The major myth about defining your Self-Worth
It’s no wonder, YOU as a usual human being correlates the ‘self-worth’ within you with your education level. In retrospect, defining self-worth with high academic grades is a quality you might experience from elementary levels up to now. It could be an attribute you may have gained from your family background.
What means SELF-WORTH?
Simply, self-worth is the way you see or value yourself. In other words, it’s completely the opinion you have of yourself. It is capable of depending on the perception you are bearing.
As an example; “A student can feel happy receiving just a pass and at the same time, another student can shatter with an “A” grade for not receiving an A+ for the exam.
Unfortunately, academic achievements have now become a major factor in defining a person’s self-worth. As a result, people with different skills and talents, tend to criticize their own; “I’m an idiot”, and “I don’t deserve anything” on occasions with low results or failures at university or school.
You might not be aware of the disastrous effects of this kind of mindset. The lack of self-esteem may unintentionally drag you down to the mouth of depression and anxiety. Nevertheless, you could become a victim of alcohol or drugs.
Well, it seems very difficult to deal with the prospect of this attached grade in your self-worth. I want you all to open your eyes to a very important fact.
“Did hard work for a particular academic subject bring you joy or make you an expert?”
It is a personal-level question. So as a proficient person, relating your conventional symbol (Academic grade) to this is up to you.
Do you think “Hard-working for a good grade in academic subjects” is the key to all your life achievements?
Indeed fostering hard-working will lead you to obtain better results. According to you, a higher grade enhances your self-worth. Anyway, keep aside your self-esteem and dive into the deep core of your heart, and think “Did I enjoy studying harder?”
You might be genuinely enjoyed scoring high grades, but did you love learning that subject for a particular evil exam?
In most colleges, most students tend to choose subjects or subject streams upon external validation. To be more certain, they select subjects that can score higher for the sake of their self-esteem rather than going for subjects that they enjoy and which enhance their real skills.
when I was an undergraduate, I heavily focused on my grade and chose ‘pharmaceutical chemistry’ over ‘industrial chemistry’ which sucked all my joy out of learning. It was a good choice in safeguarding my GPA, but it led me toward my breaking point.
Do you think this will pull you toward success?
No, never! The detrimental effect of this is more harmful than you being the batch top.
When your focus goes only on your grade, for your unfortunate you will miss your real skill and the fun you could gain from learning new things. You might be left with just a short while to do new explorations. You miss the joy of teamwork and interpersonal relationships.
How sad it is! Yes, I believe enhancing self-worth through academic grades is important. But, never let your self-worth snatch away your joy or the real expert within you.
Can your grade make you an expert?
Simply, the answer is NO. You may be a college expert, but in my perception, an expert is not the person with the highest grade.
To be an expert, first, recognize the subjects you love to learn. Don’t trap inside a syllabus or a targeted grade, work hard on it, and explore it in deep. In the end, even without your knowledge, you are an expert!
Just keep in mind, the grade is just a number and you are more than your academic grade. Even at a job interview, you may not get admired for your grades as you expected. It proves the fact, “Your self-worth never can be defined by academics”.
Instead, struggle to recognize the worth of the real human being within you. Identify the capacity in you. It may assist you to add more value to any community.
And remember you are a unique person, so don’t compare yourself with others. You are not just mediocre. Let the expert arise within you. If you spend time struggling for a higher grade, you will miss the essence of personal development which is the key element in defining self-worth.
So, learn to think differently. Visualize yourself not only as of the batch top at college but as a ‘leader’ in any community. It is where your self-worth shines brighter!