Self Worth
How do you define your self-worth? Often I realized I’ve defined my self-worth based on the job I have, the recognition I receive from people, how many friends I have, or even on materialistic things such as the apartment I live in, etc.
When you actually think about it- that is not how I should be or anyone should be defining their self-worth. One main thing people often determine their self-worth by is the type of job they have.
If your a CEO of a huge corporation versus a surgeon versus a teacher versus a waitress- having any of these jobs doesn’t make you have less self-worth than someone else. Even recently I made this mistake towards myself. Right now I work two jobs- a full-time marketing job and then also at a gym on the weekends. A few weeks ago when I was working at the gym I ran into someone I used to go to high school within Maine. He didn’t ask what I was up to- but one of the first things a blurted was that “ oh I only work here on weekends and I work in marketing during the weekdays” I simply did this because I thought he would look down on me by working at a gym- and thing of my self-worth to be less. When really I was just deciding myself what he would think of my self-worth based on the job he saw me doing.
Another thing I, along with many, I tie my self-worth to is receiving praise and being liked by people. In reality, you are not always going to receive compliments- but that shouldn’t mean that you should decide your not worth it. You should have confidence in yourself and that you are striving to be the best that you can be. At the end of the day, others opinions don’t really matter. No matter what you do not everyone is going to like you. But if you act with your values and dignity, and respect- your self-worth should come from that and not what others think.
Materialistic things mean close to nothing- they are simply a nice accessory. Having a fancy house compared to a small NYC apartment shared with 6 roommates doesn’t make you any less worthy. I used to think people, including even my friends, would look down on me for having college loans or not being able to afford everything. In reality, those are just items and do not determine your self worth as a person.
So what is self-worth? Self-worth is being the best possible version of yourself and believing you deserve greatness. This can look different for everyone. It’s accepting who you are based on your values and morals, treating people with respect, and acting with dignity. For me my self-worth its who I am as a person and my desire to impact and help others. To me, that is way more powerful than the job I have or the items I can afford.
