Be the Best You

I recently went to a new doctor due to dizzy spells and vision problems, and one of the first things my doctor asked me was if I ever felt anxious. I laughed out loud. Of course I feel anxious from time to time. Who doesn’t? What she said next really rubbed me the wrong way. Before digging deeper or running any tests to find out what was actually wrong with me, she went straight to medication.

“How would you feel if I put you on anxiety medication?”

Woah woah woah, take a step back, doc. Anxiety meds? You just met me. You don’t know anything about me. You haven’t even attempted to find out what was actually wrong with me yet. So, forgive me for my outburst but, no I do not want to put anything in my body my body doesn’t need.

This had me thinking about myself and my emotions. Maybe I am an anxious person. Maybe I need to start working on myself.

The phrase “self-help” seems to scare some people off. “I’m fine, I don’t need help, I’m great the way I am.”  Yes, all of those things could be true, but self-help is about creating the best version of yourself. What’s the harm in that?

Here’s my favorite ways of creating the best version of myself:

Reading:

There are countless self-help books out there. From deep down emotional to hilarious and witty. You just need to look around and see what you’d be in to.

My favorite? You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. The title alone is super intriguing, right? Who doesn’t want to live an awesome life? The author is hilarious, too, which means the read is even better.

Listening:

To me, making sure I’m my best version of myself means I am also the best partner I could be. I have a great relationship, but I recently started listening to a podcast about relationships to see if there was any room for improvement (which there always will be). After listening for a few days, I learned a lot about myself and my partner, and how we can continue to be happy.

My favorite? I Do Podcast:  Relationships, Sex, Dating, and Marriage Advice. Chase and Sarah Kosterlitz are all about inspiring people to create a happy relationship.

Moving:

I, 100% of the time, feel great and pumped up about myself when I am active. Even if it’s just taking my dog for a walk or riding my bike to the store to buy wine 😬  – anything helps to release those endorphins, which make you happy.

My favorite? Barre class. Which seems funny coming from a Crossfit coach who fully enjoys lifting weights. I remember walking into my first Barre class, thinking I was a badass and going to dominate this class and show everybody up. And I left sweaty, shaking muscles and all, totally humbled by the whole experience. But, I love that and thrive off that feeling… Something to get better at.

So, let’s stop viewing “self-help” as a negative and start viewing it as positively powerful. No one can shame you for wanting to create the best version of yourself. And if they do, whatever. The best part is, when you continue working on yourself and your own happiness, you start to care less about what other people think of you anyways. I like the sound of that.