Feelings of worthlessness are incredibly unpleasant, but sadly, they’re not uncommon. Sometimes, we feel hopeless, useless, or without value even when that’s not true.
Though we’re not mental health professionals, we want to share a few tips we think you’ll find useful. Whether feelings of worthlessness are triggered by financial difficulties, personal issues, past trauma, job loss, etc., the best thing you can do is work through them.
However, if you feel like you can’t overcome feelings of worthlessness on your own, there’s no shame in seeking professional help. These feelings can be debilitating when they get out of hand, so reach out to someone if you ever need to!
6 Steps to overcoming feelings of worthlessness:
1. Adopt healthy coping mechanisms:
When you’re dealing with feelings of worthlessness, they won’t go away on their own. They need to be acknowledged, but they also need to be put in check. That’s where coping mechanisms come in!
Overeating or binge-watching a show won’t cut it. Instead, turn to meditation, journaling, manifestation journaling, or any other activity that allows you to take a moment and actually process what’s going on in your mind. Once you do that, it will be easier to let go and focus on more positive things.
2. Silence your negative inner voice:
Feeling worthless often gives your negative inner voice a ton of ammunition to work with. You start hyper-focusing on everything you do wrong and the negative thoughts don’t stop coming.
That’s how you end up convincing yourself you’re worthless, even though that’s not true at all. For this reason, it’s very important to nip the negative self-talk right in the bud.
When we’re feeling down, we often accept negative thoughts as facts without effort. The easiest way to avoid that is to counteract the negative with a positive. Even if you don’t believe them at the moment, repeating positive thoughts and affirmations to yourself will help you quiet down the mean voice. If you find it hard to do this in your mind, do it in writing!
3. Look back on your accomplishments:
If you’re feeling worthless, it can be difficult to think about positive things. However, you can look back on your life and remember all your accomplishments, and all the good things you’ve done.
Whether that’s facing a difficult test, learning a new skill, getting a new job, giving back to your community, making someone smile on the street, giving a loved one a gift, etc.
Focusing on the good things you’ve done, whether for yourself or other people, is a great way to remind yourself of your value. If you can’t think of anything, reach out to your loved ones and ask them. How have I helped you? Have I ever done anything to contribute to your happiness? We guarantee they will all have a list of answers for you.
4. Find the lesson:
Sometimes, feelings of worthlessness are triggered by something. Perhaps you made a mistake, you’ve hit rock bottom, or something has happened to you that was out of your control. Whatever the trigger may be, it can be painful and difficult to deal with.
However, these situations are often opportunities to learn something about yourself. Perhaps you’re stronger than you ever gave yourself credit for. Maybe it helped you realize that you need to work on yourself and create healthier habits.
There is always a lesson to learn, but you have to look for it. This mental exercise will help your thoughts go in a more positive direction so you can see the silver lining.
5. Remember It’s temporary:
Though it may not seem like it at the moment, feelings of worthlessness are temporary. It’s a storm that will pass, so even though it can be intense and disorienting, you will come out from the other end of the tunnel. You will regain your stability again, especially if you have the tools to get you through.
When you’re feeling worthless, do your best to remember this fact. It will help you calm your mind so you can get through it. Eventually, you will feel motivated again and aware of your strengths.
6. Get Back on the horse:
When the feelings of worthlessness pass, it’s time to get back on the horse. Whether the feelings were triggered by a struggle or a failure, you need to keep going. Try to learn how to move on quickly from a failure in life, if that’s your case.
Maybe you can’t accomplish something today, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to in the future.
Keep working on yourself and towards your goals, and you will eventually get there. Sometimes, things are not working because you need to make some adjustments. So, assess your situation, identify the things holding you back, and dare to change.
Conclusion:
Feeling worthless is something we’ve all experienced at one point or another.
Though dealing with it can be difficult, the tips we’ve provided today can be of huge help. You matter and you are worthy, don’t let negative feelings trick you into believing the contrary.
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