Unfortunately, most people today tend to focus more on building their ego than on preserving their self-respect. And what exactly does self-respect mean?
Self-respect means being confident about and proud of yourself. It’s about behaving with honor and dignity. But, most importantly, it’s about accepting and valuing yourself with all your merits and achievements, and your faults and failures as well.
In what follows, there’s a list of 21 things you’re no longer doing because you have self-respect now:
1. Making other people your top priority; focusing more on their feelings and needs than on your own.
2. Accepting apologies unless they are sincere and followed by action.
3. Listening to other people complain about everyone and everything in their lives. Engaging in meaningless, negative conversations, such as petty arguments and gossip.
4. Hanging out with people unworthy of your love and attention. Sometimes you tell them in a polite, civilized manner that you no longer want to talk to them, and other times, you simply ghost on them.
The second one might seem immature and unfair, but there’re cases in which you’re left with no other option because you know that a polite explanation will make the person you want to distance yourself from argue and even behave violently.
5. Justifying your beliefs, words, attitudes, and actions to other people; seeking the approval of others.
6. Doing things you don’t want to. Now, you go home when you feel like it; say NO when you don’t want to do something. And you no longer feel the need to give people explanations for your actions.
7. Letting people overstep your boundaries, insult you, and hurt your feelings.
8. Pleasing others and meeting their expectations of you. You know that if you try to be the person others want and expect you to be, this will come at the cost of your own happiness and you may eventually lose track of yourself.
9. Texting back or answering someone’s calls immediately. It’s not that you’re behaving irresponsibly or rudely. It’s that sometimes you’re too busy working and other times, you don’t feel like talking to anybody, and this is not selfish and rude too.
10. Having the same opinions, perceptions of and attitudes towards other people, priorities, and goals. Everything around you changes, so do you.
11. Hanging out and talking to people who have a negative impact on you. People who are manipulative, dishonest, and phony, and people who drain your energy.
12. Worrying about what other people think and say about you and whether they approve of your decisions and actions.
13. Wanting and convincing others to like you. You know that this is impossible and that it’s just a waste of time. What you want is to be loved and appreciated by the people whom you love and who matter to you. And you really are. And this – this is enough for you.
14. Focusing more on what others think about your life than on how you actually feel and whether you’re satisfied with your own life.
15. Allowing others to manipulate and take advantage of you.
16. Sticking to your bad habits. No more excessive spending, smoking, and drinking.
17. Letting other people interfere with your creativity. Now, you let your emotions and mind stimulate your creativity, and you don’t care what others will think or say about what you’re doing.
18. Taking out your anger on other people because you’re dissatisfied with yourself.
19. Holding other people accountable for your actions. You’re no longer ashamed and afraid to own up to your mistakes. This is a sign that you’ve become a responsible, mature person.
20. Waiting idly for others to fulfill your responsibilities, solve your problems, and give you opportunities to achieve success. You’re a master of your own life.
You know that it’s your obligation to work on yourself and embrace every opportunity life offers you to grow personally and professionally.
21. Lying to yourself. Now, you’re true to yourself. A distinct sign that you’re always honest with and respect yourself is the fact that you always act in accordance with your beliefs, moral values, and social principles, and you never let others make you act otherwise.
