The Secret To Self Worth Is . . .

A little unfocused, I was feeling a bit ‘meh.’ 
When I feel “meh,” it is about one thing: Myself. 
I’m not effective when I feel “meh” about me.
But I fixed it! At least for the day.
First, I am a Christian. I have a thousand biblical reasons to know I am worth something.
If you know some “on point” Scriptures on our worth as children of God, feel free to leave them for all of us in the comments. 
Even knowing I’m a child of God, saved by grace, and loved by Jesus, who died for me, there is still something I usually need in order to experience self-esteem. 
(I know that some will say we don’t need it. I need it. Life stinks when I don’t have it and make poor decisions.) 
3 Steps Will Get Me There

1. Having a plan

2. Making sure the plan is intelligent

3. Executing that plan every day

Broken down: 
Have a plan. What are you trying to accomplish? Recently, I just wanted to make sure I was making enough money to pay the bills. I am a bi-vocational church planter, and I make money by writing and teaching writing to beautiful people. 
But I wasn’t making enough money this summer. It confused me and made me feel down. 
Then I thought about it. There was some math I could do to figure out which things I did that would pay the bills, and which things, though I love them, might not. 
It came down to a realization followed by an intelligent plan. I needed to write 3000 words daily for my clients.  
That will more than pay the bills at my current word price. 
Then, I can do whatever I want! 
What do I want to do with the rest of my work hours? 
I’m planting a church, coaching dads in my community, conducting the local homeschool choir, coach writers, and writing my newsletters! 
Furthermore, I can quit on time each day and take the weekends off to rest and raise a family. 
I have been doing all these things before but missed one thing. I wasn’t doing the thing to make sure the bills were paid, that is, writing 3000 words a day for my clients. 
Now I am, and I have perfect peace.  
Is ghostwriting (actually co-writing, since I get credit) the main thing I want to do with my life? No. But it is a massive blessing to pay my bills that way. 
I accepted reality. I executed on reality, and my self-esteem shot back to normal range. 
Self-esteem, in the way I’m considering it, is not just so you can feel good.
This kind doesn’t come from affirmations. This kind comes from knowing you are doing what is best considering your values. Tomorrow, we’ll get back to values. 
If you haven’t thought about your life this way, give it some journal time. 
If you haven’t stopped evading the truth about how you are spending your time versus how you need to spend it considering your values, don’t wait. 
Make an intelligent plan.
Execute.
I pray for us all today to be exceptional stewards of our precious, short lives.