4 ways to INCREASE your SELF-ESTEEM and -WORTH 

Before we get into ways to increase your self worth, I am going to talk about where your self worth comes from. To my belief your self worth comes from how you view yourself a.k.a. your self-image. 

Let’s first look at what self-image means. Self image basically means how you view yourself. It’s a mental idea that you have of yourself. You attach a value to this self-image as if it were. Just think when you’re standing by the wine in the supermarket.

The older it is, the more expensive the value is.

In fact, this is exactly the opposite with humans. People see themselves as less beautiful as they get older. They do not see the wrinkles they get as signs of wisdom and life experience, but as ugly.

It is important to realize that these are just mental ideas. You attach a value to your self-image based on mental ideas. These mental ideas arise from the environment in which we grow up. These ideas do not come from truth and reality. Because the reality is that your self value is based on how much you love yourself. I really believe that!

Someone who loves herself very much will take good care of himself. As a result, one will get the best out of themselves. She will want to look good, not for others but for herself. Life is too short not to not accept your personality and appearance. Don’t try to alter it. Loving yourself is one of the greatest gifts you can receive. The great thing is that you can give this gift to yourself, no one else can give it.

Be kind to yourself today and give yourself this present!

It’s time to realize your worth. Stop associating your personal value with what a society asks or expects of you. Your life will be worth the most to society when you do what makes you happy. When you are who you want to be. Then you will be much happier and the people around you will be happy too. That’s really what life is about, isn’t it? Happiness, hope and love as we say in the Netherlands.

1. SEE YOUR BEAUTY

The first step (and probably the most important one) is to realize that you are beautiful! A lot of us are on instagram and we see women with beautiful bodies. It’s very nice if you are physically an attractive person of course, nothing wrong with it. However, don’t compare yourself to them. As long as you compare yourself to others, you won’t be focused on seeing your own beauty.

I have never been someone who compared myself a lot to others. However, when I was younger I would think: “They have beautiful clothes and they have a personal style, I want that too.” I never saw myself as ugly, I am beautiful. However, I was very humble in showing how beautiful I can be. I always thought beauty comes from within. And of course this is 100% true, but it is also nice to look beautiful. You feel better and then you can express yourself that way.

Back to what I wanted to say. The moment I stopped looking at others and just focused on embracing my own beauty *magic* happens. I started to become more beautiful! Inside and outside. I also felt more pure, more like myself. 

So the first step is to become aware of your own beauty! Stop looking at others for a moment and look in the mirror. You should look in the mirror with a smile on your face.

Actually more than that, you should come home from work and walk directly to your mirror because you love yourself that much! 

Take this with a grain of salt of course (is this normal to say in English?), don’t become a narcissist. 

2. WATCH YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Now that we have done some inner work, it’s time to focus on our environment. Truth is that the environment you are in tells a lot about who you are. You have probably heard of the phrase: “Show me your 5 closest friends and I will tell you who you are.”. There might be a truth in that and because of that it’s important to be mindful of who you spend your time with. 

If others are constantly talking bad about you or others, that doesn’t improve your self-image. You will also be constantly focused on others. Instead of being focused on yourself and bettering your life. 

You don’t have to cut off friendships completely, you can just meet 2 or 3 times a year and have a great time, but without the constant negativity or something else that bothers you. Energy goes where attention flows, so be mindful of how you spend your attention. 

3. PERSONAL STYLE

I already addressed this topic in the beginning of the article. An easy way to increase your self-worth is by wearing the clothes that you like. I’ve never been really invested into fashion and following the latest trends. I always thought it was unnecessary to spend too much time on your appearance. Well, now I think differently about that. I still agree with myself that you don’t need to spend an hour a day on your appearance. However, now I see the beauty in expressing yourself through your clothes.

It’s an amazing feeling to feel like yourself on the inside AND the outside. It gives me confidence and it makes me feel beautiful.

Not beautiful by society’s rules but beautiful by my own rules.

Furthermore, it gives me a positive self image and thus self worth! Spend more time on exploring your personal style and I am sure that this will work the same way for you. 

4. JOURNAL IDEA

Here is another way you can increase your self-image and self-worth. This is an exercise you can do at night in your bed or in the morning on a desk. Honestly, it doesn’t matter when or how you do it. I think just doing this exercise will help you with seeing your own beauty and this will result in your self-image being improved. 

These are the steps you will have to follow:

1. Find a quiet place.

2. Go there “duhh..” 😉

3. Grab a journal and a pen

4. On top of the page write “why I am beautiful”

5. Now write down all the qualities that you love about yourself. It can be a personality trait, something physical or a skill. Don’t think of yourself as being egoistic, okay. You are not, you need to write down why you are beautiful, that’s not narcissistic. 

The last thing you will have to do is tell yourself when you are going to do this. This is one of the most important steps, otherwise you will be just like me and forget about everything. Say to yourself that tonight before bed you will do this small exercise. (Or whenever you want to do this) 🙂

HI, FRIEND

Let me know (in the comments) if this article helped you <3 I love reading comments from you guys (and girls)!

Let today or tonight be an enlightening time and may you connect with nature. Take a deep breath and get in touch with your energy. Just be in this moment!

You can leave your name and email below, if you want to stay in contact with me. And if not, I hope you will have an amazing life full of love and joy!

May our souls meet again!

-xx- Nella