Buried in Self-Judgment
This is us. Reaching out for someone to tell us we matter. That we belong. That we're clever, smart, witty. We want this because performance takes over when we say it to ourselves. We know the words are hollow -- they have power, yes, but in the back of our mind, doubt looms. So we perform to be seen and heard. We flail for success so that we matter. In the end, it's because we're buried in self-judgment. Truth is. They're just labels. Sticky notes we placed long ago to hamper Self-Approval. Take the labels off. They're imaginary.
A few years ago, my partner took a picture of us. She loved it. I hated it. It's not that the photo was bad -- it's that I looked terrible: bad framing, mid chew, one eye closing mid-blink.
I caught myself judging everything about how I looked. If she could hear what I was thinking, she'd call it abuse.
Taking a step back, I realized the effect of self judgement. These weren't just judgements on the image. They were judgements on me.
I pulled out my notepad and journaled how I saw myself, and wouldn't you know it -- I had a mountain of self critiques over the years that had piled up into this moment of abuse.
I listed every limiting belief I held about my appearance, then reframed them. Every "I'm fat, hideous, terrible looking" -- all of it changed to "I'm letting that go" and the truth: "I look great. The camera caught me at a bad time."
The truth will set you free. Cliché, yes. True, yes.
That was 5 years ago. Those things have never come back since.
This is the work. Identify your old beliefs, your old patterns, your old ways of being. Reflect. Reframe. Grow.
You are limitless. Remember that.
Lance Powell
Somatic Architect
linktr.ee/lancepowell