Appreciate Yourself Daily and Grow Self Respect

How do you react when someone does something incredibly nice for you? Naturally, you react with appreciation. But how often do you respond with an appreciation to and for yourself? Do you appreciate the job your body does for you on a daily basis? Do you appreciate how your hands or feet serve you?

That is what self-appreciation is.  It’s about turning that kindness that you always give to everyone else and turning it inwards.  So rather than blaming  yourself for mistakes or failures, you focus instead on thanking yourself for all of the things that you do but take for granted.

The Definition of Self-Appreciation

There are an awful lot of ‘self’ terms, but it isn’t often that you hear about self-appreciation.  It shouldn’t be confused with self-confidence or self-esteem because these are completely different. Self-appreciation is exactly what it says on the tin, it’s about appreciating yourself, and what that means is being grateful for you and what you bring to the table.

What should be appreciated about yourself?

You should be grateful that you came stocked with natural gifts and talents. You can even appreciate your weaknesses.

Self-esteem is an evaluation of your worth –  it’s an unconscious self-judgment. Someone with high self-esteem will value themselves as being a person who deserves admiration and respect. If you don’t believe that you deserve those things, then you likely have low self-esteem. We all have our own strengths, but do you value them? You and I may have the same strengths, but we could value them entirely differently.

For example, maybe you are an introvert. You can value the characteristics that come along with that, while somebody else might consider them to be negatives.

Self-appreciation means not judging that characteristic  as good or bad. It’s a quality that can serve you in negative and positive ways, depending upon the circumstance. It doesn’t matter what it is – you just appreciate that it’s yours.

Some people see self-appreciation as a form of ego. However, appreciating yourself and exercising self-respect is not egotistical. You can praise yourself and acknowledge your greatness without being arrogant or egotistical about it.

Ultimately, self-appreciation is rooted in compassion for yourself. It’s not an exercise in boosting your outward image, it’s about being thankful.

Self-Appreciation

You don’t need to wait for other people to appreciate you. If you believe you do a great job, why wouldn’t you appreciate the effort? When you let others define you, when you let them determine whether you’re good enough or worthy of happiness, you do yourself a disservice. Self-appreciation is in your own hands, you don’t need to wait for someone else to validate you.

Here are some of the ways in which you can practice self-appreciation and develop self-respect.

With Kind Words

You can start self-appreciation with a simple set like being kind to yourself with the words that you use. Take notice of how you speak to yourself. What language would you use to appreciate someone else? How can you change that to use on yourself? Start using fewer words that create drama and judgment. When you feel like you want to beat yourself up, flip the script and appreciate yourself instead. Rather than scolding yourself, appreciate the little things.

With a Gratitude Journal

This is an excellent way to get to the root of all the things you take for granted about yourself. Sitting down to keep a gratitude journal is also a great way to remember what life has given you and what you have to be grateful for about it, as well as yourself. You can look back at your journal and see all the amazing things that have happened in your life.

With a Gift

It doesn’t matter what the gift is – it just matters that you do it. Don’t buy something for yourself just because you want it, do it from a place of appreciation to thank yourself.

Learn to exercise the above steps every day until it becomes second nature, a true habit. Then watch your self-respect grow!