ARTICULATE YOUR WORTH

At times, we do not realise our worth and we bow down to stakeholder demands only in the hope that our worth will be realized. Our stakeholders are people who have interest in our knowledge, ability and skillset. They can be family, friends, relatives, colleagues, boss, subordinates or even acquaintances.

Ask two questions. Am I hanging around with people who do not know my worth?  Am I hanging around with people without any boundaries? Let’s analyse the questions.

Am I hanging around with people who do not know my worth?  If your answer is “No”, then all is well. I assume you have enough resilience to move ahead without wasting time with such people. If your answer is “Yes”, the follow up question will be “why?”.  Is your sense of worth derived by virtue of being associated with such people? Are you swallowing toxicity (vish) in the hope that you may get positive validation (amrit) one day? How long do you propose to continue doing so? What is stopping you from moving away? By continuing to be associated with such people you are handing over the control of your life to someone else and feeling unhappy in the process.

Am I hanging around with people without any boundaries? Let’s assume that people know your worth and you continue to hang around without creating any boundaries. You comply to their demands even though it intrudes into your personal space. Ask yourself whether they value you or not.

So what is the way forward? How can you assess your worth? Take a piece of paper and pen (I mean it). Jot down your education, knowledge, abilities, skill sets, personal qualities etc. Then talk to people you trust and seek their feedback about you and how they perceive you. You will be amazed to learn new things about yourself. You will also understand where you need to work on. If you are not getting sufficient feedback, it could mean that your stakeholders do not know much about you and your work. This means that from now on you should share your activities with your stakeholders via different means, face to face or through social media. A small post on your activity is more meaningful than a pouting birthday selfie.

And finally draw your boundaries. Don’t be scared of rocking the boat. You know your worth; start believing in yourself. Your stakeholders will fall in line. Worst scenario would be to break ties and start afresh. Articulate your worth. Nobody will do it for you. Claim your space.