Day 4: Treat Your Thoughts with Gentleness

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The way you treat yourself matters. And it will show up in your performance. For some reason, we seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to treat ourselves terribly. We think that somehow, this will make us perform better and do the things that are hard. 

You yell at yourself, belittle yourself, judge yourself and speak to yourself with condescension and disdain. You say things to yourself that you would probably never say to another person. And not only do you not see a problem with it, you may even think it is the way to get yourself to train and compete the way you want to.

The thing is, this never works for the long haul. The thoughts you have about yourself will drive your feelings about yourself. Your feelings will drive your actions. If they are negative thoughts, they will lead to negative feelings, which will cause you to act in negative ways and will get you negative results. 

Reflect

• Are you your own worst critic? Harder on yourself than anyone else around you?

• Do you often find that the voice you speak to yourself with is harsh? Condemning? Just plain mean?

• Would you be ok with someone treating your child (or another person you love dearly) the way you treat yourself?

• What could it look like to treat yourself with gentleness when you don’t train or compete up to your standards?

Take Action

Spend 5-10 minutes downloading your thoughts in general or about a specific circumstance in your life. 

Now go back with curiosity and gentleness and explore those thoughts. Why are you thinking these things? What are you afraid of? Where might this pattern of thought come from? Is it one you think often? 

Imagine you were a child. How would you respond to that child who was thinking this way? How might you comfort them and encourage them? Write your thoughts down.