How to be proud of yourself: Tips to be proud of who you are

How to be proud of yourself? How to be proud of who you are? An intrinsic approach is an organic and long term solution to increase your self-worth and self-pride as opposed to relying on designer clothes, fashion fads and flashy cars. This post discusses how you can be proud of yourself by using emotions and feelings of happiness, self-confidence and self-esteem.

1) Being proud of who you are: Acknowledge and appreciate your lineage

It is difficult to be proud of yourself if you are not happy about your lineage. Think of how you can use the good sides of your genes to showcase your inner strength. Learn the positive sides of the culture and history of your lineage.

All cultures and backgrounds have their own idiosyncrasies, which is what makes them so special. Squeeze out all the good from your family background and gene pool to be proud of who you are and where you come from.

2) Pursue a course, job or business that makes you happy

One of the best senses of basic self-fulfillment comes from doing things that make you happy. People try their best to shape their career in a way that they get to do things that drive intrinsic pleasure. The easiest way to do this is to immerse yourself in studies, job or a business that you are passionate about.

This will heighten your self-worth and make you feel proud of yourself because you will be among the few people who can actually wake up in the morning and look forward to doing something that they are passionate about.

3) Be confident about yourself as an individual

The feeling of being proud of yourself and the feeling of self-confidence are intertwined at the roots. Confidence is critical in shaping your personality and self image. It is one of the first things that people will notice about you.

Be confident about your body, looks, abilities, talents and your overall self. Allow this confidence to shine through in the way you act and behave with everyone. Dealing with all things, people and situations confidently will make you feel proud when you look at them in hindsight, even if there were a few wrong decisions along the way.

4) Make a mental note of your achievements

All your small and big achievements can be forgotten in the everyday humdrum of life. Pumping yourself up with thoughts about what you have achieved in the past is an instant way to feel proud of yourself.

Think about your achievements including studies, degrees, certificate courses, getting a new job and other milestones in your personal and professional domain. They will serve as reminders about your capacity and ability to achieve bigger things in life.

5) Think of all the love in your life to be proud

Be proud of yourself by measuring the love in your life. Think about the love of friendship, relationships and family. Don't count the hundreds of namesake buddies from the friend list of your social networking profile.

Instead, think about those couple of close friends who call you and meet you when you are down. Think about your mom or dad, whose love is always there for you. Think about your girlfriend or boyfriend, who loves you for just the person you are. You may not have the love of all these people in your life all at once. But even having the tender love of one of these people is something that you should really be proud of.

6) List out the qualities that make you a unique person

List down all your qualities, talents and abilities that make you different from others. It can be your ability to be more creative than others, your public speaking skills, your ability to be a good kisser or your incredible memory. These are the little unique characteristics of your personality that make you different from the masses.

Very few people in this world will take the time to remind you the reasons why you are special. Stick this piece of paper on your study table or the mirror in your wardrobe so you can read it out to yourself many times during the day.

7) Don't compare yourself to others all the time

You will invite nothing but disappointment and frustration if you begin comparing your personality, bank balance or any other aspect of your life with others. It will leave a big dent in your level of self-worth because you are likely to compare yourself with people who have more than what you have.

Think about what you can do to get what you want rather than crying over the fact that you don't have what someone else does.

8) Take pride in your looks: Strive to look attractive every day of your life

Wearing smart clothes and looking your best will passively inject a lot of self-pride because you will feel good about the way you look. You will feel beautiful and you will recognize the fact that others will find you attractive.

Grooming yourself is also important because it can change the way that other people think about you. You can make a good first impression and an instant positive impact on others by looking attractive, neat and well dressed. You will feel an instant boost in self esteem when you look at yourself in the mirror.

9) Never be proud of your money

Some people like to be proud of their bank balances but don't realize that their pride will dwindle when their money runs out. Money has the potential to infuse a superficial sense of pride that will last only as long as the last dollar.

Never associate your self-worth and pride with money. It is fake to feel that you are worth something just because you carry designer handbags, drive a Ferrari or live in a luxurious penthouse in downtown. Instead, be proud of yourself by making a difference in the lives of the unfortunate. You can do this indirectly by giving to a charity or directly by helping out a struggling college student from a poor family.

10) Stop looking for sympathy from others

Stop looking for sympathy from other people for your loss or to cover up your inabilities. A constant need to seek unnecessary empathy from others is sign of weakness which will take away your pride.

You will start losing yourself in the swamp of self-pity and sympathy if you start seeking assurance from other people about everything. It is a path of no return and you may lose yourself in the quicksand of giving excuses for the things that you weren't able to accomplish.

11) Stop hating yourself for the mistakes you have done in the past

It will become impossible for you to be proud of yourself if you don't stop hating yourself for your past mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes and there is no human on earth who has a flawless history.

Hating yourself for your mistakes will make you feel less proud of yourself, less confident and shrink your self-worth in your own eyes. Everyone evolves from being a rash teenager to a rebellious youth and later an adult. Everyone makes mistakes along the way.

12) Don't be less proud because your life is not perfect

You are misleading yourself if you think that the lives of everyone else are perfect and you are the only who doesn't have everything you want. The reality is that no one's life is perfect and everyone is fighting a battle in their own. The only difference is that many people chose not to reveal these battles and make it appear that their lives are near perfect.

You will instantly feel proud of yourself on the day you accept that your life is not meant to be perfect. This acceptance will help you come to terms with your life and your self-worth will surface above the murky expectations of perfection.

13) Be proud of yourself if you have haters

A colleague at work could hate you just because the boss likes you more than him. A girl in school could hate you because you are prettier than her. Haters generally use hate to channelize their own insecurities.

You should be proud of having haters unless people hate you because you have caused pain in their life by hurting them or breaking their hearts. Feel proud of yourself because it is likely that they are simply jealous over something that you have and they don't.