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This Self-Image Assessment is an exercise to help us appreciate two different ways we might see ourselves. It is not informed by a psychologist, nor should it be given any deeper credence other than to appreciate how differently we may choose to see ourselves.

To do the exercise, print out the two pages, then quickly highlight or circle all the adjectives that resonate with how you feel in this moment. Don’t spent more than about 30 seconds on each page. It should be what first comes to your mind when you read a word. Does that resonate with how you feel in this moment?

Find someone to read back your Self-Image Assessment

Self-Image Assessment

Find a mirror to observe yourself while you do this exercise. If you don’t have one, close your eyes while the reader reads to you. Once you’ve highlighted both pages, find someone to read them back to you while you observe yourself in a mirror as follows:

  1. You should watch yourself in the mirror while you listen.
    – The reader starts: “I’m going to read all the words you did not choose from the first page.”
    – Then they read all the words you did not select from the first page.
    – Then they pause briefly, and continue…
    – The reader says: “I’m going to read words you did choose from the second page page.”
    – Then they read all the words you selected from the second page.
    – Then the reader follows: “Breath in a few times and tell me how you feel.”
  2. You should again observe yourself in the mirror and listen.
    – The reader starts: “I’m going to read all the words you did choose from the first page.”
    – Then they read all the words you selected from the first page.
    – Then they pause briefly, and continue…
    – The reader says: “I’m going to read words you did not choose from the second page page.”
    – Then they read all the words you did not select from the second page.
    – Then the reader follows: “Breath in a few times and tell me how you feel.”

Self-Image Assessment Adjectives

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Half-Empty or Half-Full?

For most of us, how we see ourselves in the mirror can be greatly influenced by what we focus on. Typically, it’s a real downer to hear all the positive adjectives we did not choose and all the negative adjectives we did choose. Conversely, it can be quite uplifting to all the positive things we chose and all the negative things we did not choose.

I chose the reading order above to hopefully leave you uplifted and aware that noticing the positive aspects tends to leave us in a much better state. This happens despite the fact that both readings are objectively coming from the same list with the same set of words you choose.

You can do this exercise from different mindsets:

  1. Which words resonate most with you when you think of yourself at home?
  2. Which words resonate most with you when you think of yourself at work?
  3. Which words resonate most with you when you think of yourself amongst your friends?
  4. Which words resonate most with you when you think of yourself at the gym?
  5. Which words resonate most with you when you think of yourself at a social event?
  6. …

As a reminder, this is not an assessment designed by a psychologist. I chose the adjectives somewhat hap-haphazardly myself to reflect emotions we might feel in a given situation or environment. This is simply an exercise to help us appreciate how different we can feel looking at something, or ourselves when noticing the positive things that are present and the negative things that are not present.

See Also

Radical Candor in the Mirror

What the Mirror Can Teach You About Yourself: Advice from a Mirror Gazing Expert

After writing this post on Radical Candor in the Mirror, I discovered some related posts by Tara Well in Psychology Today and other sources. Dr. Tara Well is an associate professor of psychology at Barnard College of Columbia University where she developed the mirror-based meditation called “a revelation” in the New York Times.