You are about to embark on a new passion project of yours and an annoying little voice in your head says – “Psst – Listen up, you’re not good enough”.

It haunts you no matter what you do or where you go, doesn’t it? This ugly feeling can keep you from chasing your dreams. A lack of self-worth can hijack your overall happiness quotient in life.

Have you ever asked yourself – “Why do I feel so miserable about myself? Why am I never good enough?” If you haven’t yet found a convincing reason, we at Daily Life believe that this article might just be what you are looking for.

Use this to guide you in your journey within. Let’s begin…

What is Self-Worth?

Self-worth essentially speaks of the foundational roots of how we value and view ourselves. Fundamentally, it is the innate feeling that we are deserving and worthy of our needs, wants, and desires. Most importantly, it’s the feeling that we are worthy of living life itself.

Given the value of self-worth, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that lack of it can massively mess up our physical, mental, spiritual & emotional health.

Self-worth vs. Self-esteem

These two terms are interchangeably used, but a subtle distinction does exist!

It’s easier if self-worth is understood as the foundation on which self-esteem is built. That said, people can display high self-esteem as a facade and yet suffer from low self-worth issues.

Learn more about Self-esteem & Accepting Compliments.

The Root Cause of “I Am Not Good Enough”

Lacking self-worth and an I’m-not-good-enough mindset can be the reason for insecurities, jealousy, and a wide array of negative emotions. In fact, psychologists have found a direct correlation between low self-worth and mental health issues such as depression.

Understanding why some people harbor a chronic “I’m-not-good-enough” mindset will help us address this issue at its root.

So, why do people lack self-worth?

Self-Worth Issues & Unprocessed Emotions

Here’s the thing about emotions. They aren’t like your lunch sandwich from today which, you know for a fact, will be processed and out of your system by tomorrow. Emotions, particularly negative ones, do not get processed until you set a conscious intention to do so.

When was the last time you sat down to consciously process your emotions?

Shame, narcissism & pride as a mask to hide shame are a few commonly experienced negative emotions. Repressing these feelings and a chronic pile up within us can result in an overall poor sense of self and feelings of unworthiness.

Low Self Worth & Root Chakra Blockage

Energy organizes itself within our body into seven centers or vortices called chakras. Of these, the Root chakra, which sits at our tail bone, represents the foundation for our physical, emotional, and energy body. It also represents security and stability in life.

Additionally, it is linked to our sense of belonging and early childhood. Any physical, mental or emotional disturbances experienced during childhood directly impact our foundation a.k.a, the Root chakra.

With an unstable foundation in place, negative self-beliefs that we are unworthy (of love, abundance, stability, security, etc.) begin to creep in at a tender age. Thus, a subconscious autopilot conditioning of unworthiness sets in which affects how we view ourselves in adult life.

Healing the Root chakra is a great way to address low self-worth at its core.

3 Ways of Improving Low Self Worth

1. Evaluate Your Beliefs

Your current concept of self and, therefore, self-worth stems from the beliefs you hold. Evaluating your belief system is a good place to start when trying to identify why you lack self-worth.

A majority of people have a hard time plainly stating their core beliefs and often defer to others. So, to help you get started with your list, here are three general examples of what limiting self-beliefs could possibly look like:

• I need to engage in hustle culture only because it will make me “feel important.”
• Wearing a branded Sherpa for the weekend event will help me be perceived in a certain way.
• I need to always be helpful & available for my family, so they think of me as “responsible and mature.”

Let’s look within: Is it time to question your values?

Limiting self-beliefs are silent thought patterns that arise from autopilot programming of the subconscious mind. It’s important to remember, they are not conscious thoughts, they are hard to detect and yet silently run the show.

Your beliefs might look very different from the above list.

On a piece of paper or in your notebook, write down five of your limiting self-beliefs. Admitting that these even exist is half the battle won. Once you’ve listed them, ask yourself when and why you started identifying with these beliefs. You just might be surprised at what comes up during inner work.

2. Use Emotional Awareness

We all know that experiencing negative emotions such as shame, guilt, jealousy isn’t exactly fun. None of us particularly enjoy these feelings. So, to avoid them, oftentimes, we push away our triggers (be it people, memories, or events). This isn’t any different than using tape to temporarily fix a leaky plumbing line. Don’t we all know how well that works!

These negative emotions are mirrors for the lack of self-worth you might be experiencing.

The next time you experience say, shame, negative self-talk, or jealousy, instead of pushing away your trigger, take a moment to pause and ask yourself why you feel the way you feel. You can use self-awareness in this way to identify your inner dialog and thus work with negative emotions.

3. Heal Your Root Chakra

We’ve seen how a Root chakra block could be stirring up a lack of self-worth within you. Chakra healing can be approached via multiple methods. Essential oils, color therapy, chakra affirmations, chakra-specific foods, sound therapy, meditation – the list is long!

In addition to these, the Root chakra is particularly responsive to earthing, intentional movement, and inner child work. A combination of multiple approaches might be just what your energy body needs.

You are Worthy! You are Enough!

Irrespective of your life experiences or current circumstances recognize that low self-worth can be improved. You don’t have to base your worth on external factors like your job, social, or social media status.

Having now learned how to increase self-worth, we want you to know that you are worthy, and you are enough.

Related article: Your Self-Love Ritual, Based on Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type