Knowing Your Worth

Do you know your worth?

This is a question I had asked myself time and time again in 2016: ‘do you know your own worth’?

When I look back at some of the past decisions I have made in life, there are definite periods in time where I realized I did not know my worth or even where to start to appreciate my worth.

It wasn’t until I started reflecting wholly, that I realized I was not valuing myself correctly.

My first look at understanding my worth, I had to understand – ‘Lauren what do you really like, need and want out of life’? I started to ask myself these simple questions over and over again – the first area of life I started review was my current love of self. The big thing I did not ‘like’ about myself was that I was a lil too thick for my liking. No let’s be real I was 200+ pounds. I had NEVER been that size in life. I was starting to see the struggle of gaining weight (going on stairs was harder and clothes were def not fitting). So, that is something I did not like – so how do you do that – you eat better and lose weight. I am not going to give all the tea to this story….Since it is the focus of my next blog *winkwink. But I lost the weight and gained a peace like none other.

Next, I looked at – what do I need out of life and that made me reflect on my dating life. Like most, we all want to be loved and need love. In 2016, I had been with my boyfriend for 4+ years. And I had to take a real hard look at our relationship, where I could see us going and if I was getting all that I needed to be happy. At the end of the day I realized I was not. This was a very hard decision. I spent a while before I actually decided to break up with him. The main thing I worried about was, if I broke up with him, would I ever find love again? Would I ever be with someone again? Or would I just be single forever? After I reflected on those questions – I knew regardless if I was single for the rest of my life, what I needed was to not to be with him anymore. I will always remember the day I said to him in that restaurant “I want to break up” – probably a surprise to him but I realized in that moment, this was something I needed to do for me and close that chapter in my life.

Lastly, I started reflecting on “what does Lauren want out of life?” I did not know. And it honestly took me almost two years to figure it out. I took my TIME. After being in such a long relationship, I had to honestly learn how to love me again. I was so used to doing for others, I forgot what it was like to do just for myself. I took the time to learn what I was and was not going to put up with in my life. I reflected on it all – self, dating, family, friendships, work, etc. I took myself on dates, did things that I really enjoyed and fell in love me again. It wasn't until the beginning for 2018 that I really started to feel more like myself and whole. I launched my first business and had a clarity for my next steps in life. I understood what I wanted exactly out of life. I had shed a ton of tears but ultimately learned how to smile and enjoy my God given life.

But, until I started writing this blog, I began to understand a new level of self worth. And the reason why, I started living in my own truth. As I started to write this blog, I honestly got writers block. I kept googling “worth”, “knowing my worth”, “my worth” and I could not find a definition that I felt was appropriate and fit what I was trying to convey or felt when I thought of the word “worth” – so I created my own worth statement:

“The consistent belief in knowing ones true self; understanding the value they bring to the world and having the ultimate acknowledgement and celebration of love in self.”

What does ‘worth’ mean to you? I challenge you to create your own worth statement for yourself. Life is full of decisions and challenges. I have made a lot of tough ones in recent years, but I always come back to my understanding and knowing of my worth; it makes it easier to make the decisions as they come.

So, take out a sheet of paper and ask yourself those 3 simple questions:

What do you like in life? What do you need in life? What do you want out of life? Stick to what you like, need and want in life – build towards those areas every day.

Start understanding and celebrating the knowledge in knowing your worth. It’s invaluable.

#knowyourworth #speakupla