It can be difficult to stop punishing yourself after you’ve made a mistake; you may feel guilty, ashamed, or like you don’t deserve forgiveness; or even if you have made no mistakes, sometimes you can get caught up in a cycle of self-criticism. However, it’s important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and that you’re not defined by yours; here are 9 tips to help you stop punishing yourself.
You may be punishing yourself because you feel guilty about what you’ve done. Perhaps, you may be holding onto your mistakes because you’re afraid of making the same ones again. Or, you might be beating yourself up because you think it’s what you deserve.
If you’re struggling to stop punishing yourself, you’re not alone, many people have a hard time forgiving themselves which can lead to a cycle of self-criticism and negative thinking that causes people to miss out on opportunities for growth and healing.
With that being said, you deserve to forgive yourself so that you can move on and start enjoying your life; with these 9 tips you can start working on freeing yourself from self-punishment.
9 Best Tips To Move On From Punishing Yourself
Here are 10 best tips to move on from punishing yourself:
1. Identify why you’re punishing yourself.
If you want to stop punishing yourself, it’s important to first identify why you’re doing it.
Are you holding onto your mistakes because you feel guilty? Or are you afraid of making the same ones again? Maybe you think you deserve to be punished?
Whatever the reason may be, it’s important to become aware of why you’re behaving in a way that’s harmful to yourself.
Once you know why you’re punishing yourself, it will be easier to start taking the steps to work on changing your thinking and behaviors.
2. Acknowledge your mistakes.
If you’re punishing yourself because of your mistakes, the first step in forgiving yourself is recognizing that what you did happened and acknowledging what you did wrong; everyone makes mistakes, it’s part of life.
Acknowledging your mistakes shows that you’re taking responsibility for your actions and that you’re willing to learn from them to help you let go of any feelings of guilt or shame that you may be carrying around that are stopping you from moving on.
3. Understand why it was a mistake.
After you’ve acknowledged your mistake, it’s important to try and understand why it was a mistake because what could be a mistake for you, may not be a mistake for someone else in the same situation.
What were the circumstances that led to you making this mistake? What could you have done differently?
Asking yourself these questions can help you to see your mistake in a different light because at times they are a result of something beyond your control; remember that mistakes happen, and they’re often a learning opportunity.
4. Give yourself time to grieve.
If you’re punishing yourself because of something that’s happened in your life — such as the end of a relationship or the loss of a loved one — give yourself time to grieve.
Grief is a natural process that allows us to heal after a loss and everyone goes through it differently; it’s not something that you can just “get over” because there are no timelines or deadlines when it comes to grieving so don’t expect to be back to normal right away, it takes time.
Allow yourself to feel the pain and the sadness instead of pushing away your emotions and trying to act like everything is okay when it’s not because they’ll only come out later in an unhealthy way.
There will be good days and bad days but eventually, the bad days will start to become fewer and further between as you begin to heal and start to rebuild your life.
5. But don’t stay stuck in your grief.
It’s important to grieve and to process your emotions after a loss, there are stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — and it’s normal to go through all of them but you don’t get stuck in any one stage for too long otherwise you’ll never move on.
6. Forgive yourself.
Everyone makes mistakes, it’s part of being human which is why you need to give yourself a break and forgive yourself in order to move on.
Forgiving yourself doesn’t mean condoning your actions, but rather recognizing that everyone makes mistakes and that you’re not defined by yours; it just means that you’re ready to let go of the anger and the resentment that you have towards yourself and start fresh.
After all, everyone deserves second chances, including you.
7. Then learn from your mistakes and move on.
Learning from your mistakes will help you prevent them from happening again in the future — so that you’re not going over what happened again and again in your head and reliving the pain of it — and move on.
Analyze what led to the mistake and figure out what you could have done differently to prevent it from happening; ask yourself what led you to make the choices that you made, what you’ve learned from it, and how you can use that knowledge to make better choices in the future.
Answering these questions can help you to see your mistakes as opportunities for growth and learning instead of failures that are holding you back; you’re choosing to focus on the present moment and the future.
Making peace with your past is an important step in moving on because it allows you to focus on the present and the future instead of staying stuck on what’s already happened. Think about all the good things that are happening in your life and what you’re looking forward to.
8. Start being self-compassionate — instead of self-critical.
Self-criticism is when you’re overly critical of yourself to the point where it’s harmful and counterproductive. With that being said, the way you talk to yourself has a big impact on how you feel about yourself, if you’re constantly putting yourself down then it’s going to be hard for you to move on because you’ll believe that you deserve to be punished.
A lot of times we focus on our negative traits and what we’re not good at, which creates a negative mindset that can lead to more mistakes being made; when you’re caught up in self-criticism, you’re not thinking clearly or objectively. Therefore, it’s essential to give yourself credit where credit is due and remember that you’re human and that everyone has flaws; no one is perfect.
Self-compassion is being understanding and kind to yourself in times of difficulty which can lead to growth and healing. Start being more compassionate towards yourself and focus on your positive qualities and strengths and accomplishments instead of on your weaknesses and what you could have done better.
Catch yourself whenever you start criticizing yourself and focus on changing the negative thoughts into positive ones; for example, “I’m so stupid for messing this up” could be changed to “I’ll try harder next time”.
9. Seek professional help.
If you’re struggling and finding it difficult to move on, it might be a good option to seek professional help.
A therapist can provide support and guidance, help you work through your emotions and give you tools to deal with them in a healthy way; they can also help you understand yourself better and figure out what’s holding you back from moving on.
If you don’t feel ready to see a therapist, there are other options available such as online support groups or hotlines.
No matter what you decide to do, know that you’re not alone and that there’s help out there if you need it. Taking the first step towards getting help is always the hardest, but it’s also the most courageous.
Everyone makes mistakes and that you’re not alone in struggling to move on from them. Following the tips above will help you to heal and grow, just be patient with yourself — Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is recovery.
