One of the biggest lessons I had to learn while doing the things I really love, was to open myself in such a way, so that I can receive, without questioning this. The thing that comes along with this behavior is whether if I am worth it or not. And the answer is always yes. Every one of us is worth receiving good in life. This idea is well connected to one of the values I have in mind while coaching my clients, that is respect, both for yourself, but for the others around. While being deeply connected to my mission, that is of inspiring women stop giving up on themselves, I understood that what I deeply want, is to teach women how to regain their self-respect. If  you respect yourself, you don’t give up on you and on your promises, if you show self-respect, you don’t settle for less, you say no when you can’t take it anymore, you take care of you and your body and you are, at the same time, kind with yourself.

We hear so often about how important the self-care is, but we rarely speak about self-respect. I always wondered why people give up on themselves, more than they give up on others. That might be because most of the time, when you make a promise to somebody, you keep it because you are afraid of disappointing them. But if you disappoint yourself, you move on with none or few regrets.

When you offer respect to yourself, you have the courage to make your dreams come true, you have the courage to live the life that you always wanted and dreamed of. Yesterday, in one of the discussion I had with my Coach, she asked me a question that stick with me for quite a while: how many  people take their dreams to the cemetery, because they don’t have the courage to give up on the reactions of people around? And this is so much connected with self-respect. You respect the others because you care about what they say, but what if you start respecting yourself and becoming aware that you can’t control the reactions of other people and that you are not responsible of those reactions either? Why not becoming aware that the way you feel is your choice and that you are the one meant to control this?

For so many years, I stopped myself from expressing my opinions, because I was constantly thinking that my voice doesn’t matter and that I might make others uncomfortable with my thoughts. I was constantly disrespecting myself without even knowing this. I am not saying that you should disrespected others while doing the things in your way, what I am saying is that you should be constantly connected to your values and to whom you truly are, while having a good impact on all the people around you.  I always encourage the ones around me to be empathetic and care about the ones they connect with.

I always knew, deep inside my heart, that I can make a difference in this world and that I can have a great impact on all the people I get in touch with. But recently, I became aware that the biggest impact I should first have is on myself, the moment I manage to show self-respect.

Therefore, I strongly encourage you to get out there in the world, speak your mind and talk about your truth, while making deep connection with whom you really are. And if you think it might be hard, the first thing you can do, is listen to your favorite song, take a white sheet of paper, a pen and start writing whatever comes in your mind, without judging yourself. The rational part of your brain might tell you that this is nonsense or that this won’t take you anywhere. But don’t stop. What you can stop though, is disrespecting yourself by constantly giving up on the promises you make to yourself, or on the dreams that you had when you were a child. There is no such thing as too many people that live their dreams. There is plenty of space for everyone out there.

And if you feel lost, if you get confused, if you don’t know where to go, drop me a line. I bet I can help you gain yourself back. I encourage you to put yourself first. You earned it! You know you can be more than those dreams that you constantly give up to.

Photo: Anna Kolosyuk, Unsplash.com