How to Be The Best You

You are amazing!! Do you know that? Do you believe that?

Well, it’s true, I know it because you’re reading this. You want to be the best you, and that my dear friend makes you amazing.

So what does being your best self-look like? It starts with the basics, and that means:

Loving Yourself & Appreciating How Truly Special You Are

There are three key components to loving yourself:

1. Understanding Your Uniqueness

There is not now, nor has there ever been, anyone just like you. Wow!

Just like there are no two snowflakes alike, and each snowflake is uniquely beautiful, you are the same.
You’ve been created with your own unique gifts and abilities. I promise you there are things that you’re really great at that someone else stinks at.

My favorite Psalm is Psalm 139 where the Lord tells us that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. I love this because it reminds me that no matter how much I may be feeling down on myself, the truth is that I have been fearfully and wonderfully made. This applies to you!

You need to appreciate how special you are, there is no one like you!

2. Speak Truth To Yourself

On those days you’re not feeling it, you need to do me a favor and stop listening to the lies, that is those lies telling you, you’re not good enough. Instead, promise that you’ll replace those lies with truth. At these times, it is important to remind yourself how incredibly fantastic and wonderfully superb you are.

3. Cultivate Positive Relationships

When we learn to appreciate has special we are and speak truth ourselves, we begin to see that we deserve supportive relationships in our lives.

Having solid supportive relationships is a key part of loving yourself. These solid relationships consist of the people that will remind you of the truth of how special you are when you’re listening to the LIE. These are the ones who will just listen to you and offer an empathetic ear, they validate your feelings and challenge you at the same time.

Cultivate those relationships that help you be the best you. When you love yourself you know that these are the relationships that you deserve.

Practicing Self-Care

Being the best you involves a willingness to take care of yourself.

Are you prioritizing your own well-being? Do you make sure you get plenty of sleep, eat regular healthy food, and get some form of exercise a few days a week?

No matter what else we do, if we are not properly caring for ourselves there is no way we can be our best self.

We’ve talked about how having supportive relationships is a key to loving ourselves, but relationships that are truly supportive are a two-way street and you can’t really be there for someone else if you are not caring for yourself.

Be your best self by making sure that you are taking care of yourself. Part of taking care of you is actively building these relationships. This is vital because caring for yourself includes caring for your mental state. The best way to care for your mental state is having solid support systems. Cultivate those relationships that make you thankful they are in your life. After all, our lives are shaped by interaction with others.

Identifying Your Gifts and Talents

My husband is this incredible singer, he is exceptionally gifted and has even toured the country singing. Not only does he have this fantastic voice, but he also plays numerous instruments. As if his musical accomplishments were not enough he’s an outstanding artist. These are all just natural gifts.

Around the time our kids reached Middle School, it was evident they had inherited their Dad’s gifts for both music and art.

And then there’s me. I kid you not, I can’t even tune a radio. In fact, the best way for me to embarrass my kids (and myself) is to sing loudly. As far as art goes I honestly struggle drawing stick people.

Being the only non-artistic person in my home can be tough. For years I really felt like I just wasn’t gifted or talented.

Remember those lies I talked about earlier, will this is one of them.

While I don’t have any traditional artistic gifts, I do have my own set of unique gifts and talents. Look, I am not the mom who’s going to bring those perfectly decorated cupcakes to the bake sale, but I am super administrative. Put me in charge of the bake sale and it will be the most organized and well-run bake sale the school has had.

To be your best self you need to find your own unique gifts and talents. Some may be readily apparent, while you may have to dig a little harder to find others.

If you’re not sure what your unique gifts and talents are, simply ask yourself “what am I good at”. Everybody is good at something, your answer might surprise you. You can also ask yourself what it is that you love doing. What would you do if time and money are not an issue?

Knowing your gifts and talents help you to find your meaning in life.

Focusing on Your Strengths

Far too often we have a tendency to focus on our weaknesses rather than our strengths. We look at those areas we need to improve or fall short in and try to find new ways to do things better.

But to truly be your best self, your focus should be on your strengths.

This goes hand-in-hand with identifying your gifts and talents. Know what you’re good at and strengthen those traits even more.

Living out your passion is all about playing to your strengths.

Unless there is a compelling reason to focus your time and resources on weaknesses let them go. Why go through all the work to get better at something you don’t even enjoy?

Working on your strengths is easier and more natural. However, my word of caution is don’t use this as an excuse to be lazy and not try. I don’t love cooking, but I do love decorating. I still need to do both with my best efforts. But, I do make meals simple, I have a list of easy meals that everyone enjoys, this way I can spend extra time on my strength in decorating.

Spending Time Serving Others

I firmly believe that we are truly at our best when we are focusing on others. When life is all about us, it is too easy to become selfish and self-focused.

By turning our focus outward, we become better by helping to better others. This doesn’t have to be a big deal, a simple gesture goes a long way.

Here are some simple ideas for ways to serve others:

Volunteer
Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Encourage Others
Meet a Need
Listen
Pray for Them

Be your best by recognizing how truly amazing you are. Because you deserve it, take the time to care for yourself, as you do focus on the incredible strengths you have been given and use them to serve others.