Self-Doubt
You must believe in yourself (even if it takes a leap of faith at times!) before others will. Folks tend to sense your self-appraisal and treat you accordingly. Self-doubt can spring from multiple sources including family of origin and mis-learning from past mistakes. Regardless of its inception, the reality is that you are the CEO of your life and you are responsible (response-able) for finding the solutions that allow you to reclaim your personal power. If from childhood experiences, you are not answerable for the programing you picked up as an impressionable youngster but as an adult you are responsible if you choose to keep it. As for past mistakes, the only true failure is to not learn from it. As my grandfather wrote in ‘Secret of the Ages’, “In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.”
Internal Critic
Your body hears every word you say and your self-conscious tends to believe you and take you literally. So, get your internal chatter box on YOUR side, become your own BFF, your own coach, your own cheerleader; always honest, always supportive, and optimistic. Listen to the stories you tell yourself, practice loving self-kindness. Or in the words of Desiderata: “Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.”
At a very, very early age I decided the world held enough challenges as it was without me ganging up on myself also, so I resolved to always be on my own side. I consider it to be one of the most impactful decisions I’ve ever made.
Closing Quotes:
“Be mindful of your self-talk. It’s a conversation with the universe.” – David James
“Be very careful what you say to yourself because someone very important is listening . . . YOU!” – John Assaraf
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” – William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act 1, Scene 5
“He who would be useful, strong, and happy must cease to be a passive receptacle for the negative, beggarly, and impure streams of thought.” – James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
“A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.” – Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier