Self Compassion As A Motivator

Self compassion as a motivator

Whenever I bring up self compassion to my clients, I’m usually met with some skepticism or resistance. When I talk about how showing yourself unconditional love and understanding can actually help motivate you to get things done, people are a little hesitant to believe me.  They might believe that accepting yourself will lead to stagnation or a lack of motivation. They might feel like it would be naive to show yourself kindness and understanding when you feel like you don’t deserve it.

Before we go in to how self compassion can help motivate you to take positive action towards your life, let’s first learn about what self compassion is.  What does it mean to treat ourselves with self-compassion? Dr. Kristin Neff has dedicated her career to studying self-compassion, and next I’ll talk about the three key elements she describes as self compassion.