I Have An Inferiority Complex; How Can I Deal With It?

How does an inferiority complex start?

As with all difficulties encountered, we must get to the root of the problem. There are many explanations for an inferiority complex as to why it installs itself. In fact, according to the Austrian professor; Alfred Adler, this kind of complex originates in childhood 👶.

It goes back to childhood

Indeed, if we were put down and criticized during our youth, whether by our family or at school, we are likely to develop disorders, and an inferiority complex is one of them. It's the same thing if we saw one of our parents suffering from anxiety and being highly complexed. When this occurs, parents pass on their difficulties to their children.

📚 Our school years can also influence our inferiority complex because of the grading system (if we had bad grades throughout our schooling, then we are likely to feel bad about ourselves).

A lack of self-confidence

Another issue that can have a big impact on our personality is our level of confidence. When we lack self-esteem, we feel that we are less intelligent, less beautiful, and less interesting than others. I know that in my case, this is the cause of many of my problems. The image that we send back of ourselves is distorted, and this also impacts the image that we have of others. And, we, therefore, feel like others are always better than us 🤯!

You may be interested in this article >>> 9 Tips for believing in yourself

Painful experiences

When we grow up, we can also suffer from emotional shocks and negative experiences that we carry with us as emotional baggage. These experiences could even be provoked by toxic relationships with someone who possesses narcissistic traits 😡. There is a multitude of things that can impact our inferiority complex and these factors include; harassment at work, an accident, or even a change in our body.

A character or personality traits

If we are hypersensitive and have a hard time controlling our emotions, we can develop self-esteem problems. If on top of that, you add a perfectionist personality, you'll always feel like you're doing things wrong 😭.

How can you get rid of your inferiority complex?

Even if you've had tough experiences and a difficult past, in addition to other factors, it's entirely possible to get rid of the inferiority complex. Nevertheless, it will require quite a bit of work on ourselves, but that will improve our life considerably 💪.

Revalue yourself, identify your strengths and cultivate your difference

If we suffer from an inferiority complex, it's because we have a poor self-image. In order to improve it, we should set small objectives to accomplish in order to prove that we are capable of doing things. What about if you are afraid to speak in public, for example? Well, why not try and make a small speech to your family? Little by little, we'll learn to push our limits and this will make us feel better.

👍 Another exercise to do, is to focus on our strengths. If we don't know what they are, we will have to be introspective and adopting the most objective look possible. We can also ask our entourage for their opinions for an outsider’s point of view.

What if we do things differently? This prospect isn’t a bad thing, we are all unique and that is what is interesting. We also need to retain that difference is not a defect or a sign of inferiority. Instead of going into conformity, we need to cultivate the aspects that make us stand out from the crowd, and let them shine through 😎! Let's be ourselves, with our qualities, flaws, strengths, and weaknesses.

Don't compare yourself, and surround yourself with good people

Although it’s easier said than done, it's important not to try to compare ourselves to others. As I said before, each one of us is unique! This is why it is important to realize that a person who is gifted in one area will not be gifted in another. We can admire people for certain qualities, but we must not forget that they also have flaws. Perhaps someone admires my sensitivity, for example? Who knows 🤫 ?

➜ It’s important to distance yourself from other people’s views and instead to focus on your own feelings. You have to keep your dreams and goals in mind, rather than thinking about other people's opinions!

By the way, something that can help with this is surrounding yourself with caring people. Yep, it's time to clean up our surroundings and say goodbye to the toxic people who put us down 👋! Being dragged into a spiral of negativity acts as a catalyst for us devaluing ourselves.

Test new experiences and embrace failure.

A good way to push your limits is to explore new things. This helps us to discover qualities that we would not have imagined in ourselves! It also encourages us to develop new skills by experimenting with unknown areas.

And what if things don’t go to plan? 👎 If our project was not successful? The fear of failure can prevent us from exploring new horizons. However, it is by learning that it is normal to fail, that we manage to move forward.

Get support

Of course, it is easy to read advice, but it is much more complicated to actually apply it. Getting rid of the inferiority complex alone won’t be an easy ride. We need to be able to surround ourselves with a competent person to accompany us, such as a psychologist. In fact, cognitive-behavioral therapies are the most suitable techniques to regain self-confidence and silence this negative little voice within us ❤️.

Be sure to check out these articles too;

• What is a superiority complex?
• Do we have to love our parents?
• Coming back after a burn-out