Seeing the true you, Who do you see when looking into the mirror

Thanks for tuning in to the Social Motivated podcast. On today's episode, we are discussing a simple but powerful exercise of understanding and seeing the true you. Who do you see in the mirror is the same way others see who you are.  The biggest aspect of the exercise is allowing yourself to escape the dreaded negative self-talk and forcing yourself to find positive in your life to help see the true you.

In today’s episode, we are discussing seeing the true you! Why is it so hard for us as humans to fully accept and see who we truly are? Especially when others may precede or view us in different ways.
For me looking back on one of the biggest takeaways from my journey of breaking my social anxiety. One particular step that I really feel like really made me turn a corner in terms of understanding why I suffered through social anxiety my whole life. Is that I can honestly say that I never cared to fully understand who I was as a person. Now what I mean by that is how do I personally define myself in my own thoughts? 
You might be saying Jake, how is that even possible?
I was, or well, I guess, still am, the type of person that doesn’t believe the world revolves around me. Another way of putting it is I’m, not the type of person that wants to be the center of attention. You might personally know that type of person or even heck, it might even be you.  
With that type of thought process that I had, I never truly grasp the concept that “this is your life; live it the way you want.” I took it as how I believe others view me and how I should act and do things in my daily life.
You might be sitting there and you are like ya that sort of sounds like me; why do we as humans care so much about what others view of ourselves? If it is, our life, why should we give two fs about that?
Well, the thing is, we, as Human beings, are defined by nature as social animals. That's why we naturally care so much of what others think of us: We want to feel like we belong or to feel accepted and to bond with the other members of our social society.
 (A good way to look at it) Especially in today’s technological world, we live in. If we scroll through social media, we are constantly seeing trends that everyone does to gain popularity and acceptance in society. Now you might now constantly think about it those defined terms, but it is true. I guess another example would be type clot

Transcript

Welcome to today’s episode of the socially motivated podcast. I am your host, Jake Walker. I want to personally thank you for tuning in to the podcast. This podcast is to help motivate you to become more socially active in your daily life. 
In each episode, we discuss different topics on how changing your daily mindset can help you improve your mental health. Are you well known for being that shy, quiet, awkward person?  If you suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, or just being an introvert, and you want to find ways to overcome those conditions. Well, I was in the same situation as you not long ago, I was tired of anxiety controlling all aspects of my life.
I’m here to help share my advice and experiences on my journey to overcoming those invisible barriers. Let’s break you out of that comfort zone and get you to be more motivated to face all these social interactions we must face on a daily basis.
SO, LET’S GET STARTED!
In today’s episode, we are discussing seeing the true you! Why is it so hard for us as humans to fully accept and see who we truly are? Especially when others may precede or view us in different ways.
For me looking back on one of the biggest takeaways from my journey of breaking my social anxiety. One particular step that I really feel like really made me turn a corner in terms of understanding why I suffered through social anxiety my whole life. Is that I can honestly say that I never cared to fully understand who I was as a person. Now what I mean by that is how do I personally define myself in my own thoughts? 
You might be saying Jake, how is that even possible?
I was, or well, I guess, still am, the type of person that doesn’t believe the world revolves around me. Another way of putting it is I’m, not the type of person that wants to be the center of attention. You might personally know that type of person or even heck, it might even be you.  
With that type of thought process that I had, I never truly grasp the concept that “this is your life; live it the way you want.” I took it as how I believe others view me and how I should act and do things in my daily life.
You might be sitting there and you are like ya that sort of sounds like me; why do we as humans care so much about what others view of ourselves? If it is, our life, why should we give two fs about that?
Well, the thing is, we, as Human beings, are defined by nature as social animals. That's why we naturally care so much of what others think of us: We want to feel like we belong or to feel accepted and to bond with the other members of our social society.
 (A good way to look at it) Especially in today’s technological world, we live in. If we scroll through social media, we are constantly seeing trends that everyone does to gain popularity and acceptance in society. Now you might now constantly think about it those defined terms, but it is true. I guess another example would be type clothing if a particular style, brand, or color is being popularized during a particular time, people feel compelled not to be the outcast and will go out of their way to join to be on trend.
If you are changing who you are as a person to please others or worry consistently and intensely about pleasing others, you most likely care too much about their opinions more than your own.
If you want to see from the other view caring what other people think of you is an important part of being a member of society. If no one cared at all about what others thought, the world would probably be a very dangerous and disturbing place to live. But if it causes you too much excessive discomfort or forces you not to be yourself seeking treatment is your best option.
 One option to think about is going to therapy, which can open you up to what is specifically causing that discomfort. I never personally went through therapy so I can’t give you an honest testimony to it, but I hear it works for other people who have tried it. 
Now the process I went through was a little out of the ordinary approach; I guess you can say its more natural way of doing it. What I found to be the best solution to finding and identifying my true self was going off of an article I read on online. I don’t remember the specific title of the article, but I remember reading it and finding a certain phase/question that caught my attention. 
Who are you staring at in the mirror?
The article was going off of like how one thought changes your entire perception of whom you see when looking in the mirror.
This actually got me thinking of like when was the last time I actually looked at myself in the mirror.
And I don’t just mean like, oh here me brushing my hair or here me brushing my teeth. Like, I mean, just have the ultimate stare-down competition.  
Now I know many of you are like why would I just stare at myself in a mirror like that seems like a waste of my time. I’m not going to learn or gain anything from that, that’s just straight-up stupid. I at first was skeptical as well like what am I truly gaining from this exercise because it seem like a fat waste of time.
The biggest aspect of the exercise is to see if you have true self-love for yourself.
It very simple but powerful exercise if you are open-minded to the concept. Take 15 to 20 minutes out of your day. Now you don’t have to do this every day. This can could be once a month or whenever you feel you losing self-love. The whole point is to get you to slow down and get you away from reality for a short stent of time. Don’t have any sort of distraction near you which means don’t have your kids around your spouse, especially distractions like tv noise or your phone notification. It’s just you and your thoughts.
Now we all have negative self-talk and thoughts, that is human nature.
Your thoughts during that length of time during the exercise are all about self-love. Meaning you have to find and say something nice about yourself. Now you might be like that easily. If you do struggle with self-love, you will see how challenging it really is. Now say you can’t walk away from the exercise and say that it wasn’t really that hard, then you more like don’t suffer from a lack of self-love it might be something else holding you back. 
Coming from my experience I found that my lack of self-love was at the very least holding myself to a low standard.  It amazed me how much my negative self-talk was contributing to how I perceived who I was as a person. What mostly cause me to lack self-love was mainly directed to my appearance, my visual disability, and the lack of ability to open up and ask for help.
What really compelled me about this exercise is it puts you in a perspective of understanding your true identity. This step is the building foundation of understanding and trusting in yourself that you will have your ups and downs. (everyone does at some point) It's human nature to root against ourselves, be able to break that habit and flip the script to bring more positivity and self-care is essential to a more happier life.
That’s going to conclude today's episode,
If you enjoy listening to this podcast so far and have not done so yet, please leave a like, share, subscribe, and rating for this podcast so you never miss any future content. By doing so, help boost this podcast so more people can be shown this podcast. This podcast is on all your favorite podcasting and streaming platforms. Also, you can follow me on social media my Twitter is @sociallymotiv and my Instagram is @sociallymotivatedpod. All of your support is greatly appreciated! My hope with this podcast is that I can bring awareness and shine a light to help spread the word about the importance of improving our mental health by implementing better strategies to strengthen our daily mindset. I wish you the best of luck on your journey to improving your mental health to help you have the happy, healthy life you have always wanted. I will catch y’all on the next episode!