The Best Way to Improve Your Self-Respect

How to gain the self-acceptance you deserve

One of my major themes in writing essays on Medium.com is self-respect. I will review the types of people who need it the most and reveal the most important thing you can do to gain back what you have lost.

Lacking self-respect can have many causes. Your teachers at school were too strict and did not protect you from bullies. There may have been some trauma in your relationships in the early years.

Extended family members may have disrespected you or made you feel unworthy. Or you were never taught the importance of self-respect or respect for others.

If any of these scenarios fit your life situation, you should be interested in learning how to gain more self-respect.

The Primacy of Values

After years of focusing on different paths to self-respect, I have found that compliance with your values and beliefs is no. 1. It is not the easiest path, as serious resistance to the mandate may come up repeatedly.

But the sense of well-being resulting from following your idea is matchless. To gain the self-respect that comes from loving yourself, you must be willing to submit to what you feel is essential to be doing.

Finding your route doesn’t mean you’ll have a consistent string of victories or success stories to tell people. You’ll have difficulties like everyone else.

Camus said that the proper response to life’s meaninglessness was inventing your rules for the game. And, of course, when you do that, you will face the challenge of compliance.

Overcome Reluctance

Resistance will set in from various sources. Either you will conflict with other agendas, or your motivation is so low that any effort is challenging.

In my experience, the most frequent sources of resistance are the fears of rejection, failure, and disapproval. You will be ahead of the game if you can short-circuit these fears by undercutting limiting beliefs.

Role of Limiting Beliefs

What did you tell yourself the last time you failed? What reasons did you list? If you told yourself anything other than ‘I did my best,’ you are making excuses. You are letting limiting beliefs get in the way of achieving your goals.

Once you discover your limiting beliefs, you can master them. The way to do this is by actionable strategies that curtail the influence of limiting beliefs.

The surer route to success is to follow your inner guide. My foundational value is to express myself in the world without succumbing to fears and doubts.

“Some people entertain ideas; others put them to work. “Source unknown

“Only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I have been waiting for the day when I could become compliant with my desire for authentic self-expression. I am happy to report that day has finally arrived; I am very grateful.

Benefits of Compliance

The benefit of compliance is that you can avoid being captivated by the passions of greed and pride. But even more important is its impact on self-esteem and self-respect.

“Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself, how confident you are in your capabilities, and what you believe about your worth. Low self-esteem may make you feel unworthy of love, incapable of accomplishing your goals or jumping over hurdles in your life. On the other hand, self-respect is an action focused on how you understand your self-esteem and put those values into practice.”

Summary

To gain the self-respect that comes from loving yourself, you must be willing to submit to what you feel is essential. Hence the saying “What you resist persists.”-Carl Jung. The surer route to self-respect is to follow your values and beliefs.

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