Close
1 of 17

Image Source: Shutterstock

Image Source: Shutterstock

Don’t let anybody tell you that they never feel insecure. They’re liars, and liars are the most insecure of them all! It doesn’t matter how much personal work you’ve done, how many times you’ve backpacked through a foreign country by yourself, how dedicated you are to meditation, how much time you’ve spent happily single—everybody feels insecure sometimes. So don’t beat yourself up about it if you thought you personal work was done, and here you are, feeling like a 5-year-old on the first day of kindergarten: terrified. Personal work is a life-long task, and we will all feel insecure from time to time –even healing gurus. Yes, even Oprah feels insecure sometimes. It’s the really strong people who don’t let insecurity cause them to spiral out of control. They face it, work through it, and tackle it head on. Here are mantras that kill insecurity.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Image Source: Shutterstock

This will pass all on its own

Often when we feel insecure, we feel like we need to do something about it right away. But we usually end up doing the wrong thing—like trying to prove ourselves in some way. But trying to prove yourself when you feel insecure can be dangerous because you’re at your most vulnerable, and if things don’t go exactly as you want, you can make yourself feel worse. Just tell yourself this will pass.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock

How it helps

This teaches you to be comfortable sitting with negative emotions. Too many people try to run from negative emotions and believe something terrible will happen if they let themselves feel them. When, in fact, if you just sit with this feeling, you’ll see it will go away. That makes it less and less scary every time it shows up.

Jealous women/business co-workers/friends

Shutterstock

Everybody compares themselves to somebody

Insecurities usually arise when we compare ourselves to somebody else. But comparing yourself to others only results in two bad things: extreme vanity or extreme insecurity. When you feel the urge to do this, remember that it’s a never-ending cycle—everybody does it, and it doesn’t get anybody anywhere.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Image Source: Shutterstock

How it helps

If you think for a moment about the fact that the person who you feel less than has somebody that they feel less than, and even that person has somebody that they feel less than, you’ll realize this is a futile and never-ending game. There’s no winning it. So don’t play it.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Image Source: Shutterstock

I’ve done some amazing sh*t

Anytime something doesn’t go our way, we somehow forget every time things have gone our way. We lose sight of everything we’ve done well, everything we’ve accomplished, and every time we’ve felt on top of the world. Remind yourself of those things now!

Young, black woman/girl in college or business professional thinking drinking coffee, Shutterstock

Shutterstock

How it helps

The great thing about this is you’re not comparing yourself to anybody other than yourself. You’ll remember the amazing things you’ve done and realize, “I’m still that person. I still carry those accomplishments. Nobody can take those from me—and this moment doesn’t take those away from me.”

Image Source: Shutterstock

Image Source: Shutterstock

There are people with real problems

A little perspective never hurts. Next time you’re feeling insecure because you didn’t get picked for a job, a guy you liked didn’t like you back, or you gained a few pounds, remind yourself of the much larger problems in the world.

Image Source: Shutterstock.com

Image Source: Shutterstock.com

This helps nothing

Insecurities are like worries; they’re useless. You don’t fix anything by sitting around and worrying about it. You don’t better yourself by brooding about the ways you wish you were better. Insecurity is a worthless feeling that doesn’t deserve your time.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Image Source: Shutterstock

How it helps

We often subconsciously believe that feeling insecure about something makes that thing true. It doesn’t. Just because you have the insecurity that you’re not attractive, or you’re not smart doesn’t mean that you aren’t attractive or that you’re not smart. Right now you could do something to prove that you are both of those things and squash this insecure feeling.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock

How it helps

When you realize that this is the first time you’ve felt insecure in x amount of time (days or months) you can take pride in the fact that you are, in fact, permanently stronger and more confident than you used to be. Use this feeling as a marker of how far you’ve come. Be proud that this feeling comes up much less frequently than it used to.