A lot of times we expect someone else to stand up for us. We stand up for other people, but we don't always stand up for ourselves and to be an advocate, that means publicly supporting a cause or a policy - you are that cause, I am that policy, so let's get into it.
If you don't have a good foundation, it isn't going to be all that easy to stand anyway because it's going to be all crumbled, so when you think about standing up for yourself and knowing what to stand up for and when to stand up, it's going to take a couple of things like, what do you know? What do you want? Who do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to have? A lot of those things are going to come into play when it's time to look at setting what your vision is for your life; what your vision is for your future. How do you want it to look? Where do you want to live? How do you want your friends to engage with you? It is very important to take some time and decide what your vision is, and a simple exercise that you can do to decide what your vision is long term, because this takes work and you may or may not have done it before. Take some time and plan out your perfect day. What time do you wake up? Is the sun shining or is it still dark? Do you get up to your alarm? Do you just sleep until your kids wake you up? Do you have a good breakfast? Do you work out? What do you do? Do you hug your spouse? Do you chat in the morning about what's happening in your day? Do you get in your car? What kind of car is it? What kind of house is it? What kind of stairs is it? So really take some effort and planning out the most perfect day that you've ever had and then take some time to write it down and if you're not a person that likes to write things down, record it on your phone, and that way you can use it as training, as your own coaching, as your own mantra. Hearing your own voice, saying what your perfect day is. So set your vision. Decide what you want your life to be. How you want to live? How do you want to feel? Are you healthy? Are you walking? Are you exercising in your perfect day?
Spend some time. Create your perfect day and create a foundation where you are able to stand up for yourself and be your own best advocate.