Since the #imkinderthanthat mantra has obviously been working for me when I am interacting with people (and hopefully it is working for others as well) – I recently decided to see if it could work in another way. So I have started using it on myself. Like many other people that I know, I can be REALLY hard on myself. It might be something as simple as making an error in an email that I have sent to a client to much deeper seated things like my weight. Whenever I become aware that I am being hyper-critical of myself…I stop, think about what is really going on and say “I’m kinder than that”. I believe that many people don’t realize that being unkind can extend inward and by criticizing themselves they are doing harm internally. Now that I have been doing this, I find that it is easier to forgive myself for making mistakes or not looking my best every day, because I am starting to see the value in being kind to myself, as well as others. So here is my suggestion for those of you who, like me, beat themselves up about being imperfect – be kinder than that to yourself.