Self-respect

Have you ever heard the common saying, “You have to give respect to get it?”

It’s true, but not necessarily in the way you might think. While it IS important to

respect others, it’s not the number one way to ensure that they respect you.

When it comes to respect, it starts at home – with you.

If you don’t respect yourself, nobody else will either.

Why self-respect is important

Self-respect is the foundation for leading a life of integrity and honor. If you do

not truly love yourself and respect yourself as a person, how will you find the

courage to stand up for your own beliefs or have the backbone to enforce

healthy boundaries?

The predators in life have a sixth sense for those who lack a healthy sense of

self-respect and do everything in their power to exploit such weaknesses.

Even “nice” people have a difficult time feeling sympathy for those that they

perceive as lacking in self-respect.

How to respect yourself

Self-respect can be summed up by saying that it’s an acknowledgment of your

inherent dignity and worth. Please note that it’s not tied to any particular

achievement or ability: every person on this planet is born worthy of respect.

In practice, this respect is not always given, but it’s important for you to know

that self-respect is not necessarily predicated on meeting certain ideals.

If you find that you’re lacking a healthy sense of self-respect, there are ways

that you can build it up:

    Set healthy boundaries. Don’t let yourself be taken advantage of or base

your sense of self-worth on how others feel about you.

    Take good care of yourself. Eat a healthy diet, exercise, and use alcohol

and other drugs in moderation.

Self-respect is a fundamental for a great life. If we lack self-respect we will be

insecure and strive to be someone we are not. To develop self-respect means

to cultivate the self confidence to deal with whatever life throws at us. The

following are some ways we can improve our self-respect. Remember, self-

respect comes from an inner belief and not an egoistic feeling of superiority.

1. Be True to Yourself

There is great social pressure from parents, work and society to become a

certain person and to achieve certain things. It is a pressure hard to detach

from. But, a real self-respect only comes from being true to our inner calling. It

is important you have faith in your own values and remember what is

important to you. Just because other people think you should behave in a

certain way, doesn’t mean they are right. Everyone needs to follow their own

path. Even if others don’t respect your decision it is important that you do. Just

ask yourself whether you come into the world to please Tom, Dick and Harry

or live your own life?

2. Learn to Handle Criticism

We are sensitive beings. Nobody likes criticism and when we are criticized,

either directly or indirectly, we feel bad about ourself – even if the criticism is

not justified. To maintain a sense of self respect, we need to learn how to deal

with criticism. Don’t take criticism personally. Look at it from a detached

perspective. Maybe it is false, in which case we should ignore it. If their is

some truth, we can use it to develop our character. However, it is important

not to take criticism too personally. Just because we are not very good at a

particular task, doesn’t mean we need to lose our self respect.

4. Avoid Jealousy

Jealousy of other people’s success is a common way of losing our happiness

and self respect. Jealousy is simply envy of other people’s success. We feel

miserable that we cannot enjoy their success. Sometimes it can even lead us

to knocking the other person. If we follow this path of jealousy we will

definitely lose our sense of self respect. When we are constantly comparing

ourselves to others, we are saying our self respect depends on being better

than others. But, the truth is, there will always be some people more

successful than ourself. The trick to lasting self respect is to be happy through

others success. We should never feel that other people’s success in any way

diminishes our self worth.