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--Transcript--So I was talking to someone the other day who was struggling with real bad acne. She was in this dark place filled with self-doubt, and I talked to her for awhile, and she was really emotional, so I got really emotional. And today I wanted to share this story with you. So the big question is this, what do people with great skin do differently to have that? How did they achieve a great look without using celebrity beauticians or spending a paycheck to restock their beauty cabinet? What are their mindsets, their approaches, their rituals, the products and tools they use? That is the question. And this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Damyan Nikolov, and welcome to Skincare Secrets. So welcome to episode four of The Skincare Secrets Show. So she was really heartbroken because she felt unworthy of anything, because of her acne. She had problem skin for awhile, and she felt it wasn't just bad, it was horrible, in her own words. But she was putting a ton of effort to work on it over the past few weeks. You know strict routine, couple times a day, food, hydration, allergens, all the nine yards, and she was making progress. Her skin was clearing up little by little, she was feeling better, feeling proud of herself. And then on the weekend she went to visit family. She hadn't seen in awhile, and someone there just went off on her. They told her you look horrible, how do you walk around like this, looking like this with acne on your face? And continued to dispense a bunch of free advice on what you should do to get rid of her acne, yada yada yada. In front of the entire family. And the worst part... there was a bunch of people nodding, like they were in agreement. And someone who's already self-conscious, you can imagine her world was just shattered. All the confidence she had gained over the past few weeks. Looking at her face improving, just disappeared, and she told me I can't look at people in the eyes. I don't want anyone looking at me. Didn't even want to look in the mirror. So from feeling better and being happy, she sunk back into this dark lonely place filled with self-doubt. In a matter of moments, because she thought by normal people's standards she looked awful. And I know a lot of people who have been there. Many of us have had a bad skin day, or a bad skin month, and even a bad few years as a teenager, which is me, and a lot of people continue to struggle with this later in life. So here's what I told her. I told her listen, the voice in your head. I call it the acne voice, the voice that makes you feel this way. It's not actually yours. It's someone else's voice who dumped their emotional baggage and all of their insecurity on you. And I'm not talking about the person at the family event. I'm talking about the voice being planted there way back in time. And I asked her, who do you talk to the most. And she looked at me all puzzled. I said, yourself, because you spend more time with your thoughts than with any other human being on the planet. And the scariest part of the acne voice, is that it becomes the dominant voice in your head, and that's what puts you in that place where you don't want to be. So then I said to her, you're not born hating yourself. You adopted this voice. You probably don't see it. You probably think it's just how you are, just part of you. But life gets much easier when you understand that it's not your voice. You actually choose that voice in your head, and if you feel the acne voice is taking over, here's what you do. First thing, you break away from those who are putting you down, because negative energy is contagious, and you get out of that vicious cycle right away. Doesn't matter who they are. Close friends, close relatives, you just break away. Next I want you to ask yourself, who you are. So at some point you define yourself as the acne person, and it became such a core part of you that you started acting like it. Now you're full of doubt, low on self-confidence. You think about acne all the time. You notice all the other people around with acne, but you're so much more than that. You may be a designer, an athlete, a parent more than the person with acne. And if you say I'm X, whatever X is for you. Whoever you choose to be, this is the identity you embrace. That's who you are. That's what defines you. And you act like it. And that person doesn't have the acne voice, doesn't play out the acne voice in their head. That person has a different voice, a voice they choose. A voice that tells them to go out and live life, to make an impact, to be happy. I need to pause for a moment. When I hear stories like this, I get really emotional about it. So I wanted to share this one with you today. And if you have a friend or you know someone who is playing out the acne voice in their head, please send this to them. Hopefully we can help bring them out of whatever dark place they may be in. So that's all for today. Thank you for listening and I'll see you next time.