Being Good for Yourself

11:25:18

2024-06-04

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1- Don't demean yourself. If you want to respect yourself, then you should stop demeaning yourself, especially in front of others. It's one thing to laugh at yourself, but it's another thing to say things like, "I look so fat today," or "Why would anyone want to talk to me anyway?" If you put yourself down, you are encouraging others to do the same.

The next time you have a negative thought about yourself, write it down instead of saying it aloud. If you say it aloud, you'll be more likely to think it's really true.

2- Don't let other people see you do something you'll regret later. Try to focus on doing things that will make you proud of yourself, not just things that get cheap laughs or short-term attention. Stay away from regretful behavior, such as getting too drunk and acting sloppy in public, or hooking up with someone at a bar just for the attention.

Try to maintain a consistent image of yourself. It will be hard for people to respect you as the smartest guy in class if you are making a fool of yourself.

3- Deal with powerful emotions. It's okay to lose your cool from time to time, but if you're losing your cool too often and over little things, it will help your self-respect to deal with life's little stresses more efficiently. Try going for a walk to cool down, take deep breaths, and come back to the situation when you are calmer. Dealing with life's situations with a calm mind rather than when emotions are running high will help you feel more in control and better about the way you handle your daily situations, which in turn will help your self-respect.

If you feel yourself getting angry, excuse yourself and go for a short walk, get some fresh air, or call someone who can help you feel grounded. You can also try meditation, writing in a journal, or talking it out with someone.

4- Admit when you're wrong. If you truly want to respect yourself, then you have to be able to know when you've made a mistake. If you've messed up, let people know in a way that shows that you're truly sorry and that you've put enough thought into the situation to avoid doing the same thing again in the future. Taking responsibility for what you do and doing your best to make amends for it will help you move past feeling bad about making the mistake, which will help your self-respect, because you will know and be proud of the fact that you did your best even though things didn't go as perfectly as you would have hoped. Give yourself and the people around you enough respect to be able to admit that you're only human.

If you learn to admit that you're wrong, people will have much more respect for you and will be able to trust you more.

5- Spend time with the people who respect you. Being around people who make you feel terrible about yourself is guaranteed to lower your self-respect, because you'll feel bad not only because of what that person says, but deep down, you'll also be mad at yourself for letting that person hang around you. Find people who make you feel positive, good about yourself and the world, and who actually take the time to listen to you and to help you sort out your feelings.

This is especially true for relationships. It will be close to impossible to have true self-respect if you're dating someone who makes you feel worthless.