Befriend yourself like your health depends on it

Florian Heinrich

31 Mar 2024 — 5 min read

Hey friends,

This week, I want to share a topic with you that I have found myself struggling with repeatedly in the past: Self-compassion and how to treat ourselves with kindness when we mess up.

Enjoy!

When we mess up—and people see it—we disclose ourselves and expose us to the judgment of others -and ourselves.

Once exposed, we have a choice of which direction to go.

Do we dress ourselves down or pump ourselves up?

Spoiler: It's neither.

When we criticise ourselves for certain actions, we can sometimes find motivation to do better next time. The problem is to regulate our emotional heat. The steam we let go of often winds up in mills of destructive behaviour and vicious cycles.

Therefore, tapping into self-esteem might appear to be the better solution. Self-esteem is a keyword in surviving today and approaching tomorrow. But enjoy it with a grain of salt: While it can lift performance and lessen depression and anxiety, it has its drawbacks. Self-esteem is often comparative, and for me to shine bright, others have to be denigrated in the shadows.

So, there must be a better alternative.

In fact, there is, it is called self-compassion