Don’t go to that dark place
Everyone I know dislikes something about themselves. Usually it’s something about their appearance. Sometimes it’s something else. Me? I don’t like the potbelly that appears when I forget to suck it in. A lot of the time it’s something that can’t be changed. And disliking something about yourself can mess with your mind. It sends your self-esteem into a tailspin. It takes your brain to dark and disturbing places. And it’s hard to recover from that kind of mentality. And it prevents us from moving on to bigger and better things. So, let’s all agree: accept yourself as you are to get ready for more.
But it’s common
An article in Psychology Today agrees that most of us find fault with something about ourselves and says that we all believe that this will be motivation for us to change that thing. But it doesn’t always work that way. You can certainly try to be better, more attractive, skinnier, but that may take time. And in some cases, may not be possible at all. I talk quite a bit about setting goals. Decide on something you want, make sure that it’s feasible and reasonable within a certain time frame, set intermediate goals to get you on the path, and take action.
In the meantime…
But while you’re taking that action, you’re going to be looking in the mirror at the same reflection. Accept how you look right now. And if it’s a thought process that you want to change, the first step to change how you think is to recognize that process. Accept it, acknowledge it, train your brain to turn to how you want to think as you recognize your thought in the moment.
Remember your Amazing Box
And as you change the things that you can change, make sure that you’re acknowledging the hard work you’ve done to get there. You’ve taken steps to change yourself for the better. You’re adding resilience and strength. You might not be all the way to where you want to be yet, but every step is an achievement. And on days that you feel down about yourself, remind yourself how far you’ve come. Make contributions to your Amazing Box as you reach the milestones toward your goal. And on those down days, reach into your Amazing Box and read one of them. That’s motivation to keep going.
