Veroniquecartier's Blog

Unconditional Self-Worth March 26, 2010

by Irene S. Roth

  Individuals who have a healthy amount of self-esteem have an unconditional self-worth. A basic premise is that all people have equal, immeasurable, and unchanging intrinsic worth as a person. Worth as a person is neither earned nor increased by external factors.

Obviously, this is not the message that other individuals give us in social circles. Usually, we are criticized because we don’t believe that everything someone else believes or that we act differently from others.

How can we keep our self-worth intact? The best way is to love yourself unconditionally regardless of what others think or say about you. There are several tips that you could rely on to help you to achieve this.

1. Don’t let externals, be they people or things, dictate how you feel about yourself. Always make sure that you love yourself regardless of what others say about you.

2. Don’t let externals define who you are. People will always criticize you when they won’t think that you measure up. But this shouldn’t make you feel bad about yourself because this is just one person’s opinion.

3. External things do not constitute your core self. Your core self is complete as it is without outside interference. Your core self doesn’t need outside assurance or acceptance. All your core self needs is for you to accept yourself wholeheartedly.

4. Try to ensure that your sense of self-worth isn’t dependent on things that you can’t control. Otherwise, your self-worth and core self will rise and fall all the time. This can lead to low self-esteem over time.

5. Don’t always criticize yourself. By being hypercritical of yourself, you will be undermining your core self and developing a low self-image. Instead, know that you are wonderful just as you are.

6. Love all of your innate qualities because they are what constitute your core self. This kind of self-acceptance and self-love will give you a healthy self-esteem.

7. External things are always fluctuating. Your inner core self is permanent and the more you treat it with respect and love, the better it will become and the more security it will give you. Only your core self can give you the reassurance that you need.

When you love your core self and accept it unconditionally, you are developing a strong sense of self-worth. Once you develop this, it will follow you all the days of your life. And with a strong core self, you will never suffer from low self-esteem.

Irene S. Roth is a freelance writer specializing in social and psychological issues for teens and tweens. She has published mostly nonfictional articles on these topics and she is in the process of writing an E-book that will be available are June, 2010 about all of these topics.

For more information on these issues, please visit her adolescent blog at: http://www.adolescentgirlsblog.wordpress.com.