Winning the battle of self-worth is a crucial step to growing net worth. Many of us suffer from low self-worth. We discuss the importance of your self-worth and the relationship to building wealth.
Realizing that failure is a reality in life is vital.
You need the courage to fail and pick yourself up to create wealth.
Growing your net worth requires a high savings rate, which can benefit from increased income and controlled expenses. You also need to be willing to take risks with your investments to produce the compounding effect on your savings.
Our minds can quickly put up roadblocks, limiting risks and ultimately gains in life. The struggle with self-worth is a reality for us, and unchecked will derail your dreams.
There’s a theory of Self-Worth.
Self-Worth Theory (Covington & Beery, 1976) states that an individual’s main priority in life is to find self-acceptance, often through competition with others.
When we fail to perform, we feel less self-worth.
To be able is to be worthy, but to do poorly implies incompetence and reason to despair one’s worth.
— Covington, Martin. “Self-worth theory.” Handbook of motivation at school 141 (2009).
Repeated failure can result in a person giving up. When you fail to take risks to grow your income, you reduce your chances of financial success.
Your environment matters.
Those who face the largest barriers to success are most likely to have low self-worth.
Only 16 percent of persistently poor children are consistently connected to work or school as young adults and are not poor in their late 20s
Yet success can be found despite these barriers.
I attended the Denver Kids Annual Breakfast in 2022. The keynote speaker, Camille Moore, overcame a mountain of environmental obstacles and failures. She is the president of the Black Law Student Association at the University of Denver and has dreams of becoming a US Senator.
Camille’s self-worth is proof that your dreams are attainable with support and courage to get back up when you fail. She refuses to let fear of failure deter her dreams.
Your odds of success are greater when you surround yourself with supportive and like-minded people. Whether you seek advancement in a corporate job or a career you build yourself, you are likely to stumble.
Colleagues, mentors, and friends can help you pick up the pieces and move forward.
Spending time with naysayers will only reduce your self-worth. You need people that provide support when the going gets tough.
Seek opportunities beyond your qualifications.
Successful people take risks and take on work that is beyond their skillset. You can grow your income and skills by taking risks.
Sometimes you will fail.
At least some level of failure is inevitable in every journey. There is no such thing as an overnight success.
When you separate the fear of failure from your self-worth, you find the confidence that even if you misstep, you will ultimately succeed.
Those willing to take on more than they are comfortable with are the same people who find the most success. When you take no risks, you are not rewarded.
Even successful people can be afflicted by low self-worth
You can defeat your fears and become successful and then become complacent. Then when a new challenge comes along, you may find yourself crippled by fear.
This reality can occur when you make a significant change in your life.
I recently left a 30-year career in the corporate world for a mini-retirement. I felt confident in that environment and knew that I could pick myself back up if I failed.
I gained tremendous time freedom after leaving but suddenly doubted my self-worth. There was no logical reason for this feeling.
Yet, there I was. Feeling fear that I might fail at whatever was next.
I have to remind myself that failure doesn’t define the journey’s end unless you don’t get back up.
Summary
When you have high self-worth, you have confidence that you will ultimately succeed. Realizing that failure is a reality in life is vital.
Don’t fear failure and instead work to create an environment filled with supportive people of your goals. These people can help you when times get tough.
Chase opportunities to increase your income that are beyond your current skillset. You will be challenged and provided an opportunity to grow. Know that failures will happen. You have to be willing to pick yourself up and keep moving forward.
Your self-worth needs attention throughout your life. Fear of failure can reemerge and block your progress when you become complacent.
High self-worth will provide the confidence that you can achieve your goals. You remove the artificial cap on net worth potential when you dare to get back up after failure and press on.
