Be You: Be your Best Self
BE YOU Week 10: Be your Best Self
“Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.”
-Oprah Winfrey
For many years we have heard both campers and staff say that camp is where they can be their most true, authentic selves. Being your true self is an important value and we want you to celebrate your differences and what makes you exactly who you are.
We want to encourage you to continue focusing on being your best self all year long. Depending on where you are in life, the focus might be something different. Let’s take a look back at our deeper questions from each week of our Be You series, to help you find an area that applies to where you are in life right now.
- Week 1: What do you like best about yourself?
- Week 2: What activities get you into “flow?”
- Week 3: What stresses you out? What calms you down?
- Week 4: What do you appreciate about others?
- Week 5: What can you do to build up a friend?
- Week 6: What are some positive things you say to yourself?
- Week 7: What makes you stand out from the crowd?
- Week 8: What is a tiny habit you can create for yourself?
- Week 9: How will you bring positive changes to the world?
- Week 10: What are you doing to be the best, most authentic version of you?
This Week’s #GACbeyou Challenge
Journal or share with someone else (can be a parent, sibling, or friend) your answer to this question:
What are you going to do to be the best, most authentic version of you? You can take something we talked about over the course of this series or you can find another area of your life that you want to focus on. By focusing on being your best self, you are going to be giving the world and those around you something special. Everyone and everything will benefit from who you are and what you have to share.
GACspiration
Want to be inspired? Print out this week’s GACspiration and post it on your bathroom door or mirror (just like at GAC)!
Activity Ideas
Assign a family member, friend, and yourself to each day of the week to be the focus of that day. For example, your mom could be assigned to Monday, assign yourself to Tuesday, your best friend can be Wednesday, your sister on Thursday, etc. Whoever is the focus of the day, make sure you are doing something to help them see the best version of themselves. By bringing out their best qualities, you are, in turn, bringing out yours!
We are so glad that you have joined us on this journey of discovering how to truly be you!
Resources
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BE YOU: Positive Self Talk
BE YOU Week 6: Positive Self Talk
“The more I like me, the less I want to pretend to be other people.”
– Jamie Lee Curtis
The self-talk you do in your own head can help or hurt you. If you are talking negatively to yourself, it will hurt your confidence and your self-love. If you are talking yourself up and speaking positive things, you will in turn help yourself be more confident, and will hopefully love yourself all the more!
The way we think changes how we feel and our behaviors. To be more confident, you have to change the way you think about yourself. Sometimes we say mean things to ourselves when we should be speaking to ourselves the same way we would speak to a friend. Before saying something to yourself, think, “Would I say this out loud to a friend?” If not, erase it and move on. If so, say it and celebrate!
We know ourselves better than anyone else. We know our strengths and our weaknesses, and we know the areas we need to improve upon versus the areas where we are stronger. It’s often easier for us to notice the more “negative” areas in our lives and be more critical with ourselves. Instead of focusing on those negatives, let’s try to solely focus on the positive parts of our lives. Tell yourself you are proud when you accomplish something you have strived to complete. Tell yourself you are a good friend when you help someone in need. Tell yourself you can do it when you are facing something difficult. When you talk to yourself in a positive light, you will likely spread happiness and positivity to others. When you think of yourself with positive thoughts, you will be more confident in your own skin. Nothing looks better than confidence!
This Week’s #GACbeyou Challenge
Journal or share with someone else (can be a parent, sibling, or friend) your answer to this question:
What are some positive things you regularly say to yourself? Write these things down and keep them handy. When you need a reminder of how awesome you are, look back at your list. Looking back at the nice things you have said about yourself will remind you of all of the positive attributes that you have noticed in yourself. Since we sometimes tend to focus on the negatives instead of the positives in ourselves, choosing to notice all of the great qualities about you will help you focus on those positive things.
GACspiration
Want to be inspired? Print out this week’s GACspiration and post it on your bathroom door or mirror (just like at GAC)!
Activity Ideas
Develop a mantra. A mantra is a word or phrase that is repeated to help aid concentration in meditation. Come up with some pep talks for yourself for when you need a boost or a reminder of how awesome you are! Make some mantras for different situations that you may encounter. Write them down or memorize them and say them when needed. You can do it!
Resources
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS
BE YOU: Build Others Up
BE YOU Week 5: Build Others Up
“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.”
– Kid President
One way we can be our best selves is by bringing out the best traits in others. When we’re at our best, we feel confident in ourselves and don’t feel the need to put others down.
Building others up is a great way to boost the feelings of others while doing something nice for yourself. There are many ways to build others up. Think about things that make you feel more confident or happy, and pay it forward by treating or doing a similar thing for someone else. Here are a few ways you can build others up:
- Introduce them to someone else.
- We all love making new friends. If you have friends that do not already know each other, introduce them!
- Ask questions.
- When you ask questions to get to know someone, it shows that you have a genuine interest in that person’s life. Having someone show interest in your life make’s you feel pretty important!
- Give Compliments or Put-Ups.
- Share genuine compliments regarding their actions or personality.
- Lend a Helping Hand.
- Helping someone is a kind act that allows others to feel worthy of your time and attention.
- Encourage. Encourage. Encourage.
- Share your encouragement and positive thinking with others while they work their way towards a goal.
- Celebrate Accomplishments.
- Nothing feels better than your accomplishments being celebrated by friends! Return that feeling to someone who has accomplished something they have been working hard at or trying to complete.
This Week’s #GACbeyou Challenge
Journal or share with someone else (can be a parent, sibling, or friend) your answer to this question:
Your challenge this week is to find a way to build another person up and help them be their best self. So think about someone in your life – a family member or friend – and give them a sincere compliment, tell them something positive you notice about them, and look for ways to make them feel loved and accepted.
Ask your friends about things they’re interested in. Find out what makes them feel good and try to remember what they like or what they’re good at. You will help them feel good about themselves, and in turn, you will feel good about yourself.
GACspiration
Want to be inspired? Print out this week’s GACspiration and post it on your bathroom door or mirror (just like at GAC)!
Activity Ideas
This week, we challenge you to build yourself and others up! Find different ways to build your friends up. While building others up, you will feel better about yourself. Keep a list of ways for future reference so that when you need a way to help or encourage a friend, you will be able to look back at it for ideas.
Resources
In Helping Others, You Help Yourself
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