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
www.edwastewart.com

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