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The great TuPac once sang about “its just me against the world”. Many people have posted on their social media pages, motivational quotes about “me against the world”. That is great! But it is also B.S.!!

Life isn’t about “me against the world” it just isn’t.

Life is truly about “me vs. me”.

That my friends is the hardest battle you will ever fight.

Having the ability to override and win the onslaught of self-doubting thoughts allows you truly take action and do the things you WANT to do.

In my nudist journey I have heard a countless amount of times “I wish I was brave like you” to be comfortable in my skin, or nude around others.

There is nothing brave about it. I know really brave people who run willingly into the face of danger, and potential death, for a human they don’t even know. That is the definition of brave.

Getting nude and vulnerable in front of others, or well for thousands of people to see isn’t brave. It is simply me winning the “me vs. me” confrontation I have in my head every time I go.

Yes, trust me, I still have to fight the internal conversation even after 22 years of being a nudist.  

But what I have been able to do over the past 22 years is win the dialog. Not only in the nudist area, but in many facets of my life.

This has resulted in people telling me I am cocky, or arrogant, because of a type of confidence in my personality.

I don’t do it on purpose. However, it is on purpose that I tell myself when I walk into a room full of people that “I own that f’king room”. Not in a “I am the smartest guy in here”, because 99.99999% of the time I am the furthest one from it.

I do it because it allows me to fight the self-doubt that I am not good enough, smart enough, or prepared enough to be around those that are there.

When I go to a nudist resort, or on this blog or twitter, I know I am no where near the top of the most good looking dude they will see, however, I don’t do it for them. I do it for me. I do it to keep winning the “me vs. me” fight.

We ALL have self-doubt and if you say you don’t, I will tell you right now, you are full of shit.

However, if you tell me you have self-doubt and do things anyways, I will tell you that you are a winner, no matter the outcome.

So are you struggling with self-doubt, whether it be a nudist related doubt or anything in life?

Ryan’s 5 Tips to Help You Win the Me Vs. Me Fight:

1. You MUST fight through the immediate thoughts that come to your mind about “what will xx think if I do this”. It is instinctive and controlling. However, your xx could be 5, 10, 45 people. You will NEVER, EVER, F’KING EVER meet everyone’s personal standards they have set for YOUR life.

I would be you would solve world hunger, get the Nobel Peace Prize and still have 100 people talk shit about you.  

You must tell yourself repeatedly, it is me vs. me, not me vs. the world.

2. You must be whiling to lose friends and family along the journey of life. You can’t, and won’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time…and why should you? Short answer: you shouldn’t. Friends and family that are fair weather will leave. Let them. Those that stay, and those that support you unconditionally, are friends.

3. Make sure to try something at least once before you say you don’t like it. Once you try it, if you don’t like it, ask yourself why didn’t I like it? Sometimes it can be the situation, or group of people you are around. A first-time social nudist event is crucial to having a great experience that you want to do it again. A shitty first time will often be your last time. But ask yourself, did I not like being nude around others because of others, or did I not like it because I just wasn’t ready or comfortable yet?

4. Like Nike’s slogan goes: Just Do It. Sometimes, you just have to override everything your thoughts are telling you and just say “f’k it”. My first time on a nude beach (which you can read about here) was with like 500 nude strangers. After enough beers in a 100+ heat, I finally said “f’k it I am doing it” and that was all she wrote and here I am writing about it 23 years later.

Never shown anyone your body nude out of fear of rejection or humiliation or “because I need to lose weight/get in shape”…email me a picture at everydaynudist@gmail.com of you. Just say “f’k it” and do it. Still don’t believe me? Check out this article from Happiness.com on how nudism can enhance your self-confidence and life satisfaction.

Nothing sexual, I don’t want erections and spread leg pics, just a normal everyday nudist pic of you. Blur your face out if you want to, just win the me vs. me internal fight. Trust me, I you will get nothing but a complement from me. It won’t get shared, but will boost your confidence.

5. Stop talking down to yourself. Your thoughts control you mind, your mind controls your body. This is the 100% fastest way to stop you in your tracks. Talk shit about yourself and you will never, I mean NEVER win anything. Change the conversation you have when you look in the mirror. Shift the conversation in your car, or laying in bed, or before you walk into a room full of people. This is probably the most powerful thing you can do to help your self-esteem, confidence, and most importantly, self-pride.

I could go on for days about ways to win the me vs. me, trust me I have lots of years fighting depression and anxiety which fuel these thoughts all day, everyday.

However, through therapy I have come to realize that I need to pay attention to them and catch them early so I can overcome them. If not, I go down a rabbit hole and it make the fight twice as hard.

Some I win, some I lose. This will happen to you as well.

But the key is that you recognize them, fight them, and work daily on the 5 tips listed above to try to win more than you lose.

WHEN you do this daily you will see your quality of life improve, I guarantee it.

If you don’t, you will stay in the same cycle of fear, self-doubt, and pleasing everyone but yourself. Life will not improve, and neither will your win percentage.

I truly hope you take this to heart and you start to win the me vs. me today. Not tomorrow: today!

In your corner,

Ryan