Do you feel like your most sought-after personal goals are always just on the horizon, but never quite attainable? Maybe you beat yourself up each time you “fail” and say things like, ” I always do this,” or “It’s all my fault.” And even when you do get back up on the horse, you’re mentally poised to fail again…so you do.
That’s what we call a self-fulfilling prophecy. In order to break the cycle and find victory you have to recognize the true enemy–your self-critical thoughts.
Let’s say, for example, that I have a huge math test to take. if I believe that I am too stupid to pass it, I will probably refuse to study so that I can blame my failure on my lack of of preparation rather than my lack of brain power. In turn, I fail the test, which I use as further confirmation that I really am stupid. If, by contrast, I tell myself over and over again that I am smart and capable of passing the test, I will be more likely to study. As a result, I pass the test and confirm that I am smart.
Positive, proactive thinking works wonders. When have you defeated the enemy?
Now this approach I call Tell-yourself-you-do-best approach. We can do whatever we want to do and for this we must have a positive attitude. Thanks Kristin another incredible short and sweet post. Love it and most importantly stamped it in my mind. 🙂
Great! Thank you for your kind words and comments. 🙂
When I realized taking tests was a way society uses to keep people down …
Brilliant!
Thank you for commenting. So great to hear from you.