Reframe Your Traits to Work for YOU!

Reframe Your Traits to Work for YOU!

I have a ‘people pleaser’ personality and the last person I tend to please is myself.  Which, for obvious reasons, rarely works out in my favor.  I’m also a procrastinator, so let’s just add that fuel to this already smoking fire. ;)

I’ve done a lot of work creating personal boundaries and expectations, and follow the motto, “Be kind to yourself.”  But I’m going to share a trick - a reframe - that has been so helpful in ‘allowing’ me to put myself first.

I think of myself as three separate people, Past Rebecca, Present Rebecca and Future Rebecca.  I know, it sounds a little whackadoo.  But, stick with me here.  People pleasers and procrastinators, I’m talking to you!  

Whenever I’m faced with a task I can do now or put off, I think about ‘Future Rebecca.’  I think about how busy she can get and how she could really use a break.  It would feel good for Present-me to take something off Future Rebecca’s plate and make her day a little easier!  

It’s totally a win-win.  Present-day me feels good about helping someone else, and Future me is psyched the work is handled!  I even verbally thank ‘Past Rebecca’ for helping a sista out! 

Reframing my thoughts on procrastination has allowed me to be a ‘people pleaser’ for myself!  Hello, self care! 

My kids also like to put off tomorrow what they could do today, so I’ve been pumping this message their way.  It has been inspiring my kids to help out their best friend - their future selves!
​
Do you have any traits that hold you back from reaching your full potential?  How could you reframe those traits in a positive way so they would serve you well? 

---