Don’t you admire heroes in movies for the extraordinary powers they have?

Did you know you have the powers to become a hero?

We see heroes in movies and shows, vanquishing villains to save their lives, the lives of their loved ones, or to save the world! They work according to a script, and they rehearse their roles and give several retakes before the final version of the movie is made.

However, things are quite different in the life of a real-life hero.

A real-life hero like us fights battles with internal villains and faces tough circumstances and difficult people every day.

Our internal villains might include:

>> Low self-esteem
>> Fears like fear of failure, fear of the future, and so on
>> Stress
>> Habitual worrying
>> Thinking about the past
>> Looking at the negative side of things and more
>> Facing tough circumstances like the pandemic or calamities like cyclones, earthquakes, and so on

These and many such aspects are our inner devils who we face every day. Each one of us has to cope with a different set of villains.

A lot of our problems arise from difficulties in our interactions with different people. Sometimes we try our best to be people pleasers and try to meet the expectations of others around us. When we can’t, we become hard on ourselves.

We often find ourselves being judged and ridiculed by others or we do not get the kind of validation we seek. We especially have difficulties when the people around us do not understand us.

In a nutshell, we face different types of villains, and often, we find that we are unable to win over them. This is why the real-life hero within us remains hidden.

How can we become the hero we admire? It is through self-transformation and putting into action these seven steps:

Step 1: Self-Acceptance

This process starts with self-acceptance and self-love. When we accept ourselves completely for who we are and love ourselves, a lot of stress is eliminated from our lives. This is because we will no longer find the need to conform to the yardsticks of others. We will not seek validation from people, and it will become easier for us to accept them when they’re around us, enhancing the quality of our relationships.

Step 2: Assess Yourself

Assess your strengths and weaknesses in an unbiased manner. List them down. Identify the weaknesses you can do something about and those you cannot do anything about. Make a plan on how to overcome them, and choose your goals according to your strengths.

Step 3: Face Tough Circumstances

Life is unpredictable, and we can face difficult situations at any time in life. What we need to understand is that we cannot change our circumstances—we need to change our approach to facing them.

Instead of worrying about a difficult situation, think about the best course of action to face it. If we think about how to act in any event, we automatically stop thinking about the problem and focus on the solution.

For instance, if we think of the pandemic, there is not much we can do by thinking about it, following statistics, or worrying about it. We can face the situation by following the protocols, getting vaccinated, and doing whatever is recommended.

When we worry too much about the circumstances we cannot change, we are weakening our defenses and making the situation more powerful against us.

Step 4: Deal with Difficult People

Give up on trying to meet the expectations of others. It is impossible to satisfy everyone around us. However, make sure that you do not hurt others or inconvenience them. We need to identify people who matter and those who don’t in our lives. Nurture those relationships that matter and do not get entangled in those that don’t.

People who matter are those who genuinely care for us and our happiness; they are with us when we feel low and are ready to support us in case we need them. Identify those people who try to make you feel low about yourself or try to impede your progress and success. Keep a distance from them.

However, do not dismiss people and relationships as toxic without giving them a chance. Try your best in a relationship and only give up when the other individual does not reciprocate.

Step 5: Take Care of your Health

You need to take care of your physical, mental, and emotional health because no one can do it better than you.

Be alert to every physical discomfort you face and address it. The more we neglect, the larger our problem becomes, and we will find it difficult to treat it. Make sure that physical exercise is a part of your daily routine, and get plenty of sunlight and fresh air.

Mental health issues have become rampant in today’s world. Take care of yourself so that you do not become a victim of mental health issues. Physical exercise activates several hormones that take care of our mental health, so do plenty of it.

Mental and emotional health are closely related, so invest in meaningful relationships and spend time with people who matter. You can also engage in activities that activate your mind, such as yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises.

Don’t get so lost in the pursuit of your goals that you forget to take care of yourself.

Step 6: Take Care of your Happiness

Many people believe that taking care of one’s happiness is selfish. However, it works oppositely. If we are truly happy, it becomes easy for us to spread happiness around us and we don’t depend on other sources like people or material possessions to make us more satisfied. Then we can give happiness instead of seeking it from others.

Happiness is an intrinsic feeling that lasts long; it is different from fleeting pleasure. We can be happy by doing things that make us happy—it could be reading, listening to music, singing, or dancing.

However, make sure that your happiness is not at the cost of someone else’s.

Step 7: Change your Mindset

Change your mindset from lack to abundance by practicing gratitude. Be grateful for the things you have been blessed with because the foundation for true happiness is contentment. And we become content when we acknowledge what we have and are grateful for it.

When we practice gratitude, our mindset shifts from lack to abundance and we can change our lives and that of others.

These are some tips to becoming the hero of our own lives—a hero who knows how to take care of themselves and makes a difference in the world.

 

 

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