Set Goals with Self-Compassion
With the start of a new week, month, or year, it can be tempting to overhaul your life. This might look like starting a new diet, adhering to an intense exercise regime, doing a detox, or trying to white-knuckle your way to change.
How often have you tried this approach?
It isn’t a bad thing to want to change your habits, but how often does your motivation start out from a place of criticism or feeling not good enough? You can’t hate yourself towards change. Instead, coming from a place of compassion is a great way to soothe and support yourself!
Consider The Words You Use
When coming from a place of compassion, you don’t tear yourself down by picking apart your body or criticizing your abilities. This inner critic can be really mean! You can start by asking these two helpful questions when this inner voice gets loud. The next step is to start changing the words you use to talk about yourself. It doesn’t have to be fake or super positive, you can aim for neutral comments like “I am thankful for my body today” or “I did my best today.”
Permission To Be Curious
Those diet and exercise plans I mentioned above are usually created by other people. People who don’t have your experiences, needs, or day-to-day life, so why would you follow their plan? If you start to tune inwards you can get clearer on how food, movement, and self-care feels to you. Maybe you hate journaling, but love doodling while listening to music. Maybe workout classes aren’t for you, but you love a solo walk on a trail. Maybe you aren’t hungry at breakfast, but you love a cup of hot broth first thing. When you notice something makes you feel good, consider how you can do more of it. When you notice something doesn’t feel great, ask yourself why and what would you change.
Taking Imperfect Action
When you’ve tried to change in the past, you might have fallen into all-or-nothing thinking where you were either on the wagon or off it. That just isn’t sustainable! You will catch a cold, go on vacation, have nights where you sleep poorly, or days where you forget to pack your lunch. Instead of focusing on all the things you did wrong, identify those that you feel are going well. You can even write them in your journal or notes app. When you start training your brain to see the positive momentum, it will start looking for it automatically!
No matter what your goals are, approaching them from a place of self-compassion can make you feel more positive, resilient, and really reduce feelings of shame and failure.
💛 Your peace awaits.
