33 Ways You Are Better Than You Think You Are

There are times in life where we feel like our life has derailed and we are off the path. You might think you are a failure and focus on past mistakes or areas where you should have tried harder. Everyone goes through these moments at times. It’s important to not these negative and false thoughts sabotage your happiness and success.

The good news is that you are probably doing much better than you think you are. Below are 33 reasons that you are doing much better than you think you are.

1. You are alive today! Each day we have granted to us is a wonderful gift.

1. You paid the bills. It can be tough to pay bills, especially when you are trying to save for something else, invest, pay off debts or change habits that will result in smaller future bills. Yet the bills still needed to get paid this month and the good news is that you paid them. Don’t focus on the annoyance of having to pay bills. You paid them and that’s what matters.

1. You can enjoy a great meal. One of the things that many people, including myself, can take for granted is that we can eat for pure enjoyment. I don’t need to consume the next meal to survive. I’m not suffering from malnutrition. Try to focus on the fact that you are fortunate to be able to choose your meals based on pure enjoyment. You have flexibility and can even go out to eat at a restaurant if you wanted to.

1. You have access to clean drinking water. Millions of people do not have access to clean drinking water. According to the latest statistics, 9/10 people have access to clean water. That’s a tremendous amount of people who lack safe drinking water which can result in severe illnesses and even death. Try to not take for granted the fact that you can easily find clean drinking water.

1. You have access to improved sanitation. Recent statistics show that up to 35% of people lack access to improved sanitation. Many people around the world are susceptible to terrible infections due to a lack of adequate sanitation. There are many things to be thankful for, including the fact that you probably have access to sanitation so you can maintain good hygiene.

1. You are kind. Your heart is filled with compassion and love. You want to leave the world a better place and do good things for your family, community and the world with the actions you take.

1. You have made mistakes. Mistakes happen to everyone, including even the most successful people. I understand that the feeling of making mistakes is unpleasant and can make you doubt your abilities, but you can only grow by making mistakes. You become the greatest version of yourself by making mistakes and learning from them. You keep trying and failing until success happens. When learning to walk, I guarantee that you stumbled and had to try again. That’s how life works. You stumble, but you pick yourself up again and keep going. Every time you make a mistake you learn something and grow as a person.

1. You are reflective. There were probably many times in your life where you made a decision and didn’t really think about the consequences so much. Particularly in my teen years I had a habit of not putting as much thought and reflection into my choices which might have resulted in bad nutritional choices, poor financial planning and wasted time. The fact that you are reading this article shows that you are reflecting on your life and considering your choices and their consequences.

1. You are resilient. Life has thrown you some tough punches and although you couldn’t avoid every hit, you were able to fight back. There will always be tough moments in life. You can’t avoid the inevitable setbacks in life such as the death of a loved one, a redundancy at a job or an emergency that requires you to dip into your savings. All of us have our share of tough times. Yet, you were able to push through this tough time and become a stronger person in the process. You can navigate through pain and loss. Failure doesn’t have to be something you are fearful of. You can get through anything!

1. You are adaptable. When you hit a roadblock you can change and do something different. You have the ability to not tackle the same problem, the same way, every single time. When something isn’t working, you know that you can try something different.

1. You are healthy. Never take your health for granted. You have a healthy body. If you become sick, you can recover and be okay. You can help to combat the illnesses you may get in the future.

1. You are not fearing for your life. Just like health, our safety is something that many of us take for granted.

1. You have values and stand strongly by those values. Understanding your core values is essential to living an authentic and happy life. You understand what is important to you and you never lose focus of those values.

1. You are working towards something. You have goals, things you want to achieve and dreams. Even if your goals are vague and you aren’t quite sure of what you want to do yet, you are working towards something. You have something in mind.

1. You are a hard worker. You make the effort. You are productive. You’re trying to do the best that you can right now.

1. You are making progress. Right now, you might be focusing on the fact that you haven’t progressed in some areas but you have progressed in other areas for sure. When you reflect on your life, reflect on your whole life. Don’t focus on specific areas of your life or only believe you progress once you achieve a goal. You have progressed in your personal development, in your relationships, what you learned, your self-confidence and other areas of your life. Sure, there are still areas of your life that you are working on, but you have progressed. You are making progress!

1. You are useful. There are skills and abilities you have that make someone’s life easier. You do something every day that is incredibly useful to the people around you. Try to not talk yourself down.

