Chip Chick
“I’m not really on social media, so I don’t get bombarded by photos and stories that make my life seem less than. But another trick is to really (really) take a good look at other people living other lives and instead of focusing on all the parts that are amazing, make a catalog of all the bad parts.”
“I’ve been privileged enough to land on some top-tier university campuses in my life and meet some highly successful people. And let me tell you, their lives are always falling apart in some unseen corner that they’re hiding from the world.”
“You have examples of “top people” in fields going through messy divorces, having mental health crises, losing their way…Then you start realizing that even when life looks shiny and beautiful, most people are struggling in some sort of way.”
“It just tends to look messier from the inside and prettier from the outside. And the person with the beautiful life? You just haven’t figured out what’s wrong with them yet. So one way into self-esteem is actually recognizing that everyone looks better from a distance, so since you’re closest to yourself you’re always going to see more flaws in yourself than anyone else.”
“And the other is self-compassion. It’s knowing that you’re struggling in a 100% human way, you’re flawed like everyone else. And there never was a member of our species that didn’t struggle, and it’s completely part of the package.”
“And the kinder you are with yourself about being human the more you will start talking yourself up rather than down.”
She Just Woke Up And Chose To Have High Self-Esteem
“I had very low self-esteem some years ago. It changed when I decided to have high self-esteem. That sounds odd, but hear me out.”
“I woke up and thought “what would I do if I had high self-esteem?”, and then I did those things. I wore that top, I asked that guy out, I applied for that job: I pretended I had high self-esteem.”
“And over time, it wasn’t pretend anymore, it was just how I acted.”
