Life changes every single day, and so can we. That’s the truth, yet oftentimes we feel hopelessly stuck against our will. Why? Because the changes we seek breed uncertainty, and life can be hard to navigate when we’re uncertain about things.
We feel confused and displaced, and we begin filling our gaps of understanding with stories about how life is. But these stories often do us more harm than good.
Imagine you’re in the midst of changing jobs, building a business, or getting in shape. What’s the story you’re telling yourself about incorporating this change into your life? Does it involve you being the confident hero of the story? Or a character that doesn’t believe he or she can do it, and is therefore reluctant to even try? If
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These would be awful stories, wouldn’t they?
And yet, the stories we tell ourselves about our desires and goals tend to follow along these same unfavorable lines. As soon as the going gets slightly tough, we fall apart from the inside out.
Consider a recent example in your own life:
What’s a positive change you’ve tried to make in your life, but have desperately struggled with?
Whatever the positive change is, think about the story you started telling yourself the minute you realized you weren’t making progress as fast as you expected. Do your best to visualize the story in detail so you can better clarify what’s been really going on in your head. This is quite significant. Because the story you tell yourself in your head is often the one that gets written in reality.
Sadly, I bet you fail because of this story more frequently than you realize – it likely gets in your way far more than any actual real-world obstacles you’re facing. And it starts off something like…
“I’m not good enough…”
“I suck…”
“I’m going to fail…”
“I’m just wasting my time…”
“It doesn’t matter that much