Polonius, a character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, cautions that we must first be true to ourselves before we can be true to anyone else.

Abraham Lincoln who was known to be an honest man is credited with having said, “You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”  The one person we can never fool is ourselves. At the end of the day, when the door closes and the light goes out, we each know our own truth.

When you can be true to yourself, you begin to feel better about yourself. If there is something about you that you don’t like, change it!  Eclipse the things you don’t like about yourself with all the great things that you do like about yourself.

Challenge yourself to begin making a list of everything great or good about you. Keep a notebook with the intention of filling the pages with all the wonderful things you are. Each time you add some new and wonderful thing about yourself, re-read the entire list from beginning to end. Make it a point to add something to the journal each day.

I challenge you to begin to smile at everyone you pass on the street. Some of them may even smile back. Don’t take things personally if they don’t smile back at you. What others do and say is more of a reflection on them than on you. People who don’t feel good about themselves possess an underlying drive to make others feel bad as well. Remember that old saying... “Misery loves company.”  Don’t get sucked in. There is always something to smile about, something to be grateful for, something about you that’s worth appreciating.

Carry something in your pocket or purse (someplace where you’ll see or touch it throughout the day) to remind you of all the things for which you are grateful... all the great things about you and the fact that you are becoming true to yourself.

Once you have embarked on this self-appreciation (some may even call it self-love), at the end of the day when the door closes and the light goes out, tell yourself how well you did today and each day as you move forward. This is you becoming a much better you.

Dr. D Rodger ND, MBA