help you begin to feel more in control of your actions and reactions.

Once you can begin identifying why you feel certain ways, you can begin to reverse your thinking back toward a positive direction. Let’s take, for example, a person who is doing poorly at work because they can’t complete tasks on time. The first step in changing this cycle is asking, Why can’t I get this work done on time. The answer might be as easy as daydreaming or being distracted by e-mail. Once the reason has been identified, make a plan to fix it. Do work for 45 minutes and as a reward, look at e-mail for 5 minutes after. What looked like an impossible, self-defeating situation before could be remedied with just a simple plan. Finding ways to correct negative situations in your life through self-awareness will make you feel as if you are worthwhile again.