Revel in Wondrous You: Accepting Yourself in this Moment

🎧 Episode #52: Revel in Wondrous You: Accepting Yourself in this Moment

😔When does self-improvement cross the line into self-flagellation?

🤐Are we using personal development and goal setting to undermine ourselves?

🤔How can self-improvement and self-acceptance co-exist in a world that increasingly wants us to choose sides?

In this episode, I want us to reflect on what's working in our lives and strike a balance between self-improvement and self-acceptance. Press play and listen to this episode as I explore:

The Wonderful Benefits of Feeling Wondrous

• Explore the ways you feel wondrous or do wondrous things that shape your integrity and personality.
• Understand how self-belonging, self-reliance, and self-acceptance co-exist in your life.
• The difference between feeling wondrous when you help others, and being wondrous as a natural state of being.
• Consider how being more self-accepting can enhance your striving for personal goals by empowering you to change because it feels good, not out of feeling "less than."

🎨Building a Strong Foundation: Awareness of Your Wondrousness

Awareness is a vital key to understanding your wondrousness and being able to act on it when interacting with the world or pursuing personal growth goals. If you are aware of your wondrousness—that is, if you know how special you are in very personal and specific ways—you can ground your self-identity in those beliefs, and that helps you know on a deep level that you are lovable and good.

You may want to change a habit, build new ones, or tweak a personal trait a bit, but your core and foundation are solid, and you understand your value and innate goodness.

💭Key Takeaways from this Episode:

• Self-acceptance, self-belonging, and self-reliance are interconnected concepts of self-identity that do a sort of dance in our lives. They help us understand our role in the world and build self-esteem.
• You can feel wondrous when you help someone else or do something thoughtful for another person, but your wondrous qualities exist outside of those kind acts, too. Get in touch with your wondrous qualities as they exist apart from any caregiving or support you may offer others.
• Changing habits is never easy, and it's especially difficult if you engage in negative self-talk. It's counterproductive and doesn't honor all the good in you, nor does it build the resilience you need to change.
• Stay aware of your wondrous nature, because the self-acceptance you feel as a result of that awareness will form the foundation for positive personal growth.

Journal Prompts to Dive Into Your Wondrous Self

We probably all think we can improve in some area or other in our life. We might want a tidier house, to lose weight or learn a new skill, and I believe that striving is a very human desire that can lead us toward greater self-fulfillment, but let us not lose sight of all the good that already exists in us. Let us remember how wondrous we are.

Self-acceptance depends on looking inward and recognizing your marvelous qualities. We all have them, and when we embrace them, we move about the world (and work toward our personal goals) with more ease and positivity. We move confidently toward the bright side of the beat.🌞

Podcast Music: My thanks to all the musicians who make incredible music and have the courage to put it out into the world. All music and sound effects for my podcast are sourced and licensed for use via Soundstripe.

Songs in this podcast episode: Super C by JMPSCR; Slide by GEMM; Pyaar Kee Seemaen by Cast of Characters

Related Episodes:

Believing in Yourself: How Self-Reliance Grows (#47)

The Art of Belonging: Creating Space for Yourself (#43)

Personal Growth Is In the Process: How to Love Where You Are (#42)

Build a Personal Growth Practice (with Creative Self-Care) (#14)

New Resource!

On the podcast, I often explore tools and strategies to reduce overthinking. Now, I've created a fun, art-lovers practice guide to stop overthinking, worry, and rumination. Click below to read it now.

The Art-lovers Creative Practice Guide to Stop Overthinking, Worry, and Rumination

This is my creative take on the process (and practice) of releasing the grip of overthinking using four modalities -- body connection, art/creativity, nature, and writing/journaling.

Let the Verse FlowJill Hodge

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Journaling Resources

30-Day Journal Challenge (Writing Prompts to Get Started)

Here’s a fun & simple 30-day journal challenge for beginners (or those who need inspiration). Use the daily prompts to rediscover yourself.

Let the Verse FlowJill Hodge

Journaling 101: An Inspirational Guide to Start (or Revive) a Practice

Whether you write, doodle, draw, or keep memorable quotes, journaling uncovers YOU. Let your unconscious mind speak, download my free guide.

Let the Verse FlowJill Hodge

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