Learn to put yourself first

WE are told that putting yourself first is selfish, and that it is “wrong.” And because we all worry being seen as a horrible person by society, we swallow it up and attempt to satisfy everyone all the time. And where does this take you? Nowhere. We live in a society that values “putting others first.” Giving is preferable to receiving. Most of the time, being selfless is admirable. Why do we feel guilty when we need to step back and prioritise ourselves? Some of us are more self-centred than others. Some of us understand that being selfish does not have to be a bad thing. Because how can you take care of others if you aren’t taking care of yourself? Start slowly, and you will be thanking yourself for prioritising your needs in the future. Sometimes, you need to be selfish – and it is completely okay.

Help avoid toxic relationships

“Toxic” is a term that has lately been thrown around online, frequently referring to relationships that profit one person while emotionally depleting the other. These relationships might be romantic, platonic, or familial, but they are all harmful to everyone involved. Being made to feel like a bad person if you try to detach is one of the trademarks of a toxic relationship; in fact, the word “selfish” is likely to come up. However, there is nothing wrong with prioritising your own mental health, if that other person is unhealthy for you. Furthermore, self-interest will come in handy later should they attempt to influence you again.

Self-respect

If you don’t respect yourself, no one else will. Don’t be upset if your friend or sibling calls you a slob since that’s how you present yourself. For example, lounging around being lazy, having food stains on your clothes, not brushing your hair, and not cleaning your house are all examples. If you take good care of yourself and your environment, people around you have no right to label you a slob. Self-respect is based on how you feel about the decisions you make. When you make the proper decisions, you feel good about yourself. Having a string of correct choices in your favour might boost your self-respect. “Self-respect” can refer to a variety of things. You are mostly honest with yourself, have decent manners, are responsible in fields of work and money, have positive life objectives, pick nice friendships, and are able to apologise when you make a mistake.

Increases your accountability

Being selfish helps you to hold yourself more responsible. Accountability for your behaviours, thoughts, and emotions allows you to take real steps toward some of your goals. You may begin to prepare for your future and address any concerns that have arisen in the past. Many of you allow your history or current situation to influence your attitude and actions. Being selfish empowers you to determine what is essential to you. You can find out what values you stand for and how your conduct may be predicted based on this. Improved responsibility leads to increased success because you have total control over the most significant obstacle or helper to your achievement.

Selfishness improves leadership

People who regularly act in their own self-interest are regarded to be more dominating and are more likely to obtain leadership recognition than those who are perceived to be more charitable. Dependent on the circumstances; when cooperation is required, people pick more ethical leaders, and vice versa. What people seek in a leader depends on the situation, and selfishness is sometimes exactly what is required.

Self-worth

Another reason to be selfish is to boost one’s self-worth. You are not putting a monetary worth on yourself, but rather a life value. Your life is priceless, and you must feel it. Self-worth expresses how you feel about yourself, not what you have done. It has to do with how much you respect yourself and if you believe you deserve nice things. You have low self-worth if you believe you are awful and deserve bad things. If you put your worth on what you accomplish rather than who you are, you are in for a long and stressful trip. Improve your self-worth so you may appreciate the life you have, rather than the one you believe you need. Because self-worth is inextricably linked to ideas, the objective should be to replace any negative thoughts about oneself with positive ones.

To summarise, altering our concept of selfishness can lead to more empowerment and awareness. The more we understand why we do what we do and what we anticipate from our actions, the more honest we will be with ourselves and others. Of course, if you are always focused on yourself and never consider helping those who have helped you, you’re probably just being a douche.