18 Things that don’t Define Your Worth

The other day I came across an Instagram post by Mandy Ansari, where she shared several aspects that don’t define who we are. I loved that post so much that I had to further elaborate about it in this blog. There are so many aspects of ourselves that have an impact on our personality and how we approach different aspects of our lives, but they don’t define our self worth one bit.

Here is her list, and my notes attached:

1. Your marital status-while it as an aspect of WHO you are, you are not any less or more of a person for falling into any category
2. Your income-frankly this is nobody’s business, but your own
3. What people say + think about you-I learned this the hard way. What people say to you is merely a reflection of their thinking and insecurities-and not a definition of what you are worth. So therefore, whenever you feel smaller around an individual, that is your Universal sign to step away from them.
4. Past relationships where you weren’t your best self-We all have them. We all go through them, learn from them, and come out stronger the other side. Their impact can affect how we approach our life, but definitely doesn’t define our self worth
5. Your weight-This doesn’t define who you are and definitely doesn’t define your worth.
6. Somebody’s inability to recognize/communicate your worth-If someone does not lift you up, or makes you feel small-they don’t deserve your energy. You are so much more than that and nobody should define your worth for you.
7. Who your parents are-There is a Hindi phrase, “Tu Jaanta nai mera baap kaun hai (you don’t know who my dad is).” It is used to make others feel inferior. Nobody is superior or inferior because of their parental background-and it certainly doesn’t define your worth.
8. Mistakes you’ve made in the past-They exist simply so we grow :).
9. Trauma you’ve experienced-Whatever trauma you’ve experienced, you’ve come out the other side so much stronger that it’s admirable.
10. Number of likes/comments/followers-These numbers definitely don’t define your worth
11. Your age-Honestly it’s just a number
12. Your academic accomplishments
13. Your gender-be WHOEVER you want to be
14. The color of your skin-Your melanin is beautiful because its yours, and nobody should tell you anything different.
15. Your ethnicity+background-It’s certainly a part of you and I’m definitely proud of mine; but it’s not all of you.
16. Your physical appearance-Our looks can only take us so far, and putting an effort into our appearance certainly makes us feel good. However, it has no connection to our worth.
17. Your parental status-Again nobody’s business unless you choose to share.
18. Your occupation-It’s a part of you, but it’s not all of you.

As mentioned in the intro, the factors above are facets of our identity or aspects of our personality. However, your worth and importance is not defined by them. Your self worth is only defined by YOU and who you choose to be. So BE YOU!