Think about any thing you do well.
What did you think of, “writing, photography, cooking, sex, running, video games?”
Now think about the very first time you tried one of these things. If you’re being honest I bet you sucked at it. What did you do about it? You practiced and got better.
When asked to think about what you do well, did you think of anything negative? If not, good for you, you’re probably not a snarky asshole. You’re also probably not really funny, but not everyone is blessed with that curse.
Think about something negative you do. For me it is self talk. At my worst I would start my day saying terrible things to myself.
Negative self talk and being hard on yourself is a skill. You get better at it the more you practice. Think about it this way.
If you are a body builder or a marathoner it is going to take you longer to lose enough strength and stamina to be at the level of a true coach potato. Your mental strength can be built the same way someone builds muscles or develops new skills. The longer you don’t work out, the fatter you get. You have been practicing getting fat instead of practicing being fit.
The same way you can’t go out for your first run in a decade and break a sub 3 hour marathon pace, you can’t go from being a completely negative twat to being Buddha in a single session.
Start small. For me it was changing the first thing I say every morning. It may sound cheesy, but I literally wake up on good days now and say,
“Isn’t this wonderful”
