Enjoy Life and Work

E V E RY B O D Y L I K E S to hear the words, “I like you!” Most people, however, expect to hear these from other people, not from themselves. But as Phyllis Diller said: “If someone doesn’t like himself, it’s almost impossible for others to like him.”

Here are seven proven ways to like yourself better.

1. Don’t compare yourself with other people!
You were designed to be yourself and nobody else. There is no “normal.” There is no “average.” Rating yourself by other people’s standards, opinions, and abilities will always make you come up short.

2. Stay in line with your conscience and with your own moral standards.
It is almost impossible to like yourself when you feel guilty. Guilt comes from doing things you personally believe to be wrong. So to like yourself more, get in touch with your own values, and live by them. Refuse to violate your conscience.

3. Forgive yourself.
When you have broken your own principles, forgive yourself completely! You’re human. You make mistakes. So acknowledge you were wrong. Correct the wrong behavior. Learn from it. Then, once and for all, put it out of your mind.

4. Separate personal worth from performance.
You are not your work! As Wayne Dyer said: “If you are what you do, then when you don’t, you aren’t!” So build your self-worth on your infinite value as a magnificently designed, intricately crafted, human person. Your ultimate value comes from being human.

5. Accept compliments from other people.
Don’t say: “Well, it was really nothing.” Instead say: “Thank you very much!” Receive compliments and allow them to build you up. Savor them.

6. Give yourself compliments.
It is all right to appreciate yourself. So compliment yourself often.

7. Use the affirmation “I like myself!”
Say it like you mean it—with feeling. Say it in your mind, throughout the day. Say it aloud, when you are alone! Say it 10,000 times, over the next year! Then one day, you will fully believe it.