You Are Already Enough EP 328

Welcome to your daily dose of hope. I'm Phyllis Nichols and I'm glad you're here.

You are already enough. That message is for the today version of you and the today version

of me as well. Not the future you or future me. Not the version that has it all figured

out. That hits every goal that we go for. It never has a disappointment. Never forgets

to reply to an email. This is for the right now version of you and the right now version

of me exactly as we are in whatever state we've got going on today. I want to talk about

self-compassion because that's how feeling okay. That's where feeling okay comes from.

And it sounds like something that's a luxury, but it's not. It's a survival skill. You

know somewhere along the way, self-compassion and self-love is somehow come to mean like

a spa day, which I like as much as anyone. There's nothing wrong with a spa day, but the

more that I've learned about the true concept of self-compassion, the more I realize that

a spa day is self-care, which is also important, but it's not the same thing, not at all. Red

some research by a doctor, Kristen Neuf, who's a psychologist, and she talks about people

who practice self-compassion and she explains how they're more resilient. They're less

anxious, and this might surprise you, but they're actually more motivated, not less motivated

because when you're not spending all of your energy beating yourself up, you actually

have energy left over to try again or to look at things from a different perspective. Here's

the thing that most of us were never really taught about self-compassion. It's not letting

yourself off the hook. That's not it. It's really just about treating yourself the way

you would treat a friend who was struggling. You treat them with patience, and maybe

with honesty for sure, but also with warmth and concern. Let me ask you something. If

your best friend came to you and said, I'm exhausted. I feel like I'm falling short

everywhere. I don't think I'm doing enough. I feel just terrible about how everything's

going in my life. What would you say to them? Well, whatever you just thought of, that's

what I want you to say to yourself today. You're not a machine, you're a person full of

contradictions, and you're trying your best, and that's genuinely, truly enough. Give

yourself a little grace today, not because you've earned it, not because you need it, but

because you're worth it. I believe that about you, even if you don't. Self-compassion is

recognizing that imperfection doesn't mean failure. It means you're human, and you're

trying, and that's all any of us can do. This podcast is part of the Sound Advice FM Network.

Sound Advice FM, Women's Voices Amplified.