This Week In Stress Less Weekly
Why Treat Yourself Like A 2-Year-Old
One of my favorite things to tell my stressed-out clients is: “Treat yourself like a 2-year-old.”
I’m not talking about being like a grandparent who spoils their toddler grandchild—I’m talking about kindness and encouragement.
Whether you are a parent, grandparent, or big brother or sister, when a baby in your life starts to walk, what do you do? You cheer and encourage them. If they fall on their cute little diapered butt, do you yell at them and say, “You’re so klutzy”? No. You say, “Oopsie, try again.”
When a toddler in your life puts together a small sentence or identifies and names an object, you cheer them on—even if they don’t enunciate very clearly. In fact, we often find the imperfections kind of cute.
So why beat yourself up if you don’t do things perfectly? Why put pressure on yourself to be perfect 24/7?
This is not to say you should do things in half-measures or not strive to do better. Instead, cut yourself some slack when an attempt isn’t perfect. Just like how you encourage a 2-year-old with enthusiasm and grace, encourage yourself.
There are all kinds of books and materials about peak performance that you can use to go deeper than what is being said here, but you can follow three principles for improvement while not stressing yourself out:
Learn from your mistakes
Praise yourself for the effort you made
Try again
The next time you are stressed, pause a moment and ask yourself if you are being kind to yourself the way you would a 2-year-old?
Feel free to leave a comment and let others know about your favorite way to be kind to yourself
Stress Factoid of the Week
Even brief moments of self-affirmation can yield significant psychological benefits. On top of that these benefits can be both immediate and long-lasting