Self-Encouragement

“Limits only exist in your mind. If you want, you can do so much more.” 

• Tobias Heinze

  
  

I’ve always been someone who’s gravitated towards encouraging words of praise, words of affirmation, and inner motivation.  From my early days in life, I’ve been a person who has been very intrinsically motivated and would always be someone who was motivated by someone else telling me I couldn’t do something in life.  I remember in my early college days, getting a speeding ticket in a school zone and later arguing with the city council member because the school zone light was not operational at the time and the sign simply said, “enforced when flashing” or something to that effect.  I have so many other stories, but I know we only have so much time for our blog post today.  The main concept I’ve carried with me in life overall is that I am always looking for opportunities to dig deep and motivate myself.  I’ve often said that you have to motivate yourself AND take care of yourself before you can take care of others. 

Today, I wanted to talk about the concept of self-encouragement.  The word itself can take many different fashions and avenues, however, when I think about self-encouragement, three concepts come to mind for me: “Self-Appreciation”, “Self-Motivation”, and “Selflessness”.

1. Self-Appreciation - I say this a lot and it’s because I truly mean it: When you appreciate yourself, it gives you the permission to appreciate others and in turns helps them remain vulnerable in terms of their own growth.  There are so many ways you can appreciate yourself through self-care, taking time to enjoy the quiet moments in life, and also being proud of what you’ve accomplished, whether it’s personally or professionally.  We all feel appreciated in different ways through formal, informal, monetary, or simple words of thanks related appreciation.  In those times where you doubt yourself, feel like you’ve failed at something, or don’t feel like you’ve lived up to other’s or your own expectations, self-appreciation will be there to save the day.  I can’t take credit for this, but I’ve seen internet memes that mention your younger self will always look to your current self and appreciate where you’ve come from and where you’re at today.  It’s so hard to see that in the moment (I truly struggle with this as well), and I promise you that you’ve grown recently or even over the past few years even when you feel like you haven’t.  Take a moment today and appreciate your own self, your values, your commitments, and the overall progress you’ve made in life!

2. Self-Motivation - We know all too well that motivation comes and goes for each of us during a typical day, week, month (and sometimes even over a calendar year).  Encouraging yourself can also include motivating yourself in more ways than one.  Like I mentioned earlier, my primary motivations in life occur when someone tells me I can’t do something or won’t do something.  I’ve written in previous blogs that I’ve always been an underdog and have had to earn everything I’ve gotten in life.  This remains true today and I don’t necessarily seek out someone to tell me I can’t do something, but I do hold myself to the highest standards possible when I set out to do something.  Even when I try something and fail for the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth time, I remain motivated to know that there still is more to achieve and I’ll find a way to get it done.  The motivation for me then builds over time and every time I gain a small or large win, my motivation grows even stronger.  There’s so many different schools of thought out there, and I’ve often heard of one that we should all look inward towards ourselves for motivation and not try to gain/earn motivation from or through others.  It can be the hardest thing in life and it does get easier.  When you look inward and challenge yourself to grow stronger through self-encouragement, your self-motivation will grow each day for sure!

3. Selflessness - One thingI’ve learned in life recently that took me a little while to warm up to is the concept of self-encouragement through helping others.  Some of the best ways to reduce your own stress, practice self-care, and lean into servant leadership is through helping others.  It gives you that warm/fuzzy feeling and helps you to know that you’re making a difference in life.  It’s not something you would expect to make you more prone to encourage yourself, but I can see how when you feel better after helping someone or others out, your body is more receptive to appreciating itself.  My life goal of selflessness helps me to appreciate and encourage myself, knowing that I made a difference in someone else’s life and expected nothing in return.  I believe in the mantra of “Being kind to yourself” and it’s hard to not be kind to yourself when you’ve selflessly given back in life.  This may not seem like on the surface it’s a part of self-encouragement, but it is simply a way for your own mind and body to feel better about itself and grow in appreciation for your own unique strengths.  Become more selfless in life and you’ll find that your self-encouragement will grow!

Encouragement and self-encouragement are interwoven in your life and will help you grow this year and beyond.  As you lean into encouraging yourself, and in turn encouraging/helping others, you will be able to appreciate all the good that comes with life.  Make sure to be where your feet are always, take each day one day at a time, and appreciate how far you’ve come in life.  You’re doing so great!

Keep growing and know that I truly believe in you always!

• Ryan