Previously in your journey to self-acceptance, you’ve
learned a lot about overcoming things that can negatively affect what you think
of yourself. Today, we finish the self-acceptance part of the course with
strategies to help you build up yourself with a positive and healthy
self-image.
Reaching your full potential is dependent on the
creation and maintenance of a healthy self-image. It’s not possible to be highly
successful if you don’t believe in yourself. The way you view yourself
is either uplifting or a hindrance. Regardless of your childhood experiences,
past failings, or current level of self-esteem, you can possess a healthy
self-image.
Avoid underestimating the impact of your self-image on
other areas of your life. To reach your full potential, you must respect
yourself and believe you can do great things.
Add
value to yourself, and your self-image will flourish:
- Overcome any
limiting beliefs. Think about something you’d like to accomplish, but
are unable to do because of a limiting belief. Make a list of how that belief
is negatively impacting your life. Now, focus on how much your life would be
enhanced if you were able to remove this belief from your life.
- Create five affirmations you can repeat to yourself
throughout the day. The affirmations should be stated in the positive and
address the new belief you’d like to install.
- Recognize the small
victories. It’s not necessary to earn a million dollars or lose 50 pounds before
you have the right to feel proud and excited. Any progress is worthy of
recognizing. Large successes are the culmination of many smaller successes.
- Take full
responsibility for your current situation. Is it your fault that your
parents mistreated you or that your boss is a jerk? Of course not, but no one
else is going to fix the situation. It’s all on you. When you take responsibility, you
have control. Self-esteem is elusive when you believe you don’t have
control over your life.
- Do something for others. It’s easy to feel selfish
when all of your thoughts and activities are centered on yourself. Spend part
of your time enhancing the lives of others. Demonstrate
to yourself that you’re a good person.
- Take a step each
day toward your ideal self. We all have a vision of the person we’d like to be.
That ideal version of ourselves might seem too far away to even consider, but
take a small step each day. Each small improvement will raise your self-image.
Start today by listing all the qualities you’d like to have.
- Manage your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves.
You’re not the only one! The greatest thing about this is that we can
control what we say to ourselves. Is your self-talk positive or
negative? Negative self-talk chips away at your feelings of self-worth. Be kind to yourself. Be encouraging, positive, and
patient.
- Get started on the bigger projects in your life. Your self-image is
damaged when you fail to control yourself. Big projects are intimidating. Focus
on getting started. Take at least a few minutes each day to tackle the bigger
goals in your life. Sustained progress
is the key.
- Avoid comparing
yourself to others. We all have different skills and talents. It’s unfair
to compare yourself to other people. You’re doomed to be either too hard or too
easy on yourself.
- Compare yourself to your past. Are you doing better
than you were last month? When you can consistently answer “yes,” you’ll be
well on your way to maximizing your self-image.
Begin to build a healthy self-image today. Regardless
of your past or current impressions of yourself, you can learn to view yourself
in a more positive light. A healthy self-image is the springboard to
happiness and success. Focus on the small victories in your life and be proud
of your progress. You deserve to be successful and happy.
In your next lesson, we pause for summary and
reflection of this self-acceptance module. Then, you can surpass simple
acceptance by learning how to love yourself!
Here’s
what you need to do today:
Do something for
others: Schedule a time this week that you can use for helping someone else.
You may want to volunteer at a charity event, help someone you love, or lend a
helping hand to someone in need, like taking clothes, blankets, or food to a
family experiencing hard times.
Whatever you decide, have a happy heart and devote your full energies to helping out while you’re involved in your project.