How you see yourself is crucial to many aspects of your life. For example, the way you see yourself can impact you.
Your self-esteem
Your self-confidence
Your overall happiness and satisfaction in life
And much more!
Understanding what causes you to see yourself a certain way is crucial for exploring ways to improve your overall self-image. To dive deeper into understanding how you see yourself, consider these top ten tips:
Consider moments from your past that caused you to adopt certain beliefs about who you are.
Your past plays a huge role in how you see yourself. To better understand how you see yourself, consider the moments from your history that have caused you to adopt certain beliefs about who you are.
For example, a traumatic life event may so firmly cement an experience in your childhood that you still think about it often. That moment from childhood taught you something important about yourself, and now that the information is firmly rooted in your mind, it affects how you see yourself. Understanding how these formative past moments have affected your life can help you better understand who you are and how you perceive yourself.
Create a list of the various roles you fulfill within your life.
People, in general, wear a variety of "hats" in their lives. Individuals often assume various roles throughout their lives, including those of a worker, partner, best friend, and parent. The number of functions you fulfill in your life is ever-growing. Create a list of all the roles you fulfill within your life and consider how those roles' assumptions shape your understanding of how you see yourself.
Pay close attention to the way you speak to yourself.
When speaking to yourself, your chosen language can highly reflect how you see yourself. For example, if you talk to yourself negatively, you may see yourself in a negative light, convinced that you do not deserve your kindness. Paying close attention to how you speak to yourself (and correcting it to be kinder) is an excellent way to understand more about how you see yourself.
Take stock of the people with whom you spend time most often.
The people you spend time around most often have the potential to affect the way you see yourself. Even if you genuinely care about your friend group, family members, or coworkers, it's essential to consider whether or not they are inviting negativity into your life. Spending too much time with negative naysayers can cause you to see yourself negatively; in contrast, spending time with positive people can cause you to see yourself in a positive light.
Permit yourself to express yourself authentically.
Allow yourself to express yourself authentically. Doing so is a great way to understand how you see yourself. For example, if you prefer to dress in bright, colorful patterns, you may realize that you enjoy reflecting your positivity outwardly through your wardrobe. Paying attention to how you express yourself authentically is an excellent window into your true self.
Make a list of identifying terms you would use to describe yourself.
Whenever you think of a word or phrase to describe yourself, jot that term down into a list. Keep the list ongoing and add whenever something new comes to mind. This practice is a great way to understand better how you see yourself.
Keep a list of traits you admire about yourself.
Similarly to the tip above, also keep a list of traits you admire about yourself. Whenever you think of a new one, add it to your list. Doing this is a great way to understand how you see yourself by focusing on what you consider your most positive traits. Not only is this practice a positive way to see yourself, but it's also a great mood booster when you're feeling low.
Identify your specific and unique set of strengths and weaknesses.
All people are born with their own specific set of strengths and weaknesses. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is an excellent way to understand how you see yourself.
Knowing where your strengths lie helps you see where you can excel most in life, and knowing where your weaknesses lie can help you determine where you can make positive changes and adjustments. However, to get to the point where you can use your strengths and weaknesses to structure your life, you must understand them to know how they affect how you see yourself.
Take stock of how often you prioritize yourself.
Your ability to prioritize yourself can help you understand how you see yourself. For example, if you prioritize your needs often, you likely see yourself as important and worthy of care. If you prioritize others' needs over your own, you may not see yourself as that important. Pay close attention to how often you prioritize yourself because it can indicate how you see yourself.
Build your unique definition of success.
A great way to better understand how you see yourself is to build your unique definition of success. There will always be a million different ways to Define success. You will see your friends find success, you will see famous people finding success, and you will see coworkers find success on the job. You will hear "success stories" coming in from many different directions.
All people find success in various ways, and how you perceive their successes can define how you see yourself. For example, if you don't find success the same way your co-worker does, you may see yourself in a negative light. Building your definition of success is crucial – it can significantly impact how you see yourself.
Now, It's Your Turn!
Which of these ten tips is the most important for better understanding how you see yourself and why?
#selfunderstanding #selfimage #selfawareness #personaldevelopment #mentalhealth #positivity #priorities #success #strengths #weaknesses #selfalignment #aplayernation