Being Your Own Advocate

Some of us are lucky to have someone cheering us on and supporting us and others aren’t so lucky. If you are lucky to have someone, cherish them. If you aren’t so lucky, it’s time for you to learn how to be your own advocate. Try these four steps to a better you!

Recognize what you need. Life is a challenging journey we must take alone and pretending that it is not the case doesn’t help anyone. It does not mean we don’t need others but sometimes we have to do things on our own. Recognizing that you’re in transition to a better, happier you, can make things easier when you find yourself utterly confused and overwhelmed. It’s okay to say this is what I need. Create a list of what you need to move forward.

Take care of yourself. Self-discovery means being honest with yourself. If you are emotionally or physically tired, you might need extra sleep, or extra do-nothing time. Take it! Look at your schedule, are you suffocating from a packed schedule? Do you have a hard time saying no to things or people? Think about created an extra space in your schedule to allow for rest, play or more time if you need it for your work or project. You are learning and discovering a new way to work with yourself, treat yourself the way you treat others. Exercise your brain and your mind. Be kind to you.

Be aware of your needs. Awareness can happen in so many ways and depends entirely on your personal style. You can process things by discussing them in your journal, or making an arts and craft project, by talking with friends, by confiding in family, by reading stories or watching movies about people going through similar things. You can even integrate things actively in your life. For example, meditation, working out, massages and playing. Yes, Playing! Remember how aware you were of life and what you wanted when you were a kid? That is what playtime does it brings you back to you. It helps you find your center. So have some fun. Play ball, have a water gun fight do whatever makes you happy.

Give yourself credit. Too many times people downplay their accomplishments, especially when the accomplishments are ordinary things that they feel happen to everyone. If you don’t congratulate yourself who will? It might sound silly, but you did a great job and you should be proud of yourself. Don’t downplay the wonderful things you do for others, at work or at home. You are a good friend to others, so be a good friend to yourself. When you are ready, you need to share your accomplishments with others. You have to be your own cheerleader! There is nothing wrong with saying to someone else “I am really good! “