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Is the year a bust if you don't have a 2022 self-improvement plan by February 1st? Self-improvement without compassion can lead to feelings of self-sabotage and burnout. Here's how to refocus your attention and energy on the amount of care you are devoting to yourself.
Self-improvement can feel like you’re stuck in a hot car on a road trip. An endless road filled with signs reminding you to “Drink more water!” “Exercise! Beach body season is around the corner.” “Boss up! Hustle harder and you’ll get the life you want.” “Eat right!” An endless loop of obnoxious reminders that can leave us feeling like we will never truly be enough. Like there is no rest stop or end destination in sight. Truth: Change is a constant in life. Also truth: The pace and rate at which you decide to intentionally change, evolve, and grow is for you (and you alone) to decide.
Self-compassion is squinting your eyes and looking for those smaller, worn out, less flashy signs that read “You’re doing a great job with the tools you have. Keep it up!” “You deserve a break, just because. Pull over at the next rest stop and recharge.” “I’m so proud of you. Look how you continue to face challenges and figure it out.” While burnout is your car breaking down on the side of the road (in the middle of nowhere), self-compassion is taking lots of pit stops, it’s listening to your favorite tunes on repeat, it’s having a fulfilling conversation with a loved one, it’s switching drivers (if you can), it’s flying instead of driving (I don’t love road trips haha).
As we turn the corner into 2022, how can we begin to look for those smaller signs? How can we better honor ourselves and our needs as we get to where we want to go?
As a community of Black + Brown women our systems have conditioned us to believe that we need to put the world on our backs in order to be of value. Let’s radically resist this narrative together in 2022. Let’s uplift our own systems filled with acts of genuine love, kindness, and compassion for ourselves.
