Areas › Yourself and your limits
Yourself and your limits
Saying no, asking for something, and holding a line are skills, not personality. So is speaking to yourself the way you would speak to someone you love.
What works for this
Compassion focused therapy
Self esteem is the problem rather than the goal, because it needs a favourable verdict on you and therefore needs somebody to lose. Self compassion is the replacement, and it does not require you to come out ahead of anybody.
One move, today
Say to yourself what you would say to a friend in the same position, in the same tone. If that sounds indulgent, notice that you do not think so when it is them.
What matches
2 practicesAsk what this moment actually needs, not what your habit wants. Match the response to the situation.
Health is flexibility: sometimes speak up, sometimes let go, chosen to fit, not fixed by habit.
Two opposite things can both be true: I did my best, and I can do better. Hold both.
You do not have to choose one side of yourself. Wisdom often lives in holding both at once.
