Be Proud of Yourself!

To be proud of yourself for who you are is the greatest feeling!

I love writing to inspire and when I came across She’s Worthy and met Jasmine on-line I was truly inspired about this fantastic journey to help women. When there was an opportunity to contribute an article, I was all in!

Writing to inspire is what really makes my heart smile. ‘great, I can do this’ I thought. Then Jasmine asked me to focus on a specific topic… still feeling great. I have written to order before and I love the challenge.

‘Can you write about self-worth and self-belief? ‘she said.

I answered yes of course and she gave me a deadline that was a few weeks away so whilst nothing had sprung to mind instantly I knew I had time. Usually with me, once I sit down to write then it flows.

Fast forward a few weeks… I found the definition of self-worth online but nothing else.

‘the sense of one's own value or worth as a person; self-esteem; self-respect.’

I had approached friends, online groups and anyone I could think of to ask what their view about the topic I was writing on and most of the replies were simply… ‘good luck’.

Why is it so difficult for strong, confident women to talk about self-worth?

We all have our own personal struggles and often we see women who look like they have the perfect life, they have it all together but when you chat to them they feel exactly the same as you. It’s a matter of perception.

I watched an FB live video this morning and I remember thinking how long and healthy her hair was and how it looked perfect. Thick, straight and hung just over one side of her face perfectly and how lucky she was to know how to manage her hair like that. Halfway through her video she starts to apologise for her hair, that her hair is such a mess, it’s too thick now and it’s annoying her. She wished it was thinner and wanted to just grab scissors and hack at it!

See, it’s just a matter of perception.

Last year I was offered the opportunity to have 6 sessions with a health coach. Absolutely what I needed! I can truly say it was life changing, but not for the reasons you would expect. She started off by asking me really uncomfortable questions like what do I do just for me? What makes me feel really happy? What makes my soul glow? How do I look after myself?

If she had asked me all these questions but about someone else, say my fiancé then I could have answered them, but about me? Me? How do I put myself first?

This was uncomfortable. I didn’t have an answer. I used to love getting facials and massages, did that count? Absolutely, when was the last time you did that? Erm, I can’t remember.

She made me dig deeper… over the next week this line of questioning was haunting me. In the next session, she continued the questioning but this time I was prepared to answer honestly.

I didn’t do anything for myself because I did not feel I was worth it. It would feel selfish to spend money on my hair, nails, facials or anything when that money could be better spent on someone more worth it. Or something worth it. I had even been putting of getting a physiotherapy session for my back pain as I didn’t want to spend the money.

How many other women feel the same, feel like they should be last on the priority list?

Over the course of our time together my ‘homework’ consisted of both healthy eating changes, exercise and doing things for me. The first selfish thing was getting my nails done. I felt amazing, I was so happy I sent her a photo. The next thing was going to the physiotherapist and so each week I did something else.

And it worked. I started to change from the inside, and it started to be noticed from the outside. All I had done was get my hair cut and get my nails done and when I went into the office one day I got lots of compliments. I even had some of the guys ask if I had a makeover, my skin was glowing and I looked totally different. In fact, the biggest change was my confidence.

I walked taller, my smile was bigger, I felt healthier and happy because I had started to put money into me! Spent time doing what I wanted to do, spent time making me my priority. I had told my family that I needed to have ‘me time’ and sometimes I needed to put myself first before doing something for them. That felt awkward and strange, it didn’t feel like me.

I went out for walks, I went for a coffee on my own, read more and treated myself.

And it changed me. I felt like there was a switch on the inside that had been forgotten and now it had been flicked on.

Am sure most of you have seen the slogan from a famous beauty brand and may have used it yourself (even if it was just to yourself). “Because I’m worth it”!

If I asked you to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 whether you feel you are worth ‘it’ where would you rate yourself?

Before my coaching sessions, I would have said 2-3 maybe. Now, 9-10!

Self-worth is about you respecting and valuing yourself. It’s about feeling that you are worth investing in and being proud of who you are!

So, here is a mini challenge for each of you.

1. Write down 3 reasons why you are ‘worth it’?

2. Write down 3 things that make you proud to be you?

3. Do 1 thing this week that is 100% for you that will make you feel happy, isn’t about anyone else at all and that will leave you with a smile and a glow!

Why?

Because you’re worth it!

To be proud of yourself for who you are is a true blessing!