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How do you see yourself?

A couple of years ago, while standing on the shore of Lake Alexander awaiting the start of a triathlon, one of the ladies I was standing with, said something that triggered a big “AHA!” moment for me.  To paint a picture for you, at the beginning of each triathlon I would stand with a few other ladies and we would discuss our fears and short comings in the swim leg.  I had trained regularly and knew I could swim the distance and even had a few triathlons and open water swims under my belt, but still there I was “shaking in my boots”!

Then one of the ladies shared something her husband had said. “You know what your problem is?  You still see yourself as a crap swimmer and that’s not true anymore!

Have you ever heard something that you just KNEW you were meant to hear?  This was one of those moments for me.

That was my problem too!  I still saw myself as the person who stood panting at the end of pool after swimming only 50 metres!  How would I ever manage to swim 750 metres in open water?

As I swam and continued through the triathlon I thought about how I had unconsciously maintained this untrue perception of myself.  Allowing it to not only sabotage my performance, but also my enjoyment of the swim.  Then, I started questioning other areas of my life where untrue perceptions of myself could be sabotaging my performance and enjoyment.

Questioning myself like this became very enlightening.  I started to understand that the way I saw myself, affected the way I approached the world and then how much I struggled.  I struggled to swim because I perceived myself as a bad swimmer.  I constantly found myself struggling to write newsletters and blogs, because I saw myself as a bad writer with nothing to say.  I struggled with disciplining my daughter because I saw myself as a bad mother.

Observing my perception of myself allowed me to explore and open up to the possibility that the opposite may be true, and the struggle eased.

I have brought this concept into some of the work I do with people in my clinic.  Helping them uncover the obsolete, inaccurate perceptions of themselves hiding away in their subconscious is potentially life changing.

Recently, I worked with a lady who struggled with relationships because she saw herself as unloveable.  Even though her partner had told her and demonstrated to her that he loved her and wanted to be with her, she couldn’t allow herself to believe that he meant what he said.

I have worked with people who struggle with their weight.  They see themselves as overweight even when they are trim.  So, maintaining healthy diet and exercise habits requires huge will power and discipline to fight against manifesting their overweight image again.

Conversely, I have a friend who has absolute faith that she is blessed and that things just go her way.  Guess what?  That is exactly what she manifests in her life.

I challenge you to question how you see yourself and then explore the possibility of changing it to something closer to the real truth.  So…. Who is the person you really think you are?

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