A parenting technique you should be using on yourself

You may or may not be aware of Dr. Becky. (But if you have kids and you’re an elder millennial or younger, she might be a household name.) So, regardless of whether you chose to have kids or not, read on. I think we all have something to learn from Dr. Becky about how to treat ourselves.

She’s a parenting coach.

But I’m not here to talk about parenting.

Why?

Well, one time, I was listening to an interview with Dr. Becky, and she used this phrase I’d never heard before: “MGI”

What does “MGI” stand for?:

It’s the idea was that when your kids are “misbehaving” or acting in a way that bothers you, you should use your MGI, your most generous interpretation of their behavior.

You can use MGI with yourself!

And I immediately thought:

“This makes sense, and it’s so much broader than that.”

ScienceAnd that’s where MGI comes in.

• Instead of berating yourself when you don’t finish your task-list…again, what if you gave yourself your MGI?
• Instead of admonishing yourself about snapping at your kids, or your partner, or your coworker, what if you gave yourself your MGI?
• Instead of chastising yourself when you make a mistake, what if you gave yourself your MGI?
• Instead of finding fault in whatever you do, what if you gave yourself your MGI?

What if your inner voice slowly became a self-compassionate one? tells us that when we’re self-compassionate, that’s when we “do better”.

How often do you mentally beat yourself up about stuff you didn’t do or think you could have done better?

Heck, you might even believe that being harsh with yourself will help you to “do better” in the future.

What if, indeed.

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Originally published at https://www.alexishaselberger.com on November 25, 2024.