You Should Be Proud Of Yourself
You should be proud of yourself. Or better said, you should become proud of yourself through a process of decision making and action that produces results in your life that you can actually be proud of.
In other words, pride in yourself is earned as you become the person you truly want to be and as you achieve what you set out to do.
Having said that, knowing exactly what decisions and actions will cause you to become proud of yourself can be a mystery. You simply may not be as proud of yourself as you’d hoped in spite of giving things your best shot.
If you can relate, read on because this article will provide 15 actionable ways to be proud of yourself. As always, I’m sharing from real life experience on things I personally do or have done to build a solid base of pride in myself.
Contents
1. Remember How Far You’ve Come
As inflation persists, many people face troubles in their personal finances. Others fret over the national debt. And the wise amongst us are keeping an eye on our job security thanks to rampant corporate layoffs. I’m also convinced more than ever that people across the world secretely wrestle with insecurities that hold them back.
It can be easy to get caught up in the now which is why I suggest that you frequently step back and appreciate just how far you’ve come.
Thinking about where our lives were as children and remembering the journey our parents, grandparents, and ancestors took to get us here is empowering because we better appreciate the growth. It’s also helpful to appreciate things you’ve overcome thus far in your own life.
For example, both sides of my family were either slaves or sharecroppers in the deep south. My grandfather was brutally killed by white men in rural Mississippi and my own father lived most of his life as a crack addict. And of course, growing up in a single parent household wasn’t easy.
But I’ve persevered through all of this and have created a pretty good life. Remembering just how far I’ve come and the odds I’ve beaten gives me a lot to be proud of. This doesn’t mean everything’s perfect either, but simply having this perspective helps me remain proud of myself.
2. Surround Yourself With People Who Are Proud Of You
Sometimes we just need someone to believe in us, cheer us on, be proud of the things we accomplish. Because of this, it is important that you actively seek out supportive people to surround yourself with to help you be more proud of yourself.
My sister has always been my biggest cheerleader and her support has always made me more proud of myself. She is always proud of me no matter how big or small the success and that does a lot for how I feel about myself.
At the same time, I’ve had other people in my life who weren’t so proud of the things I’d achieved. Imagine excitedly telling your friend you got accepted into your top choice for university and them seeming disappointed. Such a buzzkill!
Surround yourself with people who will be proud of you and avoid those who won’t. You will become more proud of yourself in the process.
3. Don't Be A Loser
Being proud of yourself literally means living your life as someone you want be proud of. As such, it could be extremely difficult to be proud of yourself if you have a lot of traits of losers.
These traits include things such as being dishonest, failing to take responsibility for your life, harboring bitterness, and lacking integrity.
As you address those loser traits, the amount of pride you have in yourself will improve.
4. Go To The Gym... Consistently
There are many benefits of going to the gym that extend far beyond just being a place to burn fat, build muscle, and maintain health. Notably among these benefits would be that the gym is also a place that can help you be proud of yourself primarily because going to the gym consistently is hard.
Consistently going to the gym – and exercising in general takes a tremendous amount of energy and dedication. It’s not easy carve out those hours each week. And it’s certainly not easy to go when you don’t feel like it.
But each time you do, you walk away feeling very proud of yourself that you did.
5. Live On Your Own Terms
TikTok says dance, so the people dance. Reddit says to invest in crypto, so many people start to invest in crypto so they don’t miss out. Similarly, society says to do a host of other things that most people do without second thought.
Be that as it may, a solid way to become proud of yourself is to start living life on your own terms.
Spending time figuring out what you truly want, who you really are, and how you will go about life can boost your pride because this process will ground you within yourself. Doing life your way removes the need for external validation which makes being proud of yourself a lot easier.
6. Accomplish Your Goals
Accomplishment happens from an intricate combination of goal setting, strategic planning, and committed effort over time that produces results. There are never any guarantees of success which means we are usually very proud when we accomplish what we set out to do.
Imagine a life where you achieved all of your goals and dreams. Now imagine a different scenario where you never achieved anything you wanted to do in life. In which scenario would you be more proud of yourself?
I think we’d all be more proud of ourselves if we were to accomplish the things we set out to do.
7. Become Debt Free
Some draw dropping stats about the state of debt in America show that 61% of Americans have credit card debt and fewer than 25% of households are debt free.
In spite of how prevalent debt is in this country, I can say from first hand experience that becoming debt free is a great way to be more proud of yourself.
This is because being different and doing things most people can’t or won’t does wonders for how you feel about yourself. To be in the minority of people who live a debt free lifestyle requires sacrifice and discipline that most people simply don’t have. But it also makes you more free than most people.
In the end, both things can make you very proud.
8. Take Care Of Something
Taking care of my dog over the last 12 years has been a great source of price. But me aside, any caretaker can tell you how proud they are of their efforts. Why is this? Because we all see the results of our care reflected in the outcomes of the things we look after.
