Although the two are often used interchangeably, self worth is not the same thing as self love. In order to love yourself, however, you first need to see your worth. The keyword here is SELF. When you do not believe yourself to be worthy of love, it becomes much harder to give yourself love.
The first step in learning how to value yourself, mind, body, and spirit, is to claim your self worth. In this guide, we take a deeper look at how you can do this, to start the journey of acceptance, self compassion, and peace.
How Self Worth Affects Self Love
How does your self esteem affect your ability to love yourself, and how do the two connect? To understand this, it helps to look at each one separately to see how they both play a crucial role in overall acceptance of the self.
Self worth
Self worthiness or self esteem is about valuing yourself. It is not how others see you but how you see yourself. You may feel worthy in some areas of life and you may battle to believe in yourself in other areas. While some have over-inflated self esteem, most women battle to see their worth. Insecurities often stem from childhood, making it very difficult to feel that you deserve happiness and fulfilment. Imposter syndrome is common when there is a low sense of worth. It can also result in a lack of confidence and many other challenges, ranging from intimacy issues to inability to take risks, put yourself out there or do things outside of your comfort zone.
Self love
Self love is about accepting and embracing yourself as you are right now. It’s about learning to love the person you are rather than the person you think you should be. You can only truly reach this point when you have reclaimed your worth. Self love is also action-based, in that it helps you make empowered choices. Contrary to popular belief, it is not about vanity, selfishness, ego or thinking you are better than anyone. It is about being happy and content with yourself, flaws and all. When you love yourself, you will open your heart and have more ability to love others, too.
As you can see, the two go hand in hand, with the ultimate goal being to accept who you are – your physical body, your personality, your mind, your beliefs, your contribution to the world, your skills, your flaws, and your very being. You cannot have one without the other. Together, you can be the amazing woman you are destined to be.
Now it’s over to you. Leave me a comment below and let me know how you define self love and self worth.
