In a perfect world, we’d be able to affirm this every single day. But let’s face it – life’s rough. You will always have a bad day here and there. It’s a lot easier to commit to this affirmation when you’re already having a good day and feel good about yourself. But what about your bad days? How is it possible to commit to this act of self-compassion when you messed up on a project at work or completely burned dinner or even something as small as taking the wrong turn while driving? It’s impossible to not be self-critical when you make a mistake, especially a simple one. Well, here’s the thing. Being self-critical means you’re learning and being self-critical doesn’t mean you have to be mean to yourself. There’s a such thing as constructive criticism, right? So instead of releasing self-criticism, how about converting your self-criticism into self-constructive-criticism? You can still be self-critical while being kind and loving yourself. When you burn dinner, don’t beat yourself up for accidentally leaving it in the oven for too long. Instead, take a deep breath, analyze how you’re feeling in the moment, and forgive yourself. Let it go! Tell yourself, “I’ll be more attentive next time and make sure I set myself a timer. For now, I’ll just order in and have a cozy night in with takeout.” Each struggle is an opportunity. Burned dinner? Order in! Take the wrong turn? Learn a new path to take! Made a mistake at work? Take the opportunity to assert your courage and fix it! Maybe you’ll get more respect for owning up to it immediately than hiding it. Maybe it’s not a mistake, maybe you accidentally discovered a new way to do something. Being self-critical sometimes brings about positive changes as well. Maybe you realize you’re drinking a little too much each day. You analyze yourself and you construct yourself in a way to reduce your alcohol consumption because the amount you currently drink doesn’t serve you with happiness. It’s kind of how humans have evolved and changed, isn’t it? The voice in the back of your head to try something better.

The point is, even though we can’t always release all self-criticism every day, we can change how we’re being self-critical at least. Be kind to yourself and love yourself fully all the time, especially when you’re coming across a struggle. If we didn’t have flaws, we wouldn’t be human (Eternals, anyone?). The best thing we can do is take each struggle as a learning lesson and be kind to yourself in the process. Be constructive to yourself, not critical. Only you can truly love yourself better than anyone else could.