We are, what we think we are.
The Beginning
For me, it was fame. Mariah Carey style. I was going to sing on stages for sold out crowds, and that was just that. I just knew that I could be anything I wanted to be, and no one could stop me.
This child-like thought process is gold. When we start out, we have no worries, no apprehensions, no fears or overwhelming desires to please others. We just want to be happy.
Life Gets Going
At some point along the journey, we receive messages that impact our self-worth, and ideas about the trajectory of our future. Kids are mean. The media sucks. Loved ones share well-intentioned (or ill-intentioned) thoughts based on their own self-limiting beliefs. A widespread cycle of kiddo wonder to adult cynicism is born. We start feeling like life is happening to us, as opposed to knowing we are the creators of our lives. Ideas start to feel outlandish and we hesitate in our decisions, as we consider what others will think of them.
What You Can Do About It
No one knows you, better than you. No one. And it is essential to take time to hear the things you are telling you, about yourself. That's right, all day, every day you are talking to yourself. Probably not aloud, but then again, maybe. No judging here.
Here's the problem. Thoughts become things. Messages that we tell ourselves that are overwhelmingly positive or negative, impact our view of self, and what we can achieve. Start thinking about what you are saying about you, and how that impacts your overall thoughts about yourself. For instance, you are at an event and you want to speak up on the topic. Do you think, "I'll probably sound stupid," or, "I know I have knowledge that will contribute to the conversation."
If you find that the messages you give to you, about you, are overwhelmingly negative or could just use a bit of a touch-up from time to time DO THIS. Challenge that thought in its tracks. Instead of thinking, "I'm dumb," when you make a mistake, challenge that thought. Try changing it to something like, "I have learned so much from this experience." Try this for two weeks, then come back here, and let me know the outcome.
It's such a golden nugget, I have to share it again. Thoughts, become, things.