R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Find Out What It Means to Your Well-Being and Success

Respect for others can take you far. Imagine how much further you could go by respecting the most significant person in your life—yourself.

Respect means a regard (or thoughtfulness) for one’s rights.

Disrespecting yourself violates your rights and humanity. It can lead to a domino effect of continued poor behaviors and outcomes with far-reaching impacts.

Your success hinges on your well-being and your well-being on practicing self-respect. Self-respect affects the energy you have to fulfill your dreams. It helps you say ‘no’ to things that don’t serve you and ‘yes’ to things that do.

Your well-being and success depend on the self-respect you show to your mind and body. Do you push yourself too far mentally or physically? You can only bend so much before you break.

​Cozy up for some insights in this success mindset guide on self-respect and well-being. You’ll learn how they go hand-in-hand, how important they are for your future success, and how to start achieving them today.

Your well-being relates to health and stability in the following four areas:

When you respect yourself, it shows up in your physical health, stability, and well-being.

You respect your physical body by keeping it safe and fit. You include time for daily exercise because your body craves movement. Exercising keeps your bones and muscles strong and improves blood flow.

You don’t over- or under-eat because your body needs a particular range of calories to fuel your progress. You choose real, whole foods because processed junk foods are not a good fuel source.

You understand the importance of rest and recovery for your body to work well. You aim for a proper amount of sleep each night.

​You keep yourself safe. You avoid people or behaviors that threaten your physical health.

Like your body, your mind needs exercise. You expand your mental capacity and endurance by reading and intellectually stimulating your brain.

There’s no stigma in needing a professional to help you overcome mental challenges. You seek advice from growth mindset resources, like self-development authors, coaches, mentors, and therapists.

​You look for cues that tell you when your mental health is stressed (feeling overwhelmed, disturbed sleep, fatigue, change in appetite, withdrawal, irritability, etc.). Like a muscle, your brain needs time to rest and recuperate, so you work mental health days into your schedule.

You do things that boost your spirit. Such things include activities you enjoy or are good at, connecting with your Higher Power, meditation, and mindfulness practices.

​You set regular goals for yourself and hold yourself accountable. The discipline and confidence you develop while accomplishing goals boost your spirit. The opposite is true when you make promises to yourself that you don’t keep (i.e., Saying you’ll start a workout routine tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes.)

Self-respect includes being thoughtful with your money. You don’t go into debt, buying things with money you don’t have. You set solid boundaries with your spending. If a friend asks you to join them for dinner and a movie, but you haven’t budgeted for it, you can confidently tell them you’ll catch them another time.

​Self-respect influences overall well-being and vice versa; the two build on each other, either increasing or decreasing physical, mental, spiritual, and financial wellness.

It’s hard to achieve professional or personal success without the proper self-care that self-respect promotes. Proper self-respect culminates in positive well-being—body, mind, spirit, and finances—and poor self-respect leads to the opposite.

​When your physical health lags, you don’t have the stamina to do the work that leads to success. When your mental health lags, you don’t have the brain function to make the best decisions or the cognitive capacity for a heavier workload. A negative spirit can make you “throw in the towel” on achieving your dreams. And poor financial health can thwart any potential growth.

Here are some tips for building self-respect, boosting overall well-being, and fostering success.

Create Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound (SMART) goals. You’ll build discipline by collecting favorable behaviors and reducing unfavorable ones to reach your objectives. You’ll gain confidence and a can-do attitude when checking off those boxes of to-dos and accomplishments.

Mindfully cultivate better health. Find knowledgeable professionals who can give you insight into your body, exercise, and diet. Be coachable—follow their advice. Join or create an accountability group of others on a health journey.

Each day is a fresh 24 hours. Make the most of every moment, blocking time for your most significant projects when you typically work your best. Remember to respect your body in the process—rest, refresh your energy, and connect with people.

Make time each day or week to write down or speak about what you’re thankful for. Saying and writing your gratitude helps you mindfully acknowledge your blessings, lifting your mind and spirit.

It matters who you surround yourself with. If your usual crew speaks negatively, doesn’t set and strive for goals, or makes poor choices, you’ll likely follow suit. You don’t have to settle. Join a group of achievers or cultivate your own. Your group can be virtual, like an online success book club, if you can’t find an in-person one.

Respecting yourself translates into taking care of your holistic, humanistic needs. Nurture your mind, body, and spirit. Handle your money with care.

​Respect for yourself turns into wanting to care for yourself. Proper care translates into overall well-being. Your healthiest self opens up more opportunities for success as you develop the physical, mental, spiritual, and financial fortitudes it takes to strive for your goals and overcome challenges.