EP 2 - Podcast - Badass Challenge - What is an Internal Best Friend or IBF?

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What is an Internal Best Friend or IBF? 

​Last week's tools for becoming a badass were:

• Visualizing awarding yourself five gold stars at the end of the day
• Asking, 'How Would My Internal Best Friend Help Me With That?'

To get oriented, let's revisit the concept of a badass. As of now, I define a badass as someone who is willing and able to fully step into their power to do and be what is in their heart of hearts. For me, that is empowering people to help heal the separation in the world. For you, this may be learning a second language, opening a yoga studio, protecting the earth, advancing social justice, climbing a mountain, or creating a relationship that soars. Whatever it is, it’s something you want, and you know it will take some serious badasserie to make it happen.
 
For that purpose, each week, I develop and practice tools and use them daily.
I invite you to do this challenge along with me and to adjust anything, such as objectives, tools, and definitions, to allow your process to be true to you so that you can be your authentic self.
I look forward to hearing from you what your experiences are, either in the comments, on Facebook, or you can shoot me an email.
​
For Week 1, I wanted to develop an aspect of myself that I call the Internal Best friend, or IBF. I used two tools in an evening ritual before I drifted off to sleep.
Firstly, I mentally scanned my day and then visualized rewarding myself with 5 gold stars or a gold trophy. Secondly, I committed to asking myself  'How would my IBF help me with that?' at any time, day or night, if I ran into a problem with attitude, fear, frustration, and so on.

Here is a summary of what happened this past week, Week 1.

I right away run into problems. Night 1, I brows on my phone and completely space the exercise, even with the sticky note reminder on my pillow. The next two nights, I manage to remember but there is tremendous resistance in me. I’m unable to visualize anything! In scanning the day, I can’t find anything star-worthy. Asking, ‘What would my IBF do?’ is the only saving grace. Seems, my IBF (remember: an aspect of my personality I am developing) is very calming and kind. And much more level-headed than me.

Day three, I wake up in a rotten mood and seriously question if this works! Then it occurs to me, hey (!), you might be going through the same thing! I should mention that I feel like quitting instead of ignoring that that just happen! 
So, in case you’re about to quit, you’re not a bad person, all is not lost, and this is obviously just par for the course. Here’s something that helped me and may help you, too: I reminded myself that it takes a minimum 21 days to build a neural network (a 30-day practice gives you a better chance at establishing one, and 12 months of practicing a new skill will change your life forever). Building a baby neural network and then enlarging it through repetition is what actually happens when we say “building a habit.”
I also noticed that I was going into this with serious overconfidence. When it didn’t work right away to make me feel better and badassish, I was disappointed. I expected that the 21 days were just going to be about reinforcing what works from day one. I see that I have more to overcome than I thought—there is a lot more self-criticism and self-aggression in my process of digesting and processing my daily life than I’d noticed. This is interesting.
 
Day 2, I also realize that the 5-star-process has gone off the rails. Instead of building myself up—the point of this process—I’m scanning my day for star-worthiness. But clearly, it’s about becoming conscious that I, that we all are, worthy because we are worthy. We are privileged to be alive. We are badasses-in-waiting who are done waiting.
Thankfully, I kept at it (knowing I promised another installment helped) and it got easier with every successive day until I wasn’t even waiting till evening to give out gold stars and get advice from my IBF.
If you’re not at that stage yet, before you criticize yourself, give yourself a handful of stars and ask your IBF how they can help you right now. We’re doing this together. I can see it’s working. So, if you’re a little lost, you’ll be found. If you get really stuck, reach out to me. Together, we’ll get you unstuck!

Let Me Know!

How'd it go with you star-giving? What happened when you asked 'How would my IBF help me with that?'

Dear friend, thank you for coming along with me. I love you. And remember, you're whole and wise, perfect as you are right now, and as you are not, right now. Blessings.

This week's work

​Keep building your new neural network

• Continue with the gold stars and/or trophies.
• Keep developing your IBF.
• ​Whatever insights you have gained, incorporate them into your practice.​ ​

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What Happened

Day-To-Day in Week 1

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​This is a day-by-day account. Listen to it or read it if you think it might help you know what someone else experienced.
 
Night 1:  When I see the sticky note I've put on my pillow, I remember to recall the day. But first a little browsing on my phone.

Day 2: While I browsed the internet, I forgot! Not happy!

Night 2: I'm a really good visualizer but no stars form before my inner eye. No trophies to hand to myself. Nothing except blackness. I finally resort to telling myself, 'OK, I'm handing myself five beautiful stars. OK, now I'm handing myself a shiny trophy!' Ugh! Fail! Fail! Fail! I have to laugh it's so bad. Things are going dreadfully! Rather than germinating a tiny seed of badass self-love, I feel dread and huge resistance.

