Do you think of yourself as strong?

You should!

If you don’t believe you’re strong, why not? Is that little voice inside your head still trying to force-feed you negative feedback? Well, don’t let it!

Human beings are, by nature, strong

Truth be told, each and every one of us is imbued with a tremendous amount of strength inside. Sometimes we’re too blind to see it, and that is truly, truly sad. As human beings we are hard-wired to succeed. We are taught to survive. We are born with the skills necessary to thrive and to climb above heartache and sorrow to live a better tomorrow than we have today. It’s in our nature.

Believe in yourself

If you don’t believe in yourself, maybe it’s time you asked yourself why. There is no truth in the statements that those little demons on your shoulder try to fill your head with. The sub-conscious mind can control and manipulate our conscious self until it is ridiculously hard to see beyond the negative and see the real you. Try to see the “you” that everyone else sees.

If at first you don’t succeed – try, try again

Personally, I have always been pleasantly surprised when I asked others about their perception of me and the word they frequently come up with is “strong.” And then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks. I AM STRONG! I’m not perfect. I’m human. I make mistakes. But I get back up, brush myself off, and go at it again. Sometimes I do it a little differently, based on previous lessons learned. That takes strength: to try again. To go out and take risks.

Don’t let fear control you

Take baby steps today to do something that you’re normally afraid of doing. You don’t have to shake the world up all at once. Just make one small change today that you normally would not have the courage to do. Make it simple. Do you speak to others in the elevator, in line at the coffee shop, when you’re in the check-out line at the grocery store? Or do you freeze up and look down or away? Just smile a little and say “Good morning!” You aren’t asking for anything in return from them, just a polite gesture goes a tremendously long way towards helping you step out from your cocoon and break the bonds of fear.

Look at all that you’ve already achieved

Now, assess yourself more openly and honestly. What have you accomplished in your life? Did you finish college, or did you finish a particular class that was harder than you thought it would be? Did you interview for and get a job? Do you, or have you, kept a job by going in day after day and doing what needed to be done to keep it? Then you: A) successfully completed a class or an entire college program/degree: B) successfully lobbied against others for a job position and you succeeded in landing it: and C) you kept up the good work and stayed employed, despite the odds today of getting fired or laid off! And if you have gotten fired or laid off, ask yourself about the person you were when you landed the job to begin with and understand that this person is inside of you. The person who achieved something they set out to do….you got the job once, you CAN do it again.

See yourself as strong, because you are

Now, let’s take all of that a tiny step further. Is there something you’ve been pining to do? Do you want to write a book, take an art class, learn a new skill, or go down a new career path? Remember to take it small and do one tiny step today towards that goal. First things first, research what it will take to do what you want to do. Then shop around either on-line or at a real store for information on the next steps. You may just want to check out Chris Guillebeau’s bestseller, “The $100 Startup.” If you’ve got an idea – this book can help you launch it into a reality. Seriously.

The next step here is the most important one….do something. Anything. Stop reading and take one step, no matter how small, towards your goal.

If you need help – contact me for a free Punt the Pandemonium session!

Lisa