Increase your self belief: step three
Day three: Let yourself off
When I work with a group I sometimes stop whatever we are doing and ask them to think of three things that they don’t like about themselves. Everyone can think of at least three things and they are never reluctant to tell the rest of the group.
Then I ask everyone to think of three things that they like about themselves. This is always so much more difficult and most people can’t think of one thing let alone three, and no one really wants to tell everyone else anything nice about themselves. Why is this? Why is it so much easier for us to bring ourselves down than it is to lift ourselves up? Try this exercise yourself.
Did you find it hard to praise yourself? Was it easy to criticise yourself? Deep down we are all excessively self-critical; even the most confident people have a well-developed inner critic. Our inner critic is that part of us that is never ever satisfied with what we do; it will always nag away at us and bring us down. Recognise that you can never satisfy its overbearing demands and just move on.
Follow Lynda's tips each day and take her quiz to increase your self-belief.
