1. In case your name is not Amanda, let’s say your name is Juliette, Mia, Ulysses, Renaldo or whatever, cross out “Amanda” and write your own name in the title of this tutorial and in points 7, 9 and 10.
2. Find an ambiance of privacy. The presence of other people will only interfere. They will not understand the importance of this motivational exercise. Please note that it only takes ten minutes to complete.
3. Stand in front of a mirror, if possible one that covers your entire body. You do not need to be naked, it is only enough that you are not overdressed and that you can appreciate your figure, with its pros and cons. This is not an erotic game.
4. Accompany the exercise with appropriate music to get into the mood: some slow blues, nothing too mellow but evocative and inspiring. Nor do you need to use a Buddhist mantra. Personally, I recommend J. J. Cale or Eric Clapton. You can also play a song of both of them like Three Little Girls from the superb duet album The Road to Escondido.
5. Raise and lower your shoulders, inhale and exhale. Smile. Wink one eye and then wink the other. Wrinkle your nose, relax your jaw, stick your tongue out, and then stick it in again.
6. Practice saying: “Blah, blah, blah; blah, blah, blah”. Then shout out loud: “Yes!”
7. Say: “I’m not a loser. I am Amanda, the best. I can do it. I deserve it.”
8. Look at yourself. Contemplate your eyes, your lips and your chest. Don’t be tempted to pretend you’re Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver imitating Al Pacino in Scarface or John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Don’t imagine Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in front of the mirror in Eyes Wide Shut, either. I want you to get to point 10 and not get distracted. Too much movie fantasy can be detrimental.
9. Acknowledge yourself, the beautifully imperfect Amanda, trying to love who you are.
10. By now, you should be loving yourself. Did you succeed? If so, congratulations, dear Amanda! Pat yourself on the back and blow a kiss gently in front of the mirror. Otherwise, if you deem that you have not reached the goal, select another soothing music — I suggest Eet, by Regina Spektor —, go back to point 4 and do the exercise again.

Marcelo Medone (1961, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Pushcart Prize nominee fiction writer, poet, essayist, playwright and screenwriter. He received numerous awards and was published in multiple languages in more than 50 countries around the world, including the US. He currently lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. Facebook: Marcelo Medone / Instagram: @marcelomedone