Fit Focus: Let's stop talking ourselves down 

A FATHER was lying on his death bed with his son by his side. The father handed the son an old watch that had been in the family for generations.

He told the son to go to a jeweller and ask how much he would pay for the watch. The son went to the jewellers and came back saying that he would give him €80 for the watch.

The father then asked the son to go to an antique store and see how much he would get for the watch.

The son came back very disheartened and said that he was only offered €20 from the antique store. Finally, the father said to go to the museum and see how much they will pay you for the watch.

The son came back elated, he said the museum had told him the watch was an extremely rare watch and was worth a lot of money and they offered to pay him €200,000.

The watch never changed the only thing that changed was the way everyone looked at the watch and what they saw. Only the museum understood the real value of the watch.

Life is no different we go through every day, and everyone sees you through a different lens, some people may dislike you and judge you without ever getting to know you, some people may take advantage of your good nature because they think you are weak.

However, other people will see you for what you really are and appreciate you and treat you the way you deserve to be treated.

This will never happen though until you first learn what you are worth; you have so many years of experience on this earth and have learnt so many skills along the way that to some people may be invaluable.

We all tend to talk ourselves down and say what we do is no big deal, and that anybody could do it. But the truth is that not everybody can do it because if they wouldn’t be asking for your help or advice.

Until you learn how important you are and the set of skills and knowledge you have attained throughout your life are, then you will consistently end up in situations where you are undervalued and do not get the credit you deserve.

It is important for your mental well-being as well as your energy levels. It can be draining when you are expected to do all these tasks for people in your life without getting the proper appreciation for what you do.

Whether that is a higher salary or simply just a thank you, it doesn’t matter. The only important thing is that you feel acknowledged and appreciated for what you are doing.

So in life, we need to start taking care of ourselves, and start doing what is important for us. Nobody else is going to do it for you so it must be you.

Surround yourself with people who see what your true value is and cut out the relationships that undermine you and devalue you and your worth.

There are over 8 billion people on this planet and none of them are like you. You are individual and one of a kind, you need to understand what you offer to the world and be proud of what you have accomplished.

It is good to look back and see how far you have come and what you have learnt on the journey of life but remember you are always taking a step forward and the only limiting factor you have is your mind.