The difference that a statement can make in the life of a man, woman, or child is nothing short of phenomenal.

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Self Respect.

Self respect and self esteem are closely related but are not the same thing. Self esteem means to hold one's self in high regard, to value one's self and to consider one's self as being worthy. Self esteem tends to be measured by some external standard. When that standard becomes difficult or impossible to measure up to, our self esteem takes a battering and we can end up viewing ourselves as less than worthy.

Troubles, mistakes, and 'failures' in life are inevitable. Self respect means being able to like one's self in spite of these troubles, mistakes, and failures. Self esteem tends to fluctuate. Sometimes its up, sometimes its down depending on a lot of different factors. Self respect on the other hand doesn't really fluctuate at all. It is tied permanently to what we are, not what we accomplish or don't accomplish.

For example, you may enjoy painting and drawing. Realizing that you are not a Picasso or a Da Vinci doesn't affect your self respect. However, when you take your art to a show and people in your class win prizes or accolades and you don't, your self esteem may be challenged.

Self respect is related to what we think of others opinions about us. The less weight we give to a compliment or a lack of compliment the stronger our self respect is. We should be able to accept compliments gracefully. We should also be able to accept insults with equal grace and dignity.

How to Protect and Nourish Self Respect

When our sole focus becomes 'self oriented' we become 'selfish' in outlook. Have you ever enjoyed the company of someone who was totally focused on themselves, their accomplishments, their possessions? Did you find them to be noble? Did you find them to be attractive? Did you want to spend more time in their company? Unlikely.

When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet in his private heart no man much respects himself.

- Mark Twain

The most positive people around us the most noble people around us are those who tend to be 'other oriented'. This isn't to say that they neglect themselves or allow themselves to be treated like door-mats, they just have a level of self respect that allows them to be a 'giver' rather than a 'taker' in life. Have you ever spent time in the company of someone who was focused on others? Someone who is caring, kind, and giving? Someone who can compliment and mean it? Someone who does things for others without expecting anything in return? Do you find them noble? Do you find them to be attractive? Do you want to spend more time in their company? Most likely.

The Value of Self Respect

For the most part personal development, self help, self growth and self improvement, focus on self esteem. Indeed self esteem is very important to the outcomes we have in life. After all, what we think about, we become.

The trouble with self esteem is that it is based on evaluation. The sad fact of life is that sometimes we succeed, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. During those times we are on the losing side we can fall into the trap of loosing respect for our selves. Respecting ourselves, means accepting our selves as we are.

The value of self respect can be seen in the example of the artist above. The artist who respects his or herself can enjoy their gift and accept their level of talent without having to evaluate it against an external standard. Self respect means acceptance which means freedom.

People who have a high degree of self respect tend to be more responsible, guilt-free, truthful, and stress free.

Some Ways to Develop Your Self Respect

Self respect comes from having positive character traits. It comes from the inside out. Here are some ways to put yourself in the path or self respect:

  • Consider one positive character trait a day or a week and look for ways to change your behaviour accordingly.
  • Consider your behavioural choices and think deeply (meditate) about them.
  • Create some affirmations that reinforce positive character traits.
  • Ask someone you can trust to give you feedback on how you express positive character traits.
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    Affirmations, Entrainment, and Self Respect

    Affirmations are an extremely powerful way of changing the way you think. Changing the way you think is critical to self respect. Affirmations can be made even more powerful by combining them with brainwave entrainment. Brainwave entrainment is a new technology that puts your mind in a state where both the conscious and subconscious mind accept your affirmations without rejecting them.

    When your subconscious mind adopts your affirmations, your behaviour will change. When this happens self respect will begin to blossom.

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