Overcome The Feeling of Being Worthless

‘Having no ability or skill in any specific area’.

‘Having no practical use or knowledge’.

‘One serving no purpose and is futile’.

And in one short word, Worthless.

No matter how successful one’s life is or what phase of life they may be going through, this thought has crept up on each one of us at some point in our lives. Whether it be through the feeling of worthlessness during boredom, the feeling arising while blaming yourself, or simply just not making sense of things in front of you, I can guarantee every individual has felt this way before. And therefore, the first thing I bring myself to do is reassure my reader; this feeling is completely normal and something we have all faced at some point in our lives.

So, there is no need for you to feel out of place or confer that there is something wrong with you. The fact that you are feeling this way just goes out to prove that you are as humane as the rest of us.

The real worry that one must address is when this feeling tends to swallow the individual as a whole so much so that they may start feeling unaccomplished in every aspect. However before reaching this stage, the feeling of worthlessness as stated before can stem from various variables.

Therefore, I asked myself to sit down and at least try to understand three of these variables that have had an impact in my life if not others –

When others tell you you’re no good:

It is hard to believe that in a day and age where we are so aware of individual’s feelings and have blogs and posts bombarding us with information with mental health, we fail to understand the power of our words. Whether it be through sarcasm, intentional, in healthy competition, or just simply through our frustration we all have at some point deemed another person ‘lesser than us.’

However, these feelings can also stem from failures, rejection, or just the inability to meet the goals and standards we set for ourselves. This, in turn, brings us to the next variable;

When you tell yourself you’re no good:

When you end up setting unachievable standards for yourself, you do set yourself up for failure. When rejection hits you for something you worked hard towards, or when you simply need to stop pretending that people don’t get to you. That is when one ends up feeling this way by inducing it upon themselves. They may call themselves out to be the victim and may also seem to go into a shell of their own rather than truly deal with what they may be feeling.

Comparing yourself to another:

In a world where an individual’s life is practically presented to another on a silver platter on social media, we, unfortunately, spend too much time comparing our lifestyle, achievements, and sometimes even beauty standards to theirs. The harm you may be bringing to yourself at this point is wishing you had something or more and therefore are never grateful for what lies in front of you.

Clubbing these three together with probably a whole lot of other things a person may be feeling including the feeling of everyone being against you, having a very negative outlook in life or maybe just going through a major change in your life can often lead to this feeling swallowing you as a whole.

You more than anyone knows what is good for you. You will always understand your body better than anyone else out there. But that said, there are always a few things you can try to overcome this feeling and make your day just a little bit better;

Figuring out the trigger:

One of the most important things when dealing with emotions is figuring out what situation or environment may be causing you to feel this way. Is it when you engage in a task? Or maybe when you are unable to meet your goals? Always remember these vary for each individual and therefore it is very important to locate your trigger to when you feel this way.

Replacing this thought:

More often than not, these feelings usually hit a person when they may be feeling unaccomplished or bored. Try to engage in smaller activities with immediate rewards to grant yourself instant gratification. Remind yourself of the smallest deeds that meant something to you or someone else that can allow you to replace this feeling with a happier emotion.

Focus on the now:

Whatever you may be dealing with, you would have always come a long way in the name of progress, even if it means doing better than the day before. In this case, remind yourself to focus on the present. Remind yourself how much you have grown even in the smallest sense and tell yourself that it will only get better from this point forward.

It is incredibly important that you recognise these feelings and ask for help when you require it to move past this. For everyone reading this article and sitting behind their screens relating to every or maybe a few things said in this article, I hope that my writing about it as given you some perspective of what you may be feeling.

In all honesty, these are feelings we all go through, and therefore no one should feel ashamed of speaking out about them. Whether it is talking about it to your friends more often or seeking professional help always remember speaking out isn’t a sign of weakness. It is always the opposite of what you are working towards your betterment.