Are you tired of criticising yourself or comparing to others? Why don’t you try a different approach and see what happens.
The good news is, self-acceptance is something we can learn and nurture. Self-acceptance is not a trait you either have or not. It is more like a skill you can practice and evolve.
- Become aware of your inner voice. It starts with recognising how you judge yourself. Try to acknowledge your negative thoughts and become aware of the inner critic. Don’t forget to remind the inner critic that not everything is true. Every experience is a learning experience and you’re doing your best.
- Recognise your strengths. Acknowledge your abilities and write them down. If it’s challenging to come up with the list, name one strength each day. For example: I am a kind person, I am a creative cook, I am a good listener, I am a reliable friend.
- Stop comparing yourself to others. Try to acknowledge the situations that trigger the comparison game. Acknowledge your thoughts and gently change the focus. Or, use the comparison as motivation to improve what actually matters to you.
- Use social media consciously. Again, try to be aware of the negative thoughts and what triggers them when you’re scrolling through different social networks. Social media can actually be a great playground to train your awareness and to evaluate what your core values really are.
- Develop self-compassion. Self-compassion is the foundation of self-acceptance. Just think about how compassionate can you be when you comfort your friend. Practice forgiveness and try to stop judging yourself for the past events based on the best you could do at time.
- Be active. Surround yourself with people who make you feel loved and accept you for who you are. Try new things or indulge in fun activities. Just remember that changing the old patterns requires energy and time. So try to be active but also patient at the same time for the changes to happen.
- Talk to a therapist. Therapist can help you notice your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Therapist can also teach you different approaches to quiet your inner critic. Together, you can begin to understand how your past is connected to your critical inner voice.
MindGuide provides online therapy, anytime, anywhere. Have an audio, video or a text-chat session with the therapist. Take care of your future by taking care of it now.
