Six ways to remind yourself of your self-worth at work

Maiyo Febi

While these certainly affirm self-love, at the core of self-love is the belief that you are a valuable and worthy person; foundational components of self-mastery and personal development. A practical definition of self-love is

to take care of yourself like you’d take care of a friend in distress. You treat yourself kindly. You don’t nitpick and criticize yourself. Self-love is a practice and it’s a skill that takes work.

Here are six ways you can practice self-love at work:

1. Protect yourself

When things go wrong, workplace issues can easily escalate to finger pointing. Taking the fall for others and accepting others’ ill judgments of you may seem like a peaceful way out but you are enforcing to yourself that you do not matter so you are not worth standing up for.

2. Forgive yourself

It is guaranteed that at some point you will do something wrong; you are human. In those moments, it’s okay to feel the pain of messing up but don’t wallow in self-pity like the world is over. Review the situation, do what you can to remedy the situation and move on.

3. Develop yourself

Personal development is the beginning of all progress. Give yourself something to aim for on a regular basis. How can you improve your skills? Do you need help with managing your emotions? Is there bitterness lurking in your heart that requires the help of a counsellor? What happens to you on the inside has a direct effect on the outside and vice versa. Always treat yourself as a holistic human being.

4. Celebrate your successes

When things go really well, celebrate it! Make celebrating a habit! Do something to mark the moment in time; it can be as simple as having your favourite coffee or pizza for the team. In difficult times you can think back to the celebrations to affirm that you’ve done better in the past and you can do it again in the future. We are often better at beating ourselves down than we are at congratulating ourselves.

5. Store your good news

Positive emails from colleagues, executives or clients should be stored safely in a special folder for those moments when you’ll need of a boost of inspiration. The emails can also come in handy when motivating for a pay rise or a bursary.

6. Build support

Have one or two people you trust in the workplace to be a support base. These are people who can sense check your ideas or offer you support during challenging times. They don’t necessarily have to be your friends; this is more a supportive mentoring relationship.

Self-love is key to an emotionally balanced life at work and play. It improves your self-esteem, increases your sense of power and encourages healthy authentic relations with others. A corporate culture that encourages self-love can improve productivity. Individuals with self-love have been found to manage themselves better, have higher levels of self-awareness and experience less stress and anxiety.