Interior beauty: 6 keys to cultivate it
Yes, it is true that appearances, for better or for worse, matter a lot today. But it is no less true that in many aspects of our lives, or even in those that are more important, the aesthetic ceases to be so relevant in human relationships. At the end of the day, there is no use for a pretty face or a good skill when choosing clothes if you do not know even the most basic principles to maintain a friendship or a relationship.
And it is that no matter how much they say, inner beauty is not something isolated within each person , but it is manifested through their actions and their way of externalizing their thinking. At the end of the day, no matter how internal, if we do not do what is necessary to put it into practice and influence it in our relationships, it does not exist.
Fortunately, in the same way that we can take care more or less of our image, the inner beauty can also be developed by investing a minimum of time and effort in it. Let's see it
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What is inner beauty?
Inner beauty is the set of social skills that facilitates the establishment of more or less stable personal links . If conventional beauty draws attention, inner beauty is not only able to attract attention; also get people to keep abreast of what we do and want to stay in touch.
So, inner beauty is not a quality in itself, but a set of characteristics that are highly valued by others and that influence our ability to socialize and even to connect emotionally with others. It is a group of characteristics that lead us to establish emotional bonds that do not always have to be loving, but that usually go hand in hand with affection, empathy and understanding.
How to develop this type of beauty
Below you will find several useful tips to know how to develop inner beauty.
1. Make a list of your shortcomings and strengths
This is a very useful first step to know what the present situation is, at what moment of personal evolution we are and how much road we have ahead. To do this, you can point to a sheet of paper, in a list format and organizing everything in two columns, which are your faults and your strengths, just as you perceive yourself.
Based on the previous action, prioritize what are the weaknesses in which you want to work more to improve them, and how you can use your strengths to make it easier. An alternative version of this is to write down how you plan to be even better in what you already stand out positively, one that is recommendable to begin with the aspects in which you do not like yourself so much, so that there are no strong imbalances.
2. Make a list of what you think they believe about you
This is a second step to stop to analyze what you should improve and what not from the point of view of others.
To do this, write down two other columns of your strengths and weaknesses, but from the point of view of others in general. It is better not to stick to the criteria of a small group of people , because this would give more strength to the biases and possible prejudices on the part of that group. The idea is to write something that represents "others" in general.
Once the above is done, analyzes to what extent these possible defects are based on something real , and to what extent are wrong assessments. Think that practically no one other than you knows you completely, because everyone knows you as you relate in a very specific context.
Once this is done, prioritize what you think is most urgently needed to change about you, based on what you think is the criterion of others. Is it similar to what you did in the previous step in which you focused on your point of view? From the combination between these two lists appear the aspects to work more to develop inner beauty, although you should give more importance to your criteria than to others.
3. Work on your values
In interior beauty there must always be a series of values that guide us and that establish what is what we want for ourselves and for others . Being consistent in this aspect helps us to connect more and better with the rest, since it expresses commitment to some ideas of the common good.
- Related article: "The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives"
4. Learn basic communication skills
Many times, the image that others have of us is damaged by not knowing how to communicate well. Learning these fundamental skills is the most useful thing you can do, even if it takes months or years.Knowing how to practice active listening, getting used to being assertive, Ensure that conversations are useful for both ... All this will make your social interactions richer.
5. Get used to thinking about the needs of the rest
Many times, we can get to ignore what others want or what is important for the rest. Solving this through practice and constant self-correction allows us to consolidate another of the great pillars of inner beauty: the ability to not think only about oneself .
6. Make your day count
Personal development can become a very powerful source of motivation. Therefore, beyond the time dedicated to your responsibilities, try not to fall into a life surrendered to passivity and free time spent doing nothing (although the latter is important to rest). Read, learn, know new places ... anything you think helps you grow as a person.