1. You are creative.

1. You can read. Over 10% of people around the world are illiterate. Even in the United States, according to current statistics (the date of this article) around 14% of the population has a below basic level of literacy. Reading allows us to educate ourselves in a variety of ways, open doors for job opportunities and enjoy a book that can change our lives.

1. You are curious about the world. There are so many amazing things to learn, skills to acquire and experiences to have that your options for learning are truly limitless. Curiosity shouldn’t stop in childhood, after finishing university or at any point in your life. You now realize that you should be open to learning new things, keep a fresh perspective and never be afraid to ask questions. You can only grow through learning. The opportunities in life only become more expansive as you embrace learning as a lifetime activity.

1. You can help people. You are blessed with an amazing amount of skills and resources to help others. You can donate money to a charity. You can teach someone a new skill, either at your job or a stranger. You can spread your wisdom to others. You can take a moment to give someone an authentic compliment that brightens up their day and possibly their life. You can volunteer your time to help your community. There are limitless ways you can help the people around you.

1. You can ask for help. Having a strong support network is important to getting through life. There’s nothing wrong with needing support at times, and most of the time, getting help is what you need to move forward. You have realized that putting aside your pride and negative feelings to reach out to someone for help is sometimes the step to take you need right now.

1. You have a job. You have a stable job with money flowing in. There is always a monthly pay check ahead that you can expect to receive. That money allows you to pay off debts, build your savings and plan for a brighter and safer future.

1. Even if you don’t have a job, you have opportunities. You might be in a place where you absolutely hate your job or you might have been recently made redundant or quit with no opportunities seemingly in sight. You might have just started applying for jobs or are months into the process of finding a job. Regardless of your situation, you have job opportunities. You can update your resume. You can educate yourself to pursue a new career path. You can accept jobs that you are more than qualified for to pay the bills. You have job opportunities. You can find something and make it work for you.

1. You have time to do something you like. There are 24 hours in a day and you can still make time for something you enjoy doing whether that’s watching TV, exercising, playing a video game, meditation, eating a nice meal, exploring your hobbies or reading a book.

1. You have a place to live. You have your own space, some place in this world where you can be by yourself and have your own personal space.

1. You have friends and family who love you and are so grateful that you are in their lives.

1. You are always capable of doing more than you imagine. Often, we place limits on what we can do based on false assumptions about yourself. You might have believed you were bad at sports or physical activities because you never really tried in school. Because your peers struggle in certain areas, you might wrongly believe that you will struggle too. You might have talked yourself out of doing something you love because you believe you can’t succeed. The truth is that there is more you can accomplish in life and ways that you can surprise yourself with your strength, courage, intelligence and passion. You haven’t reached the best version of yourself yet. There is much more you can do.

1. You have let go of the past. Part of you might be afraid of letting go. You might be afraid of what’s to come next that you keep a firm grip on the past. The wonderful thing that you may not have realized yet is that you have already let go of the past! There are many things in your past that you struggled to let go of and now it’s ancient history. You have moved on. You might have even forgotten most of the details and now have a little desire to go back there again. Even if there are things still playing on your mind, remember that time has moved forward and it’s time for all of you to move forward and further away from the past.

1. You are in control. There are some elements of your life that are not in your control but you are in control of moving forward. You can take steps to keep going. You can make the decision to not give up today. You can take a different path on your journey. Even when the world seems completely out of your control, remember that you have the power to change things right now.

1. You are open to the possibilities. Your destination may change. The goals you have are important but they are malleable. As you continue to move forward, you might realize that the purpose behind your journey changes as you change. You have the wisdom and insight to know that there are other amazing possibilities out there.

1. You are important to other people. There are people in the world who love you and greatly care about you. You have inspired people. There are people who would feel lost if you suddenly weren’t in their lives anymore. You are adding value to the lives of the people around you. Even though you might not feel like you are important right now, remember that to many people you are very important and valuable.

1. There is nobody quite like you in this world. You are blessed with a unique set of traits that nobody else in this world has! You have certain physical traits, cultural background, language, skills, intellect, personality, adorable quirks, education and experience that nobody else on this entire planet shares with you! How amazing is that?!

I know you might be struggling right now and feeling like your life is a mess or not quite where you want it to be, but remember that life is going pretty good for you right now. Yes, you might have goals you need to accomplish. You might need to take a few more steps to get in the right direction, but honestly, you are doing just fine. You are doing great! Count your blessings and remember that at the very least, you have another day of life to make things right and get back on track.