Say No To Perfection - Part II - The Inside Voice

So many times throughout my life I've listened to the negative talk within my head. "I can't do this. You're stupid. I hate my body." We all do that don't we? For the past few years, I've made it a point to give myself a verbal talking to when I do this. We are our own worst critics on everything. Why do we beat ourselves up when we know darn well we are capable, we're not dumb, and we are all pretty sexy in our own way.

How do we combat the negative talk? First, make yourself aware of doing it. Sometimes we don't even realize we're doing it. Once when I first started yoga I was in a Kripalu class and the teacher was amazing. Her husband was there also practicing. I was frustrated with myself for not being able to do a pose saying out loud, "I can't do this." Brent looked at me and said, "If you tell yourself you can't, you won't." Boy did that shake me in my boots. Such a simple thing but so powerful. Since that day I made it a point to say "I can do that" even if I've never tried it. Can't hurt right? Even if I do it lousy, at least I tried. When I find myself doing something stupid like adding extra sugar to a cake recipe, instead of saying how stupid I was I just look and laugh saying, "oh well, let's start again." WE ARE HUMAN! WE MAKE MISTAKES! There is no such thing as being perfect. I once worked for a financial company who demanded perfection in everything. They fired me because I made some errors. Seriously? And you're perfect? No one is.

Stop being so critical of you. You were made in the beauty of the universe. While it's easy for me to sit here and tell you this, it's up to you to make the change. It takes awhile but make yourself aware of what you're doing. If we do it while our children are young, they see it and do it too. I made that mistake and now that my daughter is older, I try to change it and make her aware of it too. God forbid she grow up neurotic like I was. I want her to know she is smart and beautiful and capable of doing anything she wants. Listen to your inside voice and know the negativity you project isn't real but your own self doubt. Get positive! When you do positive self talk, life changes for you. You become happier, assured, confident. It's a good feeling.