Feelings of unworthiness impact every one of us, regardless of our gender, race, socio-economic status, and degree of accomplishments in life.
Some of the most accomplished people still feel unworthy, as if their accomplishments mean nothing. They aren’t able to find true fulfillment because they aren’t working directly with their feelings of unworthiness.
The more we try to cover up or ignore our sense of unworthiness, the more we suffer. So what can be done? In this blog, we will look at four ways to address unworthiness and find compassion and self-love.
1. Explore Where Unworthiness Originates
Exploring where your feelings of unworthiness originate through therapy and self-exploration can aid in your self-love journey. The choice of therapy is up to you and can be a great opportunity to find what works.
Either through talk therapy, hypnotherapy, or somatic therapy, to name a few, explore how unworthiness feels in your body. Stay with the discomfort, the shame, the heaviness of this feeling. If therapy feels like too big of a step, start with journaling. And if you don’t know where to start, try these journaling prompts.
2. Establish a Routine
Routines give us structure. Setting and committing to daily goals, even ones as simple as making your bed in the morning, will make you feel a sense of peace in the long run.
Think about it. Have you set goals in the past and the more you’ve committed to them, the better you’ve felt? You probably felt accomplished and proud! And you deserve to feel that way. Setting and sticking to a routine can help you feel that.
3. Discover Your Unique Style
We don’t mean this in a hyper-focused sense. When you wear clothes you love or style your hair a certain way, you feel good. And you do it for yourself! That’s the important key in this step – discovering what makes you feel good.
Your own unique style and expression can help you connect with yourself on a deeper level. Are there styles you’ve wanted to try? Have you thought about cutting your completely different than your usual cut? It’s never too late to try a different look and feel more connected to who you are.
4. Challenge Your Inner Critic
Our inner critics are often mean and the voice of another or societal expectations. It’s important to get to know the inner critic that lives in your head. Notice the messages it gives you and actively choose not to believe its toxic rhetoric about the kind of person you are.
In time, this will get easier. Just remember, you have to actively choose to disagree with your inner critic! It will take work, but it’s worth it.
Freedom from Unworthiness
It is entirely possible to feel settled in our natural self-worth that even when we are shamed or rejected, we stay dignified. We don’t lose our center.
For this to happen, we must connect with our sense of healthy empowerment. When people shame or blame you, actively choose to not internalize what they’re saying.
We all make mistakes in life and it’s important to take the lessons learned from them and leave the shame behind. You are deserving of love, compassion, kindness, and pride in yourself.
At Georgia Strait Women’s Clinic, our approach includes individualized care and a range of therapeutic methods to address your concerns. We offer CBT, Somatic Therapy, Hakomi, DBT, Hypnotherapy, and EMDR along with a variety of workshops. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health and/or addiction, please contact us to learn more about our services.
