“I can’t even imagine what being confident again would feel like.”
I hear this often, and it makes so much sense. When we’ve been struggling for a while, the thing we want can start to feel out of reach. But here’s the gentle truth: sometimes change begins by letting ourselves imagine and embody the goal, then making space for it to grow.
I invite you to try this quick body-based exercise with something you’ve been struggling with. (A confidence example is in italics.) Go slowly, and be kind to yourself as you go.
What’s something you’ve been struggling with lately? Confidence
Let your body take the posture that represents where you are right now. Slumped over, shoulders rolled forward, head down, barely making eye contact
From this posture, what story are you telling yourself about yourself? I’m dumb. I can’t do anything right. Everyone thinks I’m weird. Everyone else is better than me.
If you felt just 1% more confident, how might your posture shift? I’d lift my head a little so I could see around me.
And if you felt 1% more than that? I’d look around more, maybe roll my shoulders back.
Keep making these small 1% shifts until your body finds the posture of the confidence you’ve been longing for. There’s no rush.
When you find it, pause here. Take a breath. Feel your feet on the ground.
What do you notice about the story you’re telling yourself now? I think I’m pretty cool. I can see a new perspective. I am ME. It’s possible.
Now spend a few minutes moving slowly between the original posture and the new one. What do you notice in your body? In your thoughts?
Sometimes change doesn’t happen simply because we don’t yet know what we’re aiming for. “Being more confident” sounds great, but until there’s a felt sense that it’s possible, it’s easy to feel like you’re spinning your wheels.
This is NOT “fake it till you make it.” This is “experience what confidence feels like, and let’s work together to help confidence feel like home.”
If this exercise felt hard, that’s okay. That’s information, not failure, and it’s something I’d be glad to help with. :)
Have fun with it. Play “the what-if game” a little differently for a few moments today.
