How to gain self respect again
Self respect can be gained only when you truly believe in yourself. So do just that. If you feel like you’re being held back because of the flaws you have, try to work on them and feel good about yourself. Use these 5 steps to regain your self respect and the respect of others around you.
#1 It takes time. What you need to do first is make up your mind and prepare yourself to become a new person. If it takes losing a few people who don’t respect you, so be it.
#2 Be ready for retaliation. The people who retaliate to your changes are almost always the people who were manipulating you and using you which lead to your low self esteem in the first place. Anyone who truly cares about you would be happy to see the new you.
#3 Put your foot down. The easiest way for someone to use you or take you for granted is by testing you by asking for small favors, which get bigger and bigger with time. Don’t let others test your boundaries. Learn to say no to people who try to use you, even if it’s something trivial.
#4 Your importance. Do you really give yourself the same importance as you give your partner or your friends? You need to start focusing on your own happiness first.
#5 Believe in yourself. Low self respect starts when you start doubting yourself and your capabilities. Improve on what you perceive as flaws about yourself and bring that confidence back into your life.
What does self respect give you?
In a short sentence? A better life. You may not realize this, but self respect will make everyone else take you more seriously.
Your partner will respect you more and love you better. You’ll feel more important and mentally stronger, which will eventually bring your partner’s admiration and respect.
People who were taking you for granted will subconsciously take you more seriously and treat you like a superior or an equal instead of treating you like a pushover because they’ll be intimidated by how much self respect you have for yourself.
So what are you waiting for? Of course, it’s not easy to gain self respect overnight. But if building your self respect could give you a better life, isn’t that worth a try?
What happens when you lose self respect?
When you give more than you receive in a relationship, you’d start to lose more of your self respect. And with time, your perfect relationship could turn into a clingy one sided love story. Here are 5 situations that could arise because of your low self respect.
#1 You lose your voice in the relationship. Decisions start to get taken without your approval or notice.
#2 You become a puppet. You meekly string along with your partner because you genuinely believe you have nothing of value to add to the relationship.
#3 You’re not taken seriously by the people that matter to you. You could end up just being an object or an accessory because your opinions offer no value or objections.
#4 Love turns to gratitude. Instead of experiencing a balanced relationship with equal love, you truly start to believe that your partner is worthy of a person who’s so much better than you.
#5 Love starts to crumble. Your partner will start to believe that they deserve someone better because you’re just not good enough for them. And you, on the other hand would feel stifled and confused. And even if you voice an opinion, it may just anger or annoy your partner because they don’t think you’re worthy of being heard.