For example, parents see their children flourish and know they do so as a direct result of the care they provide. Similarly, dog owners can see the results of the training, socialization, and attention given to their furry friends reflected in each interaction with other dogs and people. Additionally, the beauty and vibrance of a garden correlates back efforts put into it by the gardener.
Tending to your own wellbeing is important. But it can also be good to look after something else; especially if you want to feel more proud of yourself.
9. Follow Through On Your Word
Is your word your bond? It should be if you want to feel proud of yourself.
This is because keeping your word is all about having integrity, and integrity can be a great source of pride. Here is an awesome explanation of the linkage between integrity and pride:
Integrity is a set of moral principles that someone lives by. It can also refer to someone being honest and having strong moral principles. Pride is a feeling of satisfaction related to one's own achievements or those of their loved ones. It can also be defined as a feeling that someone respects themselves and deserves to be respected by others.
In other words, having integrity gives you a reason to respect yourself. And of course, as your level of self-respect increases, so will your level of self-pride.
10. Find Something To Be Passionate About
Passion and pride go hand in hand because passion enhances our identities. Having things to be passionate about gives us meaning in life. Additionally, passion gives us something worthwhile to focus on while drowning out a lot of the noise in this confusing world.
I’ve been passionate about health and fitness since the third grade after my mom brought home my first weight set. As a result, pushing my body and maintaining peak health have been sources of pride ever since. Creating this blog has also produced a great deal of pride as I build one of my life’s crowning achievements.
Accordingly, a solid way to become more proud of yourself is to simply find something in life to be passionate about.
11. Give Generously
Another way to be proud of yourself is through generous charity. This is because giving your time, talents, and resources makes you feel good. It also makes the recipients of your generous charity feel good. And you can definitely be proud that you were someone who created an environment of feeling good for yourself and those around you.
One group that can speak well to this is teachers. While they do get paid for their time, they give much more of themselves in the process. Yet, any good teacher will tell you they do it because they enjoy tremendous pride in being dedicated to the growth and development of their students.
In similar fashion, you may consider more in your life too. Just make sure you do so with the purest of intentions and give to causes you care about. You’ll feel great about yourself in the process and enhance good feelings for others. And as a secondary effect, the pride you have in yourself will grow.
12. Have A Perfect Week
I’ll eventually write a separate post about this concept, but one of my goals this year is to have a totally perfect week. More specifically, I want a week where I stick to my desired routine with complete perfection and accomplish all of my goals for the week without fail.
This is important for me because currently in a typical week something always seems to come up that distracts me. Or I’m simply too lazy or undisciplined to strike perfection for a full 7 days.
That said, maybe you can do better. Perhaps you can outline your version of a perfect week and stick to it. It would be experimental, but I believe that doing so can make you very proud of yourself.
13. Do The All Of The Things
Making up your bed. Washing the sink full of dishes. Folding the pile of laundry. And don’t even get me started on opening that pile of physical mail and emails that has been growing for a few weeks or months as in my case!
As life gets busy, it becomes harder to tackle all of the little things. Between working, sleeping, and having fun – who has time to do something as mundane as sweeping the floors?
But truthfully, most of us do have time.
It is usually more of a matter of priorities, discipline, and sacrifice. Therefore, make yourself proud today by doing all of the things you know you need to do. Imagine how much better you would feel about yourself knowing you’ve cleared the ever growing to do list of things you have been putting off for far too long.
14. Cook Your Dinner
At over a trillion dollars, restaurant spending is at an all time high. Everywhere you look, restaurants are packed with people spending money that many probably can’t afford to part ways with.
Eating out has grown in prominence as lives have become busier. It’s just so much easier to drop into a restaurant or order delivery than it is to shop for groceries, prep food, cook, and clean up after. Hanging out in restaurants and cafes has also become a bit of a national pastime.
Given these trends, one of the best financial wins you can have nowadays is to avoid eating out and prepare your own food at home. It will certainly take more time and effort to do, but your wallet and waistline will thank you.
You will be proud of yourself in those decisive moments of choosing between taking the convenient route of eating out versus cooking. you will be proud of yourself each time you whip up.
15. Save That Money
Resisting the urge to spend money can be an additional source of pride for several reasons.
For starters, spending money is proven to activate the same dopamine reward system prominent with other vices. As a result, the thrill of buying can become really addictive. Given that, resisting the urge of undesirable is something to be proud of.
Additionally, beyond the momentary win of not spending is the long term benefits. That is, not spending money is great for your wallet.
Reader Question: What Things Are You Already Proud Of?
So much of our society tells us that our pride should be attached to our achievements. If we aren’t “successful”, then we shouldn’t have anything to be proud about. Well I disagree!
I bet if we all thing hard enough we can find at least a few things that makes us proud. These can be things about ourselves or even things and people in our lives.
So, I’d like to know from the readers the things that make you guys proud. Let’s share here and relish in the collective joy we share in our lives!