From a young age, children are bombarded with many different messages, which as we get older can lead us to have unhealthy self-images. We are told to be seen and not heard, to be polite, to stifle our emotions and to look or act in specific ways according to our gender. It's no wonder that these messages can lead to a battle within ourselves and ultimately a lack of self-acceptance. A lack of self-acceptance can be exhausting; feeling as though we need to hide our own beliefs or needs for fear of being a burden or imperfect can cause us to repress our emotions which then build up triggering emotional outbursts as a way to release all of this pent-up emotion. To help you on your journey to self-acceptance, try looking at your core values as a starting point. If you don't know much about core values my blog next fortnight will be talking about these a little more, but in the meantime have a think about what is important to you? What do you believe in? You can also try looking at my previous blog about priorities to help you with these questions. Knowing what your values are can help you to be true to yourself and feel as though you are living authentically. Another simple exercise to try, is to acknowledge your feelings each day. Take a few minutes to meditate, journal or reflect on your mood and/or your feelings and the reasons for feeling this way. Invest in yourself - try a new course, listen to a new podcast that sparks an interest, read a book. Do things to empower and allow personal growth. These will, in turn, embolden you, give you strength and encourage your belief in you. Personal growth encourages positive change. Basically, get to know yourself all over again. Find out what you like to do, what makes you laugh, what makes you feel cared for and what your interests are. Once you have the answers to these it is easier to assess your positive traits and what you want to improve on. Make time to do things that you enjoy or time for learning and in time you will learn to know and accept your true self. PS. If you want some more guidance and to ponder the big questions in life, why not check out the Philosopher-in-Residence series. Our, every fortnight on a Thursday, and written by the lovely Anna Pascoe, our Principal planner here at Make Me A Plan. You can take a peek at the latest edition here: https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/on-experiments/