“It’s impossible to consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves. We can do very few things in a positive way if we feel negative about ourselves.” — Zig Ziglar
Most of us don’t realize this, but every day we have a running conversation with ourselves at all times. What does yours look like? Positive? Encouraging? Motivating? Or do you constantly criticize yourself and telling yourself that you cannot do something, or achieve something? If you are positive, then you help to create a positive self-image. If you’re negative, you undermine your self-worth day by day, and probably don’t even realize it. In all of my years of leadership, I see this more often in others than you would think. And I have came to the notion that what makes the best leaders are the ones that can bring out the best in others.
Where does negative, critical talk come from? Sadly, I have found that it is usually from our upbringing. Did you know that by the time you’re 17 years old, you’ll have heard “No, you can’t do that” an average of 150,000 times. You’ll have heard “Yes, you can” 5,000 times. That’s a sickening 30 “nos” for every “yes”. So if you were ever wondering where self limiting beliefs come from, well they are pretty much embedded in us from our youth. Creating a powerful belief of “I can’t.” That is disturbing to say the least!
That’s a lot to overcome. If we want to change our lives, we have to change the way we think of ourselves. If we want to change the way we think of ourselves, we need to change the way we talk to ourselves every single day. And the farther along we get in our leadership, the more responsible we are for how we think, talk and believe. Don’t you have enough problems in your life already? Why add to them by discouraging yourself every day with negative self-talk?
Start your day with this… Become an encourager to yourself. Every time you do a good job, don’t just let it go right on by; give yourself a well-deserved compliment. Every time you choose discipline over taking the easy route, don’t tell yourself that you should have anyway; recognize how much you are helping yourself. Every time you make a mistake, don’t bring up everything that’s wrong with yourself; tell yourself that you’re paying the price for personal and leadership growth and that you will learn to do better next time. Every positive thing you can say to yourself will help!
Leading in this ever-changing world is not going to get any easier. And the more you grow as a leader, the more there are going to be people telling you NO. I am here to tell you that you need to stay committed to your results. You are responsible for your own destiny. You are going to be bombarded with limiting beliefs from others, so don’t add them on yourself!
What are some self-limiting beliefs you know you need to let go of starting today? Shift your focus to being that of using your God given talents to build others up to be the best version of themselves. But remember, you’ll never grow others if you are not working to grow yourself every single day. Don’t set self-limiting beliefs on your growth potential.