Taking yourself too seriously means that you believe that your own ideas about your self are real. It means that you exaggerate your self-importance and underestimate your self-worth. In its root sense, respect means “to look again.” You have a usual way of seeing yourself; to be respectful of yourself means “to look again.” Take another look: perhaps you haven’t seen clearly who you are. You may have overestimated or underestimated yourself.
