Do you know how to start being your own best friend, if you’re not already?
One of the first things you could take on board is living your best friend’s life. To do that, you will need to become very clear about how you would like that life to unfold.
You have likely heard the well known quote from Jim Rohn, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
Spend time recording the kinds of things that you want to have included in “your best friend’s” life. There are a couple of great exercises that can help you to do gain a bit more clarity. Try these…
What would your perfect day look like? Describing, writing down and visualizing your perfect day is a very powerful exercise. It can help get you in touch with those things you most love to do.
Another great exercise to use is writing a letter to your best friend, ten years into the future.
Make believe you are writing this letter as yourself in ten years time, yet write your letter in the present tense. Be as realistic as you can and include lots of information about how those most important parts of your life are turning out.
When you are your own best friend, you might also want to explore how you will approach issues or decisions that you come across in life.
We all talk to ourselves, yet do we speak to our self the way that we would if we were having that conversation with our best friend? Often enough, the voice in our mind may be the source of self-criticism and many unkind comments.
To turn that around, give each of those various “conversations in your mind” a personality and a name. It will be a little like setting up a committee of the mind, for yourself.
Next time you notice any thoughts that are not from “your best friend” (who is the most supportive member of your mind’s committee), simply tell that critical personality to move on or let them know what you think of their unhelpful contribution.
Then… ask “your best friend” for their more positive and constructive input.
When you are uncertain about a direction you should take or about how to solve a particular problem, you might go to a best friend for advice. In those instances, why not try the following best friend exercise.
This is the outline of its brief version…
Send a letter to an imaginary best friend, who has all answers to all questions. Mail this letter to your own address, using postal mail. When it arrives, “be” the best friend and reply to the letter that you received. Again, mail this letter back to the sender (you). Take action based on the advice in that letter, which was mailed back to you by your best friend (you).
Do you trust your best friend? If you do, then when you are your own best friend, could you also learn to trust more in yourself?
We often look for answers and motivation, outside of ourselves. The more we make external sources responsible for events and circumstances in our life, the more we set ourselves up for losing trust and confidence in our own ability to choose what’s best for us.
When you become more clear that you are the best friend that you will ever have, you can then begin trusting that best friend a bit more often than you might now.
It is OK to take your own counsel and to have confidence in your ability to choose the right path for you.
Your best friend knows you better than anyone and your best friend truly has your personal interests at heart.
Start being your own best friend today!
BIO: Listen to Thea Westra’s FREE 50-minute audio titled 100 Forward Steps Life Power Tips. You also get a FREE PDF ebook of “179 Forward Steps” life power tips, to accompany the MP3. In fact, you get 50 free self improvement ebooks!
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