Treat Yourself With The Utmost Respect

Treat yourself with the utmost respect because you are the most important piece of the puzzle. 

Truth is, there are many of us who treat ourselves in ways we would never do to a friend. We harshly criticize ourselves, blame ourselves, call ourselves names, and lie to yourselves. Sometimes we can be downright brutal. 

Whatever your definition of respect, start applying it to yourself first. Start by treating yourself with basic respect which entails some of the following: 

• Never insult yourself
• Never lie to yourself
• Never steal from yourself 
• Never call yourself names
• Alway treat yourself kindly
• Treat your body well 
• Alway be honest with yourself

Treating yourself with respect is the first step, but here is something else we can do. 

Take Care Of Your Body

Respecting your body means keeping it in good working order to stay fit and healthy.  As you make the effort to improve overall health, you feel a sense of pride in the progress you are making. 

The mindset that leads to self-respect is that you are working on your body because it makes you feel good about yourself. It should not be because you don't feel you are "good enough" the way you are. 

Target Areas For Improvement

Respecting yourself is knowing that your life is a series of growing, learning, and continually improving to make your life the best it can be. No one is perfect, but self-respecting people are constantly engaged in the act of moving from better to better. 

The improvement process is never ending, but progresses one step at a time. To get in the game of making yourself better, you can do the following:

• Accept the things you cannot change about yourself
• Take time to think about yourself to identify your wants and needs
• Consider what you would like to work on most
• Make a plan to get started
• Note when you make improvements 
• Write down your victories and celebrate them

Taking these steps toward constant improvement will make you feel more confident and empowered to respect yourself even more.

Never Demean Yourself

Improving yourself means taking steps to try new things and develop new possibilities. When engaging in something new, you will not be perfect. 

Embrace this imperfection as your price for improvement. Never demean yourself for not being perfect. But know that everyday you keep going, you will improve a little each day.

Respect Others

If you really want to respect yourself, start respecting others. Show respect to everyone that comes in your path, whether they really deserve it or not.

We automatically respect people of authority or those that are more accomplished than us, but practice showing respect for everyone no matter what their status. 

Here are some basic way to respect others:

• Be honest with people
• Be kind and empathetic of others 
• Listen to what they say
• Consider their opinion
• Avoid interrupting them 
• Offer to help when you can
• Alway look for opportunities to say "Please and Thank you". 

Treat others by showing them the same respect we want to receive.

Recognize When People Disrespect You And Take Steps To Stop It

When someone doesn't give you the basic respect you deserve, stand up for yourself, and tell them to treat you better. 

This sounds easy to do, but it gets harder when you're disrespected from someone close to you that you love and admire. Some people disrespect you in subtle ways that are sometimes hard to recognize.

Not matter what, when someone makes you feel bad about yourself, get away from them as fast as you can. It's not easy to protect yourself, but your self-respect is that important.

Learn To Practice Non Threatening Communication

How do you confront someone who is disrespecting you? Use forceful but non threatening communication.

Don't resort to yelling or insulting the other person even if you really want to. Instead, relax and identify exactly how you are feeling. Then own those feelings by taking responsibility for them.

Then clearly explain what you need or want from the situation. Say something like, "I need to maintain a high self image, so I don't want to listen to negative comments about me. So when you talk negatively about me, I will remove myself."

People will alway test you to see if you are serious, so when they do, stick to your guns and leave immediately every time it happens.

They will learn that you're serious.  If not, cut them off for good.

Don't Rely Too Much On Others To Feel Good About Yourself

Sometimes people pay too much attention to the opinions of others above their own. Friends, spouses, or peers always have their own opinions about you, and even if their opinions are negative, we can give it too much importance in fear of losing our relationship. 

A classic sign of low self-respect is paying too much attention to everyone else's needs above your own.  Instead, trust your own opinions and put your needs first. Learn that you do not need to depend on someone else for your happiness. 

To get started, learn what you can control. You can't control others but you can control how you react.

Forgive Others

Sooner or later you will run into people who will do you wrong in some way. To travel the road to self-respect, and for your own benefit, try to find a way to forgive  them. 

They may not become you best friend and you may never want to be around them again, but forgive them. 

Why? If you are spending all your time thinking about all the resentments you have over someone's misdeeds, you won't be about to think clearly enough to live in the present. 

So do yourself a favor and forgive them so you can move forward. Forgiving others is a gift you give yourself as a part of self-healing. As you forgive, you are the one who benefits the most.

Spend Time With The People Who Respect You

One of the best things you can do to make your self-respect soar is spending time with people who respect you. 

Being around people who make you feel bad about yourself does nothing but lower your self-respect. But being with people who make you feel positive puts you in the same positive frame of mind. 

This works especially well in good relationships with people who make you feel good about yourself. Always keep a circle of people around that are willing to be honest with you, listen to you, and value what you bring to the relationship. 

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