Embrace Your Worth: 5 Strategies for Women

🌟 New Podcast Alert! 🌟 This week, we're diving into the internal shifts women need to make to truly embrace their success. If you've ever felt undeserving of your achievements, this episode is for you! Join our "Deserve to Thrive" Challenge and transform your mindset. Listen now and start your journey to self-worth! 🎧✨ #DeserveToThrive #WomenEmpowerment #Podcast

Transcript

Welcome to the The Positive Growth Doctor Podcast®! I am your host, Dr. Christina Wilson. 

Do you remember what it was like growing up being an adolescent female? Ugh, it was hard. Throw in poverty, neurodivergence, and all the other awkwardness of the world and you have quite the conundrum. 

It’s hard when adults and peers don’t understand you. It’s hard being an outlier. The very reasons you stood out so long ago are some of the reasons for your success. 

You had strengths that others did not understand. Those strengths ultimately won in the end and are part of the success paradox that I talk about in other episodes. 

In this episode, I explore the meaning behind self-concept, which is a central idea connected to one’s self worth and how to use it to make important shifts on the road to internal success that matches your external success so you can live freely and enjoy life to its fullest. 

I share 5 actionable strategies to positively shift your internal beliefs about deserving the success you have worked so hard for and to see your true value and worth.

Find the full transcript for this episode on your favorite podcast app. 

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How Women Develop the Disconnect Between Internal Beliefs and External Successes That Impacts Self-Worth

I had every reason to feel on top of the world. I was doing exactly what I had been put on this earth to do. 

I was helping others who were in extreme emotional pain to come out of the darkness and achieve higher well-being. 

Deans and professors recognized my hard work and chose me for elite honors academies in research and honor societies. 

It was a far cry from my teachers growing up assuming I was stupid and lazy.

I was clinical director by the age of 23 and was trusted with immense responsibilities. Again, so different from my formative years. 

It was those innate strengths and challenging experiences early on that others didn’t understand that paved the way. 

So, why wasn’t I on top of the world, and why did I feel like I had to give more and more of myself because I needed to prove that I deserved it?

After all, they told me you can’t, and I did! I have heard this same thing over the years from the women I have coached. 

The Paralyzing Role of Self-Concept for Successful Women Whose Internal and External Successes Don’t Match Up

So, what is self-concept? Carl Rogers, the Father of Humanistic Psychology, said that self-concept is derived from one's ideal self, self-image, and self-esteem. 

As many of you know, I have been a professor for several years. I noticed that many of my students believe that self-esteem and self concept are the same. They aren’t, but there is some overlap. 

The ideal self is who you want to be. Self-image is how you currently see yourself. Your self-esteem is related to your acceptance of who you are. 

Sometimes, these things don’t match up, which leads to feeling stuck. We start developing our sense of self very early in life based on our beliefs, what we are told by others, who we are surrounded by, the media, and many more other variables. 

The good news is that it is malleable. It can be changed. 

In my case, I went off to college and was surrounded by those who looked beyond poverty, were willing to teach me, and saw things in me that were worth nurturing.

So, why wasn’t that enough? When you have had those beliefs for so long, it is hard to see beyond that even when there is proof otherwise. 

Other things like perfectionism that have been developed along the way get in the way. I talk a lot about this in other episodes.  

Five Strategies to Create a Positive Shift and Discover Your True Worth

As I mentioned, self-concept is malleable. I want to leave you with five ways to positively shift your internal beliefs about deserving the success you have worked so hard for and to see your true value and worth.

1. Awareness - It starts with becoming aware of what you are thinking about yourself. We are often so hard on ourselves. Identifying limiting beliefs and catching negative thought patterns gives you the opportunity to turn them around rather than ruminating on them. 
2. Take Positive Action - Who you surround yourself with has an impact on your beliefs. You might need to challenge some of your beliefs and take uncomfortable action. Remember, these are beliefs from long ago that have overstayed their welcome.
3. Change Your Habits -  There are good habits and bad habits. Don’t make perfectionism a habit! Consider starting the day with gratitude and doing something positive for yourself. Garbage in and garbage out. It’s time to take the trash out and invest in things that are worthy of you! 
4. Stop the Scroll - You don’t have to completely get rid of social media, but increase your awareness of how often you are on it and what you are looking at. Doom scrolling is a real thing. The number of hours we spend on it is shocking. Create space to positive scroll. When you ditch the doom scrolling, you will see a difference. 
5. Figure out the meaning of life. This looks different for each of us. For me, it is to love others as commanded by God. 

I will share what that looks like for me because it has been a game changer for me in regards to my own self-worth. Your higher power might be different from mine and that is okay. 

I have always believed in God, but my faith and relationship with him has changed over the years… for the better. It was he who called me to work with women at a time when I was suffering from sepsis and unsure I would leave the hospital. What are you called to do in this life? What is your meaning? 

It took me a very long time to realize that no matter what I did in life (the good, bad, and ugly), I was loved and worthy of love. I knew that those missteps did not define me and that they were opportunities to learn and grow. We were not promised a life without problems. He promised strength, His presence, and guidance in the good, bad, and the ugly. This has been a major contributor to my awareness of my true worth. No one can take that away. It comes from Him. 

I hope this helps! Remember, you are worthy. And you are loved.

Let's meet up again next week for another episode. 

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🩷 #DeserveToThrive #WomenEmpowerment #SuccessMindset #PersonalGrowth #PodcastEpisode