Looking at yourself in the mirror, what do you see?

If you could be anybody in the world, who would you be? So many people would mention a person perfect in their mind. What they don’t realize is that they themselves are already perfect.

Your perception of your physical form or looks has a great impact on how you see yourself in the world. How you see yourself in the world determines how you operate in the world. This perception whether positive or negative, either empowers or limits you to achieve your potential in life.

Of course there are always room for improvement – hair, weight, clothes, even plastic surgery. There are things that we have control over and things we don’t. When you only focus on your “imperfections”, you fail to see your beauty and your strengths.

Before you can start making changes, you first need to accept yourself. Fully and completely. Look at yourself with kindness and compassion. If you knew you chose your physical appearance purposefully for this life, how would that change things for you?

Take an inventory of yourself. Look at yourself in the mirror without judgement. Park all previous beliefs and meanings about your appearance. What do you see?

Look at every part of your body – hair, eyes, nose, cheek bones, lips, teeth, skin, neck, arms, hands, breasts, waist, hips, legs, feet, etc. Look at yourself as an overall picture, from the front, back, sides. Make a list of all these parts and rate them out of 10.

Add a few columns to your list: Control, Accept, Change to, Strategy. Going down your list, indicate next to each item:

• Do you have control over the way this body part looks? Yes or No.
• Do you accept the parts that you don’t have control over? Yes or No.
• For the parts that you do have control over, do you accept responsibility for them? Yes or No.
• For the parts that do you have control over, what would you like to change them to? Check if the changes you wish to make are realistic and practical.
• What is your strategy to achieve the change?

Having compiled this inventory and becoming aware of what you have control over, what you can change and how you can do that, how does that empower you to accept and love yourself fully and completely?

Now take a look beyond your physical appearance. What are your strengths as a person? What shines through no matter what you look like physically? Are you friendly, bubbly, attentive, present, focused? What are your talents, skills and passions? Make a list of everything going for you besides your physical appearance.

If you now take a look at all your answers above, how does that transform your way of being in the world, knowing that you are more than your physical appearance? What does that mean for your sense of self?

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