Helping our patients shift from “external measures” of self worth to more “internal measures” of self worth

In counseling, many of the folks we see tend to measure their sense of self worth through “external measures” like their achievements, their popularity, their looks, their status, their wealth to name a few. This may make them vulnerable because these variables can be very fleeting.

Measuring self esteem through “internal measures” like authenticity, kindness, care, humility, honesty, integrity, grittiness, or openness may be much more reliable and stable.

Shifting focus from “external measures” to more “internal measures” can make a big difference to our sense of self worth.