Short excerpt from a Dr. Aziz YouTube video advising listeners to use daily self-affirmations as a form of self-approval and esteem-building. He recommends repeating two simple phrases many times a day—"I'm awesome" and "I'm proud of you"—and compares giving oneself affirmation to how one would affirm children, arguing for generous self-compassion instead of cynicism.
Most of us are waiting and hoping someone will say this to us so we can get some crumbs of self esteem and approval. But what if you could just say it to yourself all the time? Here's the two things that I would recommend saying to yourself on a daily basis, many times a day. Think of it like a vitamin. I'm awesome and I'm proud of you. Right? Because isn't that what we would say to someone? We're affirming? And I got young kids, and when they do something, you know, they put their effort into something they try. I'll say, hey, I'm proud of you. Or they do something, I'm like, that was awesome. You're awesome. Why? Because I love them. Because I'm affirming them for how they're showing up. Not because they're number one in the world, but because they're putting their heart into something. They're going for something. I'm affirming who they are in the world. Can you do that with yourself? If you say that to yourself right now, do you roll your eyes? Do you scoff? Do you have some hard cynicism, skepticism, shell? Like, that's so stupid. Why? Why are you being so stingy with yourself? What if you gave liberally that love and approval to yourself?
