It’s interesting that I should be talking about self worth, especially because I was one of those people who had a rather low level of self worth, i.e. until recently.

Time,friends, is a great teacher and with life turning the table around I really did not have to attend any special class to learn about self worth.

So, what is self-worth? Self-worth is how you look at yourself, what you feel about your value and how happy or convinced you are about ‘who you are’.

Expectations from the family, the society, imposing of rigid rules and regulations can usually kill the self worth an individual has. Remember, children are usually full of high self worth.

As a child you too was someone who was less abashed about who you are, it is possible that you as a kid could dance or sing or imagine yourself to be as great as you ever wanted to be.

What changed then? Some harsh comments, a few unpleasant experiences might have led you to believe that you are not as special as you used to be any more.

Elizabeth Lesser, in her highly engaging Ted Talk, reveals what she learnt as a home – birth mid wife, one of the many careers she donned.

” Each one of us come to the universe with an unapologetic self worth”, she says. As the baby born with a very high sense of self worth and purpose grows up, the forces of the society, expectations of gender, class, religion, family,education etc. influence the ‘pre-baby’ to fill his/her mind with doubt, low self-esteem and everything else which significantly dilutes its value in its own eyes.

So how do we improve our sense of self worth?

Well, appreciate yourself. Celebrate the small successes of life.

Be giving. When you give something to someone in terms of time, effort or material things, your self worth automatically improves.

Invest in yourself. Spend some time learning something new. A new language, a new skill, a new sport. Try and engage yourself in activities that challenge you and relish the small,significant progress you make.

Sit by yourself. Spend time with yourself. Go for walks, travel alone, read a book, cook something special for yourself try to treat yourself as a significant somebody.

Exercise. Physical activities improve our self worth. Engage yourself a physical activity of some sort. Play some games. Join a sports club or just go around tossing the foot ball in your back yard. Doesn’t matter.

Be kind to yourself. Don’t spoil your success by being your harshest critic. It is easy for us to appreciate and acknowledge the goodness in others than in ourselves. So learn to be kind to yourself.

Positive body postures. Practice assertive and more open body postures and gestures. Your body will influence your mind to be more positive.

Finally write if you can or record small positive statements for yourself. You could also keep a journal. Writing about what you have done and how you intend to go about life in general gives you a purpose and boosts your self worth.

Are you wondering how much of self worth is too much? When self worth borders on arrogance it is indeed too much. Try to stay modest yet confident.