A self-concept is a combination of all the ideas you have about yourself, based on your personal experiences, body image, your thoughts, and how you tend to label yourself in various situations. It’s connected to self-esteem, but it’s a little different. 🌿

A self-concept can also be defined as awareness you have had of yourself in the past; the awareness you have of yourself in the present, and the expectations you have of yourself at a future time. 

Your self-concept is a collection of your perceptions and beliefs you have about your own nature, qualities, and behavior. It’s about how you think and evaluate yourself at any given moment in time. 

Self-concept is made up of your own thoughts- so it is not always true or accurate! What is your self-concept? How do you think about yourself? Are you always able to distinguish accurate perceptions about yourself from negative thoughts? ⬇️

Let’s talk anxiety. I believe anxiety in part comes from our attachment to believing everything we think is true. Just because a thought feels true doesn’t make it true.

The average person thinks between 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day. In the moment, our thinking seems logical, but when we start looking more critically at the content of our thoughts, we notice thinking errors- therapists call these cognitive distortions. We tend to believe many of our thoughts- but we are not our thoughts.

I love this idea: “You are the consciousness (the ocean) from which your thoughts (the waves) arise.”

Here’s your goal:

1) Be the observer. Listen to your thoughts without judgement! Practice mindfulness.

2) Train your brain. Say goodbye to thoughts your don’t like. Decrease your attachment that your feelings are true! 

For more help with anxiety, contact me!