Striving to Be Ideal

For You:

 

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall

Adolescents spend countless hours in the mirror.  So why not spend two minutes of that time boosting one's self esteem? 

Step 1: Look at yourself in the mirror.

Step 2: Forget all of the negative things that first come to mind.

Step 3: Say out loud 5 things that you like about yourself or specifically what you like about your body.

Step 4: Repeat this exercise everyday. Each day try to say 5 new things!

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Dress In Something That Makes You Feel Wonderful

The title says it all… Just pick out your favorite outfit from your wardrobe and wear it. If you don't have one, go and buy something for yourself.  Choose something you really like even if you have to pay a little more money.

Wearing clothes that make you feel good always has a positive impact on your mood.

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Self-Esteem Journal 

Positive journaling has been found to help improve feelings of well-being and self-esteem.  With this self-esteem journal, you will be asked to record three daily questions related to your successes, good qualities, and positive experiences. Some examples of the questions asked are:

When do you feel proud?"
What did you accomplish today?"
What is one thing that you did for someone?"

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For Parents:

 

Body Swap:

A great way for your adolescent to understand why the bodies they see on TV are not age appropriate!

Step 1. Cut out pictures of models and TV/ film celebrities from magazines.
Step 2. Find pictures of your child as well as other kids in their age group.
Step 3. Cut the heads off of all them (It sounds gruesome, but here comes the fun part!)
Step 4. Start mixing and matching their faces with the adults' bodies so they can see for themselves how ridiculous it would look if a real kid had the body of a grown up. Remind them that their body is growing and changing all the time and the best thing they can do is take care of it instead of wasting time wishing it were different.

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Compliment yourself (and make sure your kids hear you do it)
Instead of complaining about what you don’t like about yourself, let your kids hear you praise yourself, instead.  For example, try saying things like, “I love my arms because I can use them to hug you, roll cookie dough and throw a Frisbee!” or “I love my tummy because it was your home for nine months.”  By hearing you being kind to yourself, your kids will learn how to be kind to themselves.

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For Schools:

Selfie Wall 

Look at yourself through another persons' perspective.

Step 1: Have students submit a selfie of themselves or take a photo of each student individually. (Since you need each students selfie in order for this exercise to work give them a deadline of when they should submit it.)

Step 2: Display all of their photos on a wall.

Step 3: Give each student a stack of sticky notes and a pen/pencil.

Step 4: Have each student walk around and compliment each person's picture.

Step 5: After everyone is done writing compliments have them take their pictures down and view the comments that were written on their photos.

Step 6: Debrief.

Ask questions like:

How did it feel when you were writing compliments for other people?

How did you feel when you read the comments that other people wrote about you?

Was it easier writing compliments for other people than to compliment yourself ?

-Add other questions that you feel should be asked related to your students.