Good morning everybody! It's a beautiful Monday morning and I hope you are all just as excited for this new week as I am! And of course, a new week also means a new Motivation Monday post! This week's challenge is literally going to be a challenge, to me, and probably to you, too! Even though I know oh so well that I should never let it bother me, there somehow always is this little voice in my head, saying "but what would other people think of that?". I'm sure we've all heard that voice, too many times... It just doesn't seem to go away. We simply want people to think good thoughts about us, often at the expense of who we truly are and what we truly want to do. How often have you thought about doing something, or perhaps just saying something, but then you didn't, only because you were afraid of what other people would think of it? Let me guess... Far too often. 

Let's briefly talk about a great example. Yesterday, when I was on my way to work, I started listening to a Swedish podcast made by josefinochvanja, two girls/women who inspire me every single day. While listening to one of their episodes, I started laughing out loud as I was entering the shopping mall. Before you read any further I need to make clear that these two power babes absolutely don't give a damn about what other people think, which is one of the things I admire most about them! And besides that, I hope you're not having breakfast right now ;) Anyway, Josefin started talking about her nutrition and how she's been eating very healthy lately, which basically resulted in her describing her poop in all shapes and sizes! It cracked me up. I think it's absolutely amazing that someone openly talks about such things, things that are so normal, but somehow are so taboo to publicly talk about. Besides, did it make me think bad about her? Not at all! Quite the contrary, I thought it was really funny and I even felt a bit envious of her "IDGAF about what other people think" mentality.

It is actually quite simple. 

★ After all, people will judge you no matter what. It doesn't matter what you do or say, there are always going to be people trying to bring you down or make you feel bad. The trick is not to try to avoid this from happening, but to simply ignore those negative, narrow-minded people. Just be you, despite of what others will think. Besides, people's judgement is usually not even based on you, but it is rather a mirror reflection of what they judge themselves for (I will elaborate more on this in a future post!).

★ It is simply impossible to please everyone, and at the end of the day, the only one that you really need to please, is yourself. You have to be happy with who you are and what you do, and no one else should have the power to take that happiness away from you. 

★ Another aspect to this issue is the fact that we often don't realize how little other people actually think about us. Everyone has a lot of things going on in their minds, and most of those things are related to themselves. In one of the books I have read recently (I can't recall which one, but I'm pretty sure it was one of Gabby Bernstein's books), the author also talked about how we live in a world of selves, and how all of us are eventually constantly occupied with our own lives and concerns. 

So, all in all, what are we actually so worried about? We should never let anyone stop us from sharing our uniqueness with the world. Our most important goal in life is to be happy and loved. How silly would it be if we were to rely on others to make us happy? In order to be truly happy you have to let go of what other people think and just be yourself. Your happiness is in your hands, and in your hands only. Always remember: "No one is you and that is your super power". 

Let's put ourselves first this week (and every week!!) and let's try to ignore other people's negative thoughts and opinions. Note: this challenge is of course not about being selfish. It's simply about being yourself, despite of what other people think! Good luck!♥

LOVE, Michelle