Sara Katherine - Im Awesome. Heres Why...: 110 Lists, Activities, and Prompts to Remind You Why Youre Amazing

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First Adams Media trade paperback edition April 2019

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D EDICATION

To my family, incredible boyfriend, and amazing friends who help me feel awesome every day.

YOU ARE AWESOME. Yes, really! Having a hard time remembering that? Thats okay! From looking and dressing a certain way to earning X amount annually, there is a lot of pressure out there, self-imposed and otherwise, to be perfect. And it may seem like you are the only one who is afraid of failing, or worried about whether you say the right things, look the right way, or act in the right manner. But this just isnt true! Everyone has their own personal struggles and doubts, just like youso when will you recognize that youre capable, unique, and most importantly, awesome? Thats where we come in.

Im Awesome. Heres Why is a crash course to finding beauty and confidence within yourself. You will discover more than one hundred guided activities to help you realize, build, and nurture your self-confidence, from illustrated prompts to affirmations of your awesomeness. Youll:

Create a road map to explore your past accomplishments and visualize your dreams for the future.

Fill in a trophy to celebrate your talentsno matter how big or small.

Rid your closet of anything that makes you feel less than your awesome self.

You can work through these activities from beginning to end, or flip through to the activities that jump out at you. But before you dive in, check out Part 1 on self-confidence. Here, youll discover just what it means, why it is so important, and what key issues may be holding you back from truly believing in yourself.

Anything you write here is for you . Youre going to get deep, but have a lot of fun in the process. Its time to showor remindyourself what is beautiful and awesome about you!

What is self-confidence, and how can you can cultivate and improve your own confidence? This part is here to answer those questionsand more! Youll discover why self-confidence isnt necessarily an end goal, but more of a journey. Youll also learn about the six key elements involved in building self-esteem, including recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, practicing self-care, embracing failure, and building positive resilience. So lets get started!

Something many people dont realize is that self-confidence isnt really a destination. You wont wake up one day having reached this point of always feeling confident and awesome about yourself all day, every day. Its simply not possible. As corny as it may sound, self-confidence is actually a continuous journey of resilience and self-discovery. Each day you work toward building more and more self-confidence, discovering so many awesome things you didnt know about yourself before. You might find out that you have a natural talent for something unexpected (like cooking French cuisine!), or maybe youll find your passion in volunteering at an animal shelter! Each amazing part of you helps fill your internal well of self-love, and aids in your ability to handle anything that life may throw at you.

Everyone experiences self-doubt and uncertainty. Even those who may seem self-assured all the time will falter at certain points throughout their lives. There are a few common reasons for feeling this uncertainty throughout your life, including comparing yourself to others, experiencing failure, and setting unrealistically high expectations for yourself. Do any of these sound familiar? If so, youre not alone. Its normal to struggle with self-esteem when youre faced with these types of challenges.

Confidence is a constant work in progress, combining your perceptions about yourself with how you interpret and handle others opinions of you. If you work toward strengthening your self-confidence throughout your lifes journey, youll realize that even the struggles that come with comparing yourself to others, experiencing failure, and setting unrealistic expectations are an important part of self-discovery and being the awesome person that you are. If you believe in yourself, youll develop a much stronger sense of resilience and self-love.

But how do you reach this point?

There are quite a few important elements that contribute to your ongoing self-confidence journey, from acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses, to learning how to take pride in yourself and prioritizing self-care. Each of these elements help you build a solid foundation, while ensuring that you are mindful of the beliefs, thoughts, or behaviors that may be limiting your self-confidence.

Many may believe that having a strong sense of self-confidence means focusing on your strengths and using them as much as possible. However, if you ignore your weaknesses, youll never have a full sense of your entire self and your potential.

Its hard to truly understand who you are and how you can grow if you arent aware of the areas that may need a little more attention. When youre truly self-aware, you can embrace all of your imperfections, and take the time to work on improving yourself in these areas. Plus, these weaknesses make you human. Everyone has them, so theres no reason to ignore or feel ashamed of these parts of who you are!

For example, say youve known that writing is a strength of yours ever since you were younger. You may feel very confident in your abilities, but it isnt until you are older that you realize one of your biggest weaknesses: your fear of failure.