I admit it… I am a recovering approval addict.
For my entire life, I struggled with caring too much about other people’s opinions.
I would work hard to make people like me… even people that I didn’t like. I would obsess about what I said or didn’t say for hours after talking to someone.
Deep down inside I believed that other people were better than me and that I was secretly a fraud.
I would compare myself to others and if I felt inferior, I would use that as an excuse to give up. I took everything personal.
This deep desire for approval gave me a PhD in people pleasing. All I cared about was making everyone happy – an impossible goal!
I always thought that I was being a sweet, caring person. But in reality this was one of my greatest weaknesses. It was blocking my happiness.
Then I found out the truth – Some people simply won’t like you. Some people will be neutral. Then there will be those that absolutely love you… just the way you are.
When we need approval from others, we don’t believe in ourselves. We allow other people to control our happiness.
Approval addiction is actually robbing the world of your gifts. There could be something you are supposed to do but you are avoiding, for fear of being judged or rejected.
What approval addicts really need is self-love. We need to silence that inner critic that makes us feel as if we are not enough. We must allow positive self-talk to drowned out the negative.
Remember that opinions are only stories that exist in someone’s mind. They are not true and have no power over you.
True freedom will come when you accept that there will be some people who will never love and approve of you….never.
This is just fine because there are people who love you and always will! And there are people you haven’t met yet who will think you are amazing.
Make a decision to stop the madness. Stop living your life to please others and be exactly who you choose to be.
Express your gifts to the world and if someone doesn’t like it, then so be it! You are not designed so that everyone will like you.
You are designed to be authentic, live your purpose and have an abundant life.
