Self Compassion
You may be suffering from low self-compassion and not actually know it. I’ll define self-compassion: this is when you treat yourself with kindness during difficult times. If you’re not used to other’s being kind to you and or your always tough on yourself, you may struggle to be kind to yourself. If you’re used to others treating you unkindly, ask yourself why you’re repeating their behaviour with yourself? This may help you to change your attitude towards yourself.
Start off small when implementing any changes; you’ve achieved a goal or done something well, congratulate yourself or give yourself a pat on the back. You may even find that the opposite is true for you; self-criticism helps to motivate you to do better, not to repeat past mistakes however it can also be crushing especially when you’re too hard on yourself, this can be de-motivating and stops you making progress.
It’s not easy transitioning from being self-critical to self-compassionate however that doesn’t mean that it’s unachievable. Take small steps to allow your body and mind time to re-adjust to the change, implement the change on a daily basis to help you learn to be kinder to yourself. You’ll find it very difficult to start off with however it will become easier as time progresses.
Go on be kind to yourself, you deserve it.
