“What is the key predictor of resilience?”
This is the question I start my high school workshops with.
Strength, perseverance, patience, and fortitude are some of the best answers they provide.
“Self-Compassion is the key predictor of resilience” is my response, which often silences my audience in confusion.
I understand their confusion; it makes sense. What we’ve learned about self-compassion that we’ve gotten all wrong:
self-compassion = self-pity
self-compassion = lazy/weak
self-compassion = lowering your standards
Here is what practicing self-compassion does:
Reduces anxiety and depression
Increases life satisfaction and emotional resilience
Helps you bounce back from setbacks faster
Creates stronger, more authentic relationships
Increases personal responsibility and motivation
Reduces shame
The students who embrace self-compassion? They're the ones who take bigger risks, work harder, and handle failure with grace.
What I've learned from years of teaching this work: the students and clients who embrace self-compassion first make the fastest, most lasting changes. It's not weakness - it's the foundation that makes everything else possible.
This is why every person I work with in my mindfulness training learns self-compassion practices first. How can you build awareness without learning to be kind to what you discover?
Which of these myths has been holding you back from being kinder to yourself?
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