Day 3: A rotten mood! As I lay there with my comforter up to my nose, a small, soft voice in my head pipes up, ‘How would my best friend help me with that that?' My body takes a deep breath of relief. Right, I’m not alone in this.

During the day, it occurs to me, 'Maybe this doesn't work!" Then, it occurs to me that you might be going through the same thing, so I had better fess up to it instead of keeping the failure to myself! 

​I remember it takes at least 21 days to build a neural network. But, of course, I’ve expected this approach to work immediately and the 21 days are just about reinforcing what already works. But maybe I’m uncovering that there is a lot more self-criticism and self aggression in my process of digesting and processing my daily life. This is interesting. I wonder if I'd quit if I hadn’t started a podcast. That motivates me to keep going. I don’t know if I will succeed. But I know I will keep at the goal of becoming a badass. In saying that, I realize I haven’t thought about it that way. I looked at the 5-star exercise as a way to make me feel better. Maybe I need to look at it in context. Can’t wait to do that tonight. 

Night 3: I scan my day and immediately find things I've done badly, or not at all. Where are the "rewardable" things? Everything I turn over in my mind isn't it. Even the things I did right, I only did so-so right. It's awful how negatively I view myself. I'm only now realizing. But this sinking feeling is familiar. I suddenly realize that this is how I feel at the end of every day! Like I failed because I didn't accomplish what I set out to do. Wow! I knew I was putting myself under pressure. But like this? That's an unpleasant surprise, especially considering how much work I've done around self-love. I can't do the gold stars so I switch to asking, 'How would my best friend help me with that?' Oh. They're so sweet to me, reminding me that all my judgement is from the unfair advantage of hindsight. OK. I can work with that. Thank you, IBF. 

Day 4:  I notice that I'm going a little easier on myself this morning, and the world, too, for that matter. Isn't that how it always works?
I have a phone call scheduled that I've been scared of for a couple of weeks now. I've been handing my worries off to God the past two weeks but then take them right back again, gripping like a life ring what is, essentially, a rock. No wonder I've been sinking. I had a coaching session yesterday and am super prepared. The call goes fantastic. I want to remember tonight to give myself 5 stars!

Night 4: Yay! I have things to give myself gold stars for! Yippy! 10 stars for me! My visualization powers return. I can see myself on a pedestal, crowned with a 5-star crown, holding a gold trophy to fanfares. Trumpet blast--ta-ta-daaaa, ta-ta-da, ta-ta-daaaaa! This is awesome. It's working!

Uh-oh! Is it supposed to work this way? Something tells me I'm missing something. Like the whole point of this exercise!

The 5 stars aren't supposed to be for accomplishments! They're for nothing other than to acknowledge my fundamental worthiness. Wow, again! The scanning of the day isn't about finding where I've been worthy, it's about encompassing all I've been and done and rewarding all of it, and all of me! That's self-love. That's badasserie--to have the courage to love and reward every inch of myself and my life! 

Day 5: Feeling remarkably good. 

Night 5: Is it possible that the gold stars and developing the IBF aspect is already becoming second nature? Could it be happening that fast? 

Day 6: Feeling groovy! I've added another thing: No regrets! You wouldn't believe how often I have a regret. That hindsight messing with me again..

Night 6: Gold stars like nobody's business! IBF right there beside me.

Day 7: I don’t recall what I gave myself five stars for – a good sign. I think it means my process wasn’t tied to performance. Instead of being merit-based, it was good-to-self-based (the kind of badasserie we're after).

Summation

​You know, I’ve been sad. I've been angry about the White House and how the media is helping to perpetuate the sense of separation amongst the people by constantly click-bait-harping on it.
Holding a European passport, I've been dreaming of escape. But where to? Who welcomes a genderqueer 61, soon to be 62-year-old creative with spiritual and free-thinking leanings? America, that’s who. 

Truth is, I have internalized more of that rage than I intended to, in my quest not to engage in spiritual bypassing. 

After this week, I feel softly empowered.

I feel more clear-headed, too. I see that self-care begets self-championing, begets confidence, begets badasserie. I see now, becoming my IBF is healing the separation within myself. Of course.

As all wise individuals have said, ‘What we wish to create in the world must first exist within us.’ That said, let not the work stop there. This is only one step. Another step is to bring this whole-making and empowerment-know-how into the world!

Next week:
Week 2 (starting tomorrow) was supposed to be about vulnerability and calming the inner critic with love. Pfft! I'm not at all ready to get into that. Maybe next week!
This is for week 2: The critic can't be shut down, but it can be soothed. That's where IBF comes in 

Upcoming:
Developing your IBF (Internal Best Friend) with vulnerability: Calming and healing the internal critic with love.  ​

Badass