Self-appreciation entails being grateful for one’s physique, abilities or talents. This is not only limited to the positive side of an individual. Realizing your weaknesses and figuring out where you need help is a way of appreciating yourself.
It is about being thankful about who you are, accepting your uniqueness, valuing who you are and showing yourself kindness.
For someone who never thinks of herself as being worthy of any good, Julia focuses on external approval to feel good. Just like Julia, many others lack the ability to be there for themselves and appreciate their qualities and abilities.
Most times, we live with the mindset that our deeds must be appreciated by others before they’re considered good enough. So if we don’t receive thumbs up from others, does it mean what we have done is worthless?
Comparison is a thief of happiness!
You see others achieving so much and it looks all pretty with the glam all over. Then you look at yourself and get all sad because you aren’t on track as others are and you feel you’re not doing enough.
Rather than beating yourself up, why not be grateful for what you can do and try to be better at it? Who knows, you might become more awesome than you imagine. You really do not have to do as much as others. Work at your own pace and do what you can with a difference.
‘SELF APPRECIATION IS THE FOUNDATION OF A HAPPY LIFE. WITHOUT IT, YOU CAN’T BUILD A BIGGER YOU- GUSTAVO RAZZETTI
The foundation of self-growth is self-appreciation. Not appreciating yourself oftentimes brings about stagnation. If you don’t see anything good in what you’re doing, you definitely won’t strive to do your best at it.
SELF ESTEEM + SELF APPRECIATION =SELF CONFIDENCE
Self-esteem is your personal (subjective) opinion about yourself which is framed by your perception, experiences, the information you’re exposed to and the likes. It can either be positive or negative.
Although self-esteem is not the same as self-appreciation, having a healthy (high) self-esteem helps one to see oneself as being worthy of anything they set their minds to. Self-esteem, according to Julie F. Skolnick, is a key to success. It is the ability of a person to do anything, take risks, try new things and knowing it will come out good.
When achieving goals, we need to moderate our expectations; just in case things don’t work out as we planned and we begin to see ourselves as failures. This makes a person start thinking and saying negative things like: “I’m not worthy of this task”, “Someone else would have done it better” etc”. Researchers call this feeling ‘The Imposter Syndrome‘.
In dealing with this, there is a need to infuse self-love. That is, having the mindset that no matter the result, you’ll still feel good about yourself, knowing that mistakes are inevitable and can be corrected and believing that you’re worth every achievement you obtain.
Self-confidence is modulated self-esteem that comes with an awareness that you are not above mistakes and you can struggle and still feel okay.
We all at some point need to be appreciative of who we are and embrace our abilities. There is no better push than ourselves.
Here Are Possible Ways Of Practising Self-Appreciation:
Appreciate the littlest of yourself Be happy in your own skin, body, talents and abilities. This is you and no one will love you as you would.
Practice positive self-talk.
Avoid focusing on your mistakes: Work towards getting better instead.
Consider approval from yourself next time rather than waiting for others.
Strive to be the best version of yourself.
Solvita Bennett listed some ways in which self-appreciation benefits us as individuals:
It helps us gain confidence.
It helps us work more effectively.
In as much as you appreciate yourself, you tend to appreciate others too.
Self-appreciation helps one connect with people and accept their differences.
Note: Self-appreciation has nothing to do with bragging or being self-centred. It’s just about being happy with yourself and valuing who you are.
Julia doesn’t realize she’s a great person doing great things because others don’t encourage her enough. However, when she begins to appreciate her strength and the efforts she puts into whatever she does, just then will she know her worth.
Thanks @Ashma Hope for more opportunities.
Great article