Mental Health Month Day 16 – Become the Person You Want to Be

How do you see yourself? How do you think others see you? Now, how do you want others to see you? Surely the way you want others to see you relates to the person you want to be, right?

Become the person you want to be. The person you want others to see – the person you know you are deep down.

This doesn’t mean becoming skinny because you want others to think you’re a supermodel, and it certainly doesn’t mean engaging in risky activities because you want others to think you’re fun or a party animal.

This means becoming thoughtful because you want others to know you’re caring. This means becoming humble because you want others to know you’re grateful and respectful. This means taking a stand because you want others to know you’re brave and stand by your beliefs.

It’s all about the KNOW. (OK, cheap knock-off from Overstock.com, but you get the idea.)

Today’s Mental Health Month tip was inspired by an interesting exercise posted by Maile over at Breath by Breath. It’s an exercise I highly recommend; you can check out the full details in her post Giving Ourselves Permission to be Happy.

The mental health exercise deals with taking a look at how you want others to see you and becoming that person. Are you a friendly person who, for some reason, holds back in crowds? Do others view you as shy or snobby because of this behavior?

It’s simple. Jot down some notes on how you want others to see you – the “you” you know you are or can be – but jot them down as if they’re written by the other person and unquestionably true.

At the same time, I’m going to add my own recommendation: Keep the description of yourself realistic. For example, instead of writing, “Alicia is the best mental health blogger ever,” I would write, “Alicia really cares about others and it shows in her blog.”

You may want to keep your notes private and refer to them from time to time to reflect on your progress. However, if you want to share in the comments (sharing our goals often makes them more definite and pushes us to achieve them), I’ll break the ice with mine.

Alicia really cares about others and it shows in her blog. She stands by her beliefs, even if others disagree or think differently of her because of those beliefs. Alicia really knows how to listen and is helpful to have around in times of crisis. She keeps things in perspective. While she knows labels are inevitable, she doesn’t let how others label her determine who she really is. Alicia is a good person.

Wow, I really want to be that girl! In some ways, I am; otherwise, I wouldn’t have those thoughts. Write your description of yourself, and know that in some ways, you are that person.

Now, take the necessary steps to fully be that person.