How Much Approval Do You Need From Others?
Self-validation has been a topic I want to address for quite some time. Today, through social media, television, and advertising, an unrealistically perfect is conveyed as a desirable ideal. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it is suggested: Only those who are well trained and athletic represent the benefits of fitness, they are also happy and satisfied. If you look at the Instagram profiles of successful idols from the fitness scene, you get the impression that these people are always in excellent shape and maintain an ideal figure and a perfect life.
The impact of social media on the fitness industry
On social media, in particular, the beauty ideal of a slim, well-trained body peaked some time ago. Wherever you look, there are only perfect photos. Perfect bodies through perfect meals and training sessions optimized down to the last detail. A typical Instagram profile of a successful fitness influencer had to look like this. If you look at all the posted photos, you get the impression that the person is always happy about her appearance and leads a great and fulfilling life. Even though this ideally represented picture is slowly starting to change and a lot of key figures in the industry started promoting the more- healthy approach to training, nutrition, and mindset in general.
Pressure for Perfection
Here it is seldom considered that “influence”, that is, influence (to buy any product), is the real point of the matter. Whether it’s a detox tea, weight-loss shakes, facial cream, or grooming shampoo, none of this sells well if the bill doesn’t look like a TV ad. While in the past many influencers still had a normal job and viewed their social media presence as a leisure and hobby project, today many influencers live off the advertising revenue from their posts. And so, all of a sudden, your financial existence depends on the appearance of your own body.
To give the impression that you are always in tip-top shape, much of the content is simply pre-produced. A vacation trip and a photoshoot or two can be the basis for countless posts. And with this, I am not saying that this is something bad or wrong after all this is many people’s job and LIFESTYLE. All I want to do is put a reminder here that your life is not far less worthy because of not doing all the things you see other people do on social media. The fact that this is could be just a moment in that coach’s life, planned with a goal, should not be forgotten.
Public Pressure to Live Up to the Socially Accepted Image
This is life! We just like to compare ourselves. The best running shoes, the best fitness watch, the biggest fitness bag, or the most toned body. In life, you will always find yourself comparing yourself among the thousands of social ideals.
The crucial point here is how you feel after the comparison and what the comparison does to you emotionally. How do you get out of this emotional chaos? How can you achieve complete satisfaction in harmony with your own body? How to accept that you have cellulite or that your legs will never be as long as a model? It is achieved through SELF-VALIDATION.
Self-Validation: Improve your Performance and your Attitude Towards Life
How much approval do you need from others? This question is so simple and so effective. Once you accept the impact that the opinion of others has on you, it will be easier for you to find out how exactly you feel about it and how to control your mind so that it doesn’t start ruling and ruining your life. Most of the time we are talking about insecurities caused by patterns of ideals that we carry since childhood, but just thinking about it consciously is like looking at the world with new eyes.
If you think about yourself, your basic attitude, and your strengths, you will not only get a clear picture of yourself, but you will also strengthen your self-confidence. This affects everyday life. What you do, the people around you, your attitude towards life, everything improves.
Self-validation allows you to do things for yourself, for your goals, and your enjoyment, therefore, your goals and satisfaction are anchored to your ideals. In the fitness industry being objective, training and physical improvement is an individual action, after all, each body is different.
As Sohee Lee says in one of her Facebook posts: “It’s not your job to build a physique that is aesthetically pleasing to OTHER people. ”
When stepping inside a gym or training in general, everyone has a different goal. It is all about perspective and the way you do things.
Instead of constantly comparing yourself to others and wondering if you are enough, focus on GROWTH, focus on all the things you are good at and the things you want to improve will follow that growth pattern.
Self-validation Helps Improve Mental Health
Body dysmorphic disorders and the exponential growth of anxiety and low self-esteem are fundamentally conditioned by the impact of social networks on body perception. This, in turn, leads to the fact that one’s physical appearance is considered the key to happiness (and success). Stretch marks, cellulite, under butt fat, bra bulge… They are all part of your life journey, they are part of your body and it is not necessary to see them as something ugly, just because they are so normal.
Is it necessary to have 8-10 % body fat in order to feel good about yourself looking in the mirror?
Is the way your body looks truly proof of your strength, endurance, and capabilities?
Being in shape and being fully happy is possible
A healthy and balanced diet combined with exercise, fitness, or muscle growth training is the best thing you can do for your body. However, you must be careful, there is a risk that the fitness lifestyle will go to extremes due to unrealistic goals, especially when it comes to nutrition. And so, the positive approach that promotes health suddenly takes on a very negative development, and the attitude towards food is increasingly altered.
You can have a training program and exercise several times a week and also eat according to a nutrition plan geared towards your goals. You should always strive to get better at what you do, not only in the gym but in all aspects of life. But always bear in mind that constant comparison to others in addition to the constant seeking of approval could be toxic for your mind. Allow yourself not to be perfect. Accepting yourself as you are, with all your strengths and weaknesses, is the key to a loving relationship with your own body.
References
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6086030/
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26176993/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8422740/