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When Did You Last Say “Great Job” To Yourself?
What you say to yourself matters most.
I had just finished lunch. I left a bit of my bread and some pieces of feta cheese on my plate, then I paid my check and went home.
Walking out of the restaurant, I thought, “Awesome job, Maya! You were never able to leave food on your plate before.”
That was yesterday.
Extract that scene and put it a year earlier in my life, and I’d think something like, “I can’t believe you ate bread again. I thought you said you wanted to lose weight. Who are you kidding? You might as well order a dessert.”
That’s the kind of relationship I had with myself. No wonder my poor body held onto fat for dear life. It needed it to cushion the blow of my constant critique.
And no wonder that now, finally, after a year of working on changing my thinking more than anything else, I’ve lost 10 pounds and have kept them off for over six months already.
Any time I want to criticize myself, I give me some love.
I finished a 53K word first draft of a novel just about an hour ago.
My first thought? How am I ever going to fix this mess!