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Inspiration July 20, 2018
What if you could trick your brain into being happier?
Yup, you heard it here, ladies. You can trick your own brain into being more happy and confident. And no, you don’t have to “imagine a pagoda in the woods and the pagoda is your past” or anything like that…unless you’re into that sort of thing.
At Entity’s 2018 Love Yourself Summit, size-inclusive model Hunter McGrady spoke candidly about her journey to self-confidence. Going from an underweight teenager to a “Sports Illustrated” cover model, she’s definitely had to redefine what “beautiful” means for herself; and a lot of that involved stopping “negative self-talk.”
At the end of describing her incredible journey through the entertainment business, she told every woman in the audience to close their eyes.
There were some looks of confusion, some uncomfortable giggles, but most of the room participated after McGrady’s gentle encouragement. After a few moments, she continued with the exercise.
“I want you to imagine the color red,” she spoke into the microphone. I immediately thought this was going to be a comment on how color affects our emotions. But despite my doubts, I went along with it.
“Now I want you to imagine the color blue,” she said. I kept overthinking it…did she mean like a blue wall? Should I imagine a canvas on an easel covered in blue paint?
“Now I want you to imagine the color green,” she instructed. At this point I stopped overthinking it. McGrady waited for a few seconds until she could tell that everyone was committed to the exercise, then she allowed the audience members to open their eyes.
“That’s how easy it is to change our thoughts,” she said. She then revealed the only thing that gets in the way of controlling our own thoughts: fear.
Upon finishing this last word, loud “woops” and applause rang out from the audience. Just a small exercise, a few words, reminded people that they have control over their own minds. Although this would have been a great conclusion in itself, McGrady had one final note before she left the stage.
“I want you each to pull out your cell phones and put it on selfie mode.”
The uncomfortable giggles rang out louder than they had at the beginning of the color exercise, but McGrady was insistent.
Once she made sure there were no stragglers, she had the room repeat each of these phrases out loud after her:
“Today I choose me.”
“I choose to stop apologize for being me.”
“I let go of negative self-talk.”
“I am more than a body.”
“I am not my mistakes.”
“I am growing and learning each and every day.”
And if anyone can find a more empowering clump of phrases to say in a row…nah never mind, it’s probably impossible.
So cheers to you, Hunter McGrady, and the most empowered five minutes of my young life.
