Welcome to another edition of leadersayswhat’s the Weekender, a little snippet to start your weekend off with a positive mindset. Why just a snippet? Because it’s the weekend!
On Valentine’s Day, we are inundated with the emphasis on love and companionship. As important as this is, let’s not forget the importance of accepting yourself. On the Nerdist podcast, actress and comedian Lisa Kudrow was discussing how she benefited from receiving therapy before being struck by the fame of Friends.
Before that, I really did think and I didn’t see anything wrong with this thinking which was, ‘I will like myself when I become successful and other people like what I do. And that’s when I know that it will be okay to like myself.’… I didn’t think twice about whether this was healthy.
For those of us high achievers, this thinking may sound familiar. We tie our self-esteem and self-worth into external influences. When this happens, we never feel good about ourselves because:
- We cannot rely on other people’s acceptance to feed our feelings of value. This is a turbulent rollercoaster of highs and lows.
- Being a high achiever means the goal line keeps moving. By the time you’ve accomplished the goals from last year, you have already determined next year’s goals. As a result, success is perpetually just beyond your grasp.
So on this Valentine’s Day weekend, show your love for those in your life but take a minute to reflect on you. Let’s not hold off on liking ourselves until the intangible feelings of success are attained. Who knows, you might even accomplish more if you start liking yourself now.
