I believe confidence is the most underrated characteristic in life. Without it your life stays stagnant and under developed. But, who’s to blame; they don’t teach about confidence in the regular school curriculum, do they?
Often times, lack of confidence comes from continuous negative self-talk. Generally, this negative discussion stems from actions or words transferred from other people. Unfortunately, this type of interaction only serves as a roadblock from achieving your ideal lifestyle. The good news is; once this issue is determined YOU have the opportunity to alter your perspective.
Exercise: Eliminate the negative self-talk
How often do you tell yourself you aren’t good enough? How often do you let your (or other people’s) words discriminate against your passion and hobbies? How do you feel when you give up on your passions? How long have you felt this way for? You need to end this negative self-talk right now. It’s not helping you achieve anything but a mediocre lifestyle.
Negative self-talk is usually derived from neighboring beliefs of your ancestors and closest influences. They engrained this negative self-talk into your mind earlier than you can probably remember. Without realizing it you held onto these self-defeating thoughts well into your adult life, and you never understood why your life is still mediocre because you keep reiterating them over and over. The good news is; there’s plenty of ways to eliminate the negative self-talk that dwindles your life’s mission.
Write a journal
Step one: Start writing a journal. You probably have a half-empty pad of paper lying somewhere around your house just waiting to be used. Over a series of five days I want you to spend at least fifteen minutes per day on this exercise. Each day jot down three negative statements you believe about yourself. Write with as much detail as possible. The details help with visualization. Examples: There’s no point taking my hobbies to the next level because my uncle told me it wasn’t realistic, or There’s no way I can become a ___________, my father told me I wasn’t very smart.
Often times, we have no idea we harness these negative qualities. This exercise will help you spot each of them. The truth is; nothing can be changed unless it’s spotted first. Each negative statement engrained in your mentality is taking away from the ideal perspective.
Step two: After the fifth day you’ll have a total of fifteen negative statements written down. You may not realize you actually harness fifteen negative statements in your mentality, but I guess you’ll see in five days. You probably have more than that. Either way, the best thing you can do is start the process of elimination. Writing them down will allow you to see them, feel them and relieve them. Writing really is a great tool to relieve stresses and anxiety. It allows you to tap into your imagination.
Pick one of the fifteen and work your way down the list one-by-one. When you see the statement written down delve deep into your inner emotions and feel the statement. Write down the emotions you feel when you say the statement aloud. Now read the statement five times simultaneously. Feel the same emotions you felt when you last said the statement. As you experience these emotions over and over your body and mind will generate an immunity to them. Soon the immunity will make you feel comfortable to tweak the statement to one that suits your current lifestyle; a more positive one.
Your negative self-talk can easily be eliminated. You first need to find it. Now go and find that half-used journal under the couch. You’ll be amazed how far you can tweak your perspective, simply by journaling your thoughts.
