2018 was rough. I struggled almost the entire year though. There were so many ups and downs and I just couldn’t wait for the year to be over. I thought that there might be ‘something in the air’ for… yes… the entire year.
When I started looking back on my 2018 accomplishments, downfalls, and just the year as a whole, I began to realize that it really wasn’t that bad. I started to realize that it was really just me. My own negative self talk.
You see, I am super mean to myself. I put myself down all the time:
“You’re not experienced enough”
“You’re not good enough”
“You aren’t worth that kind of money”
“You don’t deserve that”
“You are just a poser”
blah blah blah blah blah. The list goes on and on and on. I do this to myself constantly.
So when I started looking back on 2018 I started to realize that most of the things were really just myself being mean to myself, criticizing my work, and ultimately just putting myself down on a regular daily basis.
We seriously are our own worst critics. How can we expect anyone else to appreciate us, to love us, to value our work, if we are constantly devaluing ourselves to ourself?
So this year one of my hardest goals I think I set out to accomplish was to be nicer to myself. You see this is going to be an internal struggle. This isn’t something that I can write down, reach that magic number, and then be stoked that I accomplished my goal. This is something that is just going to be a daily accomplishment.
Did I say anything negative?
“Was I nice to myself today? ”
My question is, why do we do this? Why do you do this to yourself? Comment below. I would absolutely love to hear. Let’s support each other!
I believe that as creatives we struggle with this. At least most creatives do . We have an idea in our head, and when it doesn’t come out exactly like the idea in our head we start the ‘talk’. You see, I grew up with creatives. My mom, my aunts, my sisters. We are all creatives and we all do this! I took art classes in high school and every single person would put their work down and pointing out all the flaws. Yes, all the flaws.
Why are we not pointing out the good things in our work? Showing it off to the world and explaining how awesome it is? Honestly, I believe this is taught and looked down on. We aren’t supposed to boast or show off. So, instead of ‘bragging’ about how great our work is, we start criticizing it.
Let’s freaking stop doing this! All this does is ingrain in our head that, in fact, all our insecurities are true. It is just a downward spiral. The more you create, the more negative self talk you can provide, and the worse our outlook on ourself becomes.
So I hope you will join me this year in being kind to yourself. Let’s talk nicely to ourself. Lets stop this constant negative self talk. Comment ‘i’m in’ below if you want to join me in this uphill battle.
You are absolutely beautiful and amazing just the way you are. You do amazing work. Don’t let yourself tell you otherwise.
“There is only one you in this world and that is your power”
I am hanging this quote on everything. Just as a friendly reminder not to be so dang harsh. Maybe this quote isn’t for you, but it yells at me every time I read it. Find a quote to remind yourself how awesome you are, how far you have come, how you are good enough and print it out as a friendly reminder and a little helper to be kind to yourself.
Wishing you nothing but the most positive 2019!
Bessie