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The Oxford Dictionary defines worthiness as ‘the quality of being good enough, deserving attention or respect’, the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person. Self-worth is an internal sense of being good enough, worthy of love, respect, and belonging from others. It is often used as a synonym for self-esteem, but it is not the same.

Self-esteem relies on external factors to define worth and can often lead to a struggle with feeling worthy. Self-worth is about who you are, not about what you do. Generally, a person with a realistic self-image knows their faults and limitations. People with self-worth despite their imperfections, mistakes and emotional baggage forgive themselves over past mistakes and appreciate themselves for who they are.

As a society we tend to focus on high selfesteem, the focus is on measuring oneself against others, rather than paying attention to our own intrinsic value. Our competitive and comparison culture often modelled by social media sends us messages on how to behave, look and be above average, to feel good about ourselves. However, can we all be more attractive, smarter, richer, or successful at the same time? Absolutely not, there will always be others who have more. Studies show that basing your self-worth on external factors,