Barbie turned 64 and smashed the box office in theaters becoming the most watched movie worldwide while the hashtag #barbiethemovie reached 1.6 mln followers in a few days and the #Barbiecore hashtag launched barbie-style and pink fashion on TikTok with more than 500 ml views!
We know everything about her by now, and yet that female curiosity, and more, is still alive, leading us to want to know more and more in order to immerse ourselves in the fantastic dimension of Barbieland!
Barbie:feminist icon?
When she was conceived by Ruth Handler and unveiled at the New York Toy Fair in 1959, Barbie disrupted little girls’idea of dolls and play by bringing glamour and pink power into every home.
Although it is understood early on that Barbie is the bearer of an emancipation that fascinates and changes the approach to play with the doll that replaced baby dolls in swaddling clothes and pots and pans, the slogan “Be what you wanna Be”did not come until 1987 and was converted to “You can be anything”in 2015.
But all that pink and perfection turned, over time, into a negative meaning of the term Barbie that became a stereotype of superficiality and vanity.
Moreover, looking like the world’s most beautiful doll required a great deal of effort and confronted future women with their flaws, weaknesses and aspirations that were not always realized, leaving only a sense of frustration.
Yet, Barbie has survived all the criticism and protests by reaffirming the timeless appeal that made her an icon.
I wondered if, beyond the game and the character, we could go deeper and draw out those positive traits that made Barbie not only a role model in the female imagination but an identity beyond well-appearing.
Here’s what we can learn through 7-step self-coaching to boost our energy and change our lifestyle!
Barbie:what to borrow from the most beloved character of the moment to improve your life
1. POSITIVITY
Barbie smiles and has been doing so since 1978, when she took on the features similar to those we know today. She has a welcoming, reassuring smile, full of vitality.
How important is it to smile? Laughter leads to a state similar to elation, an optimal state of creativity: “A good laugh, like elation, seems to help the individual think more openly and more freely…” (D. Goleman) .
A smile can fight anxiety and shift the focus to positive, purposeful emotion effortlessly.
Self-coaching exercise:in case of anxiety and negative thoughts, practice mirror training. Stand in front of the mirror and practice laughter. Look at yourself, smile or laugh even in a liberating and sound way because, without a shadow of a doubt, on the other side someone will smile at you and reciprocate. The exchange will defuse the moment, shift the focus and the day will seem lighter to you!
2. LIGHTNESS
What has been misunderstood about Barbie is her lightness as if all the problems that are faced in daily life do not touch her. Well, she is still a doll!
But what if we translated that lightness by another term?
For example:enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm breeds optimism and “optimistic people set more goals…strive harder to achieve them, remain focused and convinced even in the face of difficulties…” (S. Achor) .
Self-coaching exercise:train your brain for enthusiasm and optimism using lists. How. Load your emotions with optimistic thoughts using the Three Blessings. Take a notebook and every evening —5 minutes is enough —at least for a month, but you can stretch to your liking, list 3 positive things that brought you optimism, hope, accomplishment, joy during the day! Every now and then reread them and you will realize how many reasons you have to be enthusiastic.
3. IDENTITY
Barbie has a strong identity that makes her an icon with a style to be inspired by.
But what is identity? It is everything that distinguishes you from others and makes you unique.
It answers the question:who am I? Try to define yourself for who you are today, at this moment in history, without anything philosophical.
Self-coaching exercise:how to focus on your identity? Describe yourself using 6 words and then try to make your own definition as if you were to enter it in a hypothetical encyclopedia. Start with:I am.
What do you feel when you reread it? Keep it, modify it over time, add what you think will complement it from time to time.
4. CHANGE
Barbie is constantly changing and is always contemporary while remaining true to herself:
- Has interpreted all trends without ever changing his style
- has changed 180 trades
- speaks 50 languages
- Changed skin tones, sizes, shapes, hair representing inclusiveness and diversity
Change is synonymous with growth when there is a strategy behind it and it is supported by new habits and motivation. It is a journey full of surprises and setbacks but it is always worth it. Good habits come from small daily efforts, create something better by abandoning old unproductive habits.
Self-coaching exercise:start with a creativity journal. Write down 5 goals to achieve that can lead to real change and the 5 motivations (big reasons, the reasons you want to achieve them) that support them. Creativity will help you find the best solutions to achieve your new habits.
Jot down and answer the following questions:
- What could you learn to improve? (courses, readings, updates…)
- What kinds of actions can you take from today for your well-being to enhance your productivity?
- What fears would you like to overcome to achieve the goals?
After reflection, take action and set small weekly steps. Also introduce new activities or experiences to try, if only for 10 minutes a day.
Recommended reading under the umbrella:For 10 minutes by Chiara Gamberale, Feltrinelli
5. VALUES
Barbie represents important values such as Family and Friendship.
What is meant by value? Exactly what you consider important to you in your life!
So by respecting your values you live a life in which you identify without too much effort.
Self-coaching exercise:
(a) Make a list of 10 values that are important to you.
b) Create a weekly planner, each day give a grade to each value, from 1 to 10, related to how well you have met it.
(c) At the end of the week, check the lower scores and try to figure out the causes and how to strengthen those values.
6. SOGNO
Barbie represents uninhibited and limitless thinking in a world where anything is possible and all desires can be realized.
Self-coaching exercise:have you ever wondered what your happy world is?
Start now! Do it with a game:draw a circle of the size you deem appropriate, a kind of wish wheel. The circle represents your ideal world. Write inside it, in the order you prefer and in the way that suits you best (you can also use different colors, cutouts, pictures), all your wishes. Cut out and stick the circle where you can see it every day to motivate you!
7. BENESSES
Barbie represents self-care and that love of self that in real life is often put aside and buried in the daily delusions that turn us into superheroes lacking, however, super powers!
Taking care of ourselves has nothing to do with vanity and has a great resonance on our self-esteem.
Self-coaching exercise:dedicate at least 20 minutes a day to yourself, to something that makes you happy, something that is healthy and gives you physical and mental well-being in the same way (taking a walk in the park, swimming, meditating, listening to a podcast that interests you, playing games, lying down and getting lost in thought…)
Just think that in one week, with only 20 minutes a day, you will have gained more than 2 hours to love yourself more!
And as Barbie played by Margot Robbie says…“It’s like a spa day for my brain!”