•  Are you often anxious about what others think?
• Do you tend to blame yourself? 
• Do you find yourself apologising a lot? 
• Are you often thinking about how to avoid certain situations?
• Are you so demanding of yourself that you feel you are never good enough?

How many times have you wished for something only to have doubts creep in when you’re getting close to achieving it?

Picture it for a second; you’re doing well at something and then those pesky thoughts creep in, the ones that make you doubt yourself; doubt whether you deserve to get what you want.  Those little niggling voices that say “Do you think you will really be good enough for that?”, “What if they find out that you’re not capable?”.  Other people may have made you feel this way, but often it’s the way that we speak to ourselves that confirms these thoughts.

Not feeling worthy can cause many emotions in us; it can lead us to torment ourselves with self-criticism and can make us constantly compare ourselves; our jobs, our looks, our economic status, to other people. When we don’t feel worthy, we lack the confidence we need to push through these thoughts. They impair us and stop us from achieving the things that we want to in life. This then causes a vicious cycle of unhelpful thoughts and sabotaging behaviour, enabling the very thoughts that seek to destroy us.

So how do we get past this? How can we help ourselves to feel worthy?

Feeling worthy isn’t something that comes to us easily, but with practice we can certainly increase our own confidence and our resilience towards the things that ourselves and others may say. Things that we can do include;

• Practicing challenging limiting thoughts when they appear – replacing them with positive statements instead,

• Showing yourself kindness and love - as you would if you were a friend,

• Doing things that get you out of your comfort zone; anything from taking up a new hobby to doing something for work. This will get your heart pumping and give you a sense of achievement,
• Counting our blessings. Aim to think of 3 positives in your life each day,and last but by no means least
• Celebrate your own achievements – no matter how small!

We should aim to be consistent with these practices. They may seem like small steps, but they go a long way towards introducing an unshakeable faith in ourselves. Helping us to feel like we deserve good things. When we see ourselves in this way, we no longer rely on other people to make decisions for us and realise that our own opinions are the ones that matter.

With practice you alone, will hold yourself accountable and you alone will hold the power to make positive change in your own life.