“This month, make a conscious effort to not apologise for yourself, in life or in the room.”
This month I’ve been thinking a lot about how I view myself and how that in turn affects my career and my performances. I’ve spoke about it before, but I’ll say it again, our minds are so powerful. What we think, we create. Belief and imagination manifest reality. The age of social media and filters has made reality, and the truth, malleable. We place extravagant standards on ourselves as a result of watching someone’s highlight reel and comparing it to our own. Who is honest anymore? It feels like everyone is buying social media followers, filtering their photos and giving that ‘perfect’ audition. It is exhausting trying to keep up.
I injured myself this month and have had to take it easy. Being injured really sucks; I hate not being able to give 100% but that’s what my body needs and I listen to it. I’m almost back to normal now, thank goodness, and I learned that when we get injured we need to listen to our body and let it heal. If we push against that pain and refuse to recognise it, then it’s going to start screaming at us and most likely, we will do more damage.
Why then when we perform, do we feel the need to ignore our body, our mind and our beautiful je ne sais quoi? What I’m trying to get at is… LET’S STOP FILTERING OURSELVES! Let’s stand there – be – and risk being boring, bad, and all the other silly things we tell ourselves we shouldn’t be in order to be great, happy, and whatever else it is we’re supposed to be. When someone is completely in their body and just allowing everything to happen naturally, is that not the most beautiful thing ever? Knowing ourselves, allowing and trusting. Being unapologetically ourselves.
You know what’s really great for helping with that? Body awareness, exercise, and fresh air! And boy have I got a workout for you this month. I went down to the Botanical Gardens and did a little workout in what I reckon is the best view in Sydney. It’s a tabata style workout with 7 exercises that you do each for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 before moving to the next one. When you’ve completed the seven, take a light jog for a minute then get back into it. Do this for 20 minutes. I guarantee you will be so present and won’t be able to filter anything afterward.
This month, make a conscious effort to not apologise for yourself, in life or in the room. I know my biggest problem is definitely excusing myself before I’ve even opened my mouth because I’m such a perfectionist and I just want everything to be great. However, it’s the honest, unplanned experiences which are the stuff dreams are made of!
Let’s all appreciate, and showcase how wonderfully chaotic, unpredictable and beautiful this human life is.
Ali xxx
Seminar Recap