Does Your Self-Worth Need a Boost?

When it comes to love, relationships, happiness, career and financial success, how worthy do you feel?

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being low and 10 being high, where would you rate your overall level of self-worth?

The reason I ask these questions is because I am continually astounded by how many women and men have revealed to me lately that they have very low self-worth. People I respect and admire. People who would never cross my mind when I hear the words "low self-worth."

So many of us feel like we are not worthy. Not worthy of success, relationships, a better job or even just time to ourselves. This blows my mind - we don't feel worthy of taking time for ourselves, a basic human need. Furthermore, it's astonishing to me how many of us don’t love ourselves as a result of feeling so unworthy. Not only are we not able to love ourselves, we often actively dislike ourselves.

I feel sad when I hear these stories from attractive, intelligent, funny and talented men and women. I feel sad that we are unable to see and accept our wonderful traits. I feel sad that we deflect compliments or positive feedback, choosing either not to hear them or not to believe them. It’s this lack of self-worth that’s holding us back from acknowledging our strength and moving powerfully into the future.

Would you count yourself among those who feel unworthy? Can you relate to those feelings of low self-worth?

If what I'm saying does resonate with you, rather than give you a "How to Overcome Low Self-Worth" list, I'd like to share a little story I once heard. It goes like this:

A speaker started off a seminar by holding up a $100 bill. In a room of 200 people, she asked, “Who would like this $100 bill?”

Everyone put up their hands.

She said, “I am going to give this $100 to one of you but first, I'm going to do this,” She crumpled up the bill in her hand.

Then she asked, “Who still wants it?”

Again, everyone put up their hands.

"How about now?" she asked as she tore a small corner off it.

All hands shot up again.

“What if I do this?” she replied and dropped the bill and ground it into the floor with her shoe.

She picked it up, all crumpled and dirty. “Now who still wants it?” Still, all hands went into the air.

“No matter what I did to the $100 bill, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $100. From the time we are born we are crumpled, torn, dropped and ground into the dirt by situations, circumstances and events. We begin to feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, just as this $100 bill, you will never lose your value.”

I think this story speaks for itself, no?

If you think you’re not worthy of someone or something, remember this story. We are all valuable and we are all worthy. This includes you. Yes, you.