12/19/2024
Do you believe you're awesome?
If you're like a lot of people, you probably cringed just thinking about believing something like that about yourself.
You probably learned (explicitly or implicitly) that it's self-centered/narcissistic to believe or (*gasp*) say out loud that you're amazing.
Or you just think it couldn't be true that you're awesome because you have lots of evidence of all your flaws and mistakes.
I heard someone say recently that a lot of people believe they're very self-aware, because they can list all their faults/shortcomings/"toxic traits". But if you can't see and list all the things that are good and incredible about yourself in addition to the places you could stand to work on, then you're not self-aware, you're just self-critical.
And the more critical you are of yourself, the more time you're spending thinking about yourself.
i.e. the more time you spend in judgment or self-loathing, the more self-centered you actually are.
And the more likely to filter what everyone else says through that negative self-perception, believing that they must think those things about you too.
So you are projecting, getting defensive, and making things about you, instead of being able to really be present with other people.
And therefore reinforcing that negative self-belief.
When you think you're awesome, you don't actually spend that much time thinking about yourself. You can be IN your life, instead of thinking ABOUT your life. You're not constantly reprimanding yourself or numbing out with your activity of choice to avoid your self-critical thoughts.
And you don't have to be perfect to think you're amazing. Just imagine someone you know and love who you think is incredible, who you know isn't perfect. If they don't have to be perfect to be amazing and loveable, neither do you.
And maybe "awesome" is a step too far right now, if you're deep in self-judgment.
Getting to neutral is a big step.
You're just a human, who makes mistakes like ALL humans. Maybe you can start with a belief like that. Think that thought as often as you can.
And then maybe you can list the small ways that you *are* awesome - the things you're good at, the things you like about yourself, nice things your friends have said about you, how you've helped others throughout your life.
Our brain has a negativity bias and it thinks it's really important to show you the bad stuff because it thinks it will motivate you to change and therefore somehow keep you safe.
But negative emotion is not a good long-term fuel source. If it worked well, wouldn't you be "better" by now?
And what if you've gotten to this point in your life not *because* of self-criticism, but *in spite* of it?
What could you create in your life if you believed you were awesome?
If you want help working on this, send me a message or book a free call with me here:
https://calendly.com/bonniebodymind
And I'm running a special through New Year's! Book a coaching call by January 1 for the discounted rate.