Why would the world love you?

Hey guys,

So, yesterday I heard this quote while I was walking to the gym.

It came from the Modern Wisdom podcast. And yes, I know, I get many writing ideas from this podcast. What can I say? I love it. It makes me think.

And this quote got me thinking as well.

As I was walking, I stopped to write it down and then asked myself:

What are the things I expect from the world, but don’t consistently give to myself?

Right away, three words came to mind:

• Respect.

• Confidence.

• Acceptance.

I’d like to think we all want those things.

We all want to be respected, seen as confident, and accepted for who we are so we can feel love deeply.

But as I thought about it more, I needed to be honest with myself because there have been countless times in my life when I didn’t show any of those things to myself.

I’ve gone through periods where I didn’t love myself. You could even say, I hated myself and was ashamed of who I was.

Other times, I made choices that clearly disrespected my values, my well-being and myself as an individual.

And as for confidence? I mean, I could write an entire series about my struggles with self-confidence! (and maybe I will…)

But that brings me to my main point, how could I ever expect the world to offer me these types of love… when I couldn’t even give them to myself?

It’s a hard truth, but here it is:

• You can’t expect others to accept you if you won’t accept yourself.

• You can’t expect respect if you’re constantly putting yourself down.

• And you can’t expect anyone to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.

As many things in the self-improvement/philosophy space this will sound incredibly cliche, but it starts with you.

It always has. It always will.

So, what can you do?

Learn to respect yourself

Get clear on what you value. It could be honesty, growth, health, creativity, or all of the above, or something completely different. It doesn’t matter.

What matters is aligning your decisions with whatever those values are.

Because when your actions match your priorities, respect (internal and external) follows naturally.

Build your self-confidence

The easiest way to do this… Keep promises to yourself.

Confidence is built on trust. And trust is built through consistency.

Start small:

• Go for that walk.

• Wake up when you say you will.

• Do the chore you keep putting off.

The more you prove to yourself that you’ll follow through, the more you’ll believe in your ability to do so. And from there it’s like a snowball.

Accept who you are

To accept yourself, is to love yourself.

Start by giving yourself grace. You’re a flawed human being, we all are. But as flawed as we are, we’re still allowed to be proud of who we are today.

When you catch yourself thinking negatively, pause and redirect your thoughts. As you do that, try talking to yourself like a friend. Try journaling what you do appreciate about yourself. Or simply take a moment to notice when you’re spiraling into self-criticism and stop it in its tracks.

Because here’s the thing…

We often look outward into the world hoping for that feeling of love, when we should be looking inward.

And the beauty of this is: it’s in your control.

When you begin treating yourself with love, respect, and belief, life starts to reflect it back. Maybe not overnight but gradually, everything begins to feel lighter. People respond to you differently because you’re showing up differently. And your world will then shift into alignment.

So the next time you find yourself frustrated with something out there, I’d like you to pause and ask yourself:

Is this something I’ve been expecting from the world, but not offering to myself?

Because at the end of the day, it always comes back to you.

The love.
The trust.
The respect.

All of it begins and grows from the inside out.

Until next week,

Your friend from The Wilderness,

Michael “The Cliche Canadian” Mitchell