Whose Eyes Are You Seeing Yourself Through?

Whose eyes are you seeing yourself through? When you are being especially critical of yourself, whose voice are you actually hearing? Where did those expectations, standards, or judgments originally come from? In tonight’s YLF Live Stream Podcast, we start by looking at the way we see ourselves and how much of that perspective may have been shaped by other people. Sometimes those thoughts have been repeated for so long that they feel like our own voice. That is why I want you to start identifying them. Notice the especially critical thoughts. Trace them back when you can. Give that voice, expectation, or standard a name if that helps you separate it from yourself. Then do the same thing with the positive. Who has seen something good in you? Where did some of your healthier ways of seeing yourself begin? Instead of only noticing and naming the negative thoughts so you can put them aside, I want you to notice the positive perspectives too and intentionally cultivate more of those. We also spend time breaking down the YLF Rhythm, the annual structure I want you to use to pace your effort instead of trying to stay locked in at maximum intensity all year. January through March is the build phase. April and May are the focus phase. June through August, we scale things back while preserving consistency. September and October, we focus again. November and December, we intentionally begin winding the year down. The percentages I talk about are not hard rules. The larger idea is that I do not want you constantly trying to operate at 100 percent. There should be room to build, focus, recover, adjust, and continue moving forward. That is also why the YLF Framework is built around minimum daily actions and weekly goals. You are practicing what it looks like to operate from a calm headspace and move at a deliberate pace. You are still taking action. You are still following through. You are just removing the expectation that progress requires you to constantly push yourself to your limit. And just like changing the way you see yourself, you are not going to execute this perfectly. Give yourself time to figure it out. Give yourself room for the old thoughts to come back. And keep practicing the version of you that you actually want to reinforce moving forward.