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I am my own harshest critic. Nothing has brought that forward more than re-envisioning and launching version 2.0 of my business! Over the past couple of months, my inner voice has been incredibly loud, bombarding me with doubts, judgments, dismissals, and fears that can feel overwhelming when trying something new or doing something BIG. Especially when that BIG thing is the right thing to do. When the inner critic voice gets too loud, it can drown out intuition, dampen creativity, and freeze me in my tracks. To get moving again and get back to the fun part of doing something new and exciting, we must embrace self-acceptance.
Self-acceptance is acknowledging our whole selves, our amazing, imperfect selves. It’s about seeing our own strengths and weaknesses with openness. We can appreciate our accomplishments and stay open to growth and change. With self-acceptance we can love ourselves for who we are, actions we’ve taken, and choices we’ve made and embrace the whole big mess. Then we can take the next step, knowing that even if there’s more mess ahead, we can get through it with the strength we’ve gained from past experiences.
To remind myself of the importance of self-acceptance during tough times, I keep a list of quotes that inspire me to embrace the mess. Here are a few of my favorites!
Self Acceptance Quotes
“I decided that the most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed.” - Anne Lamott
“Without wishing for anything different, honor everything you’re capable of.” - Arwyn Moonrise
“I love to see people just being regal in their own skin; it's just when they know who they are.” - Ava DuVernay
“I now see how owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” - Brené Brown
“You really have to be in touch with your soul and spirit and your imagination – it keeps you in shape, and it makes you like yourself a bit more.” - Chita Rivera
“You can’t juggle it all 100 percent. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to do everything.” - Connie Chung
“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” - Dr. Seuss
“The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.” - E.E. Cummings
“Don’t ever think that just because you do things differently, you’re wrong.” — Gail Tsukiyama
“Be messy and complicated and afraid and show up anyways.” - GLENNON DOYLE MELTON
“We start with this assertion: people are, by their very nature, naturally creative, resourceful, and whole.” - Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandahl, Laura Whitworth
“The greatest thing you have is your self-image, a positive opinion of yourself. You must never let anyone take it from you.” – Jaime Escalante
“What we can control is our own image of ourselves, and how surely we are worth loving, defending, and redeeming. In all of our messed-up, scared glory.” - Luvvie Ajayi Jones
“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” - Marilyn Monroe
"You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anyone." - Maya Angelou
“We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined.”- N. Scott Momaday
“Harness all the amazing things you are, wrap them up in a ball, place it over your heart, take a deep breath, and tell yourself you are all the things you know yourself to be.” - Pride Socks
“The person that fails the most, wins.” - Seth Godin
"Always be you--and learn to let go in order to grow. You owe it to yourself."--Vivian Martinez-Stachura
“You change the world by being yourself.”― Yoko Ono
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