7 Gentle Reminders for Self-Compassion
How to give yourself compassion?
That’s called ‘should’ statements.
→ “I should…”
Many times, when we use ‘should’ statements, we end up overthinking.
And doing nothing.
I wanna give you an exercise to deal with those ‘should’ statements.
I’ll use an example from a few of my clients when I was a personal trainer.
They used to say:
→ “I should exercise every day to…”
Let’s get into the exercise.
1. To start, identify the “should statement” you tend to use.
For example:
→ “I should exercise every day”
If you feel comfortable, write it down in your journal.
2. Now, ask yourself:
→ How does this statement make me feel?
For example:
→ “It makes me feel guilty when I miss a day of exercise”
→ “It feels like I’m failing”
3. Now, ask yourself:
→ Is this statement realistic?
→ Where did this expectation come from?
For example:
→ “It probably comes from seeing fitness influencers online”
→ “It’s not realistic for my schedule”
4. Alright! Now it’s time to challenge your thoughts.
Here’s how:
→ Grab your journal
→ List reasons why this statement isn’t entirely fair to yourself
For example:
→ “It’s okay to have days when I need rest”
→ “Pushing myself every day isn’t sustainable or enjoyable”
5. Okay! Now we need to reframe that statement.
How?
By creating a more realistic and positive one.
So, instead of saying:
→ “I should exercise every day”
you can say:
→ “I want to do my best to stay active in ways that feel good to me”
If you want, you can use “I’ll” instead of “I want to”.
For example:
→ “I’ll do my best to stay active in ways that feel good to me”
Go with what feels best to you.
6. Last step! Ask yourself:
→ What little steps can I take to back up this new way of thinking?
For example:
→ I’ll schedule 3 short workouts this week
→ Also, I’ll take walks during breaks at work
Stewart Life Coaching
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