Tuesday, July 13, 2010

What You See Is What You Are

We can look at another person and discern some things about them immediately.  In addition, we can look at our own overall picture and acknowledge that it is a mirror reflection of who we are; our state of well-being, physical health, financial health, strength of relationships, and success in business.  These are outward reflections of our mindsets, philosophies, and specifically how we think of our self.

Why do the vast majority of people who win the lottery lose it all and find themselves in the same financial status as before their winnings?  Why do roughly 99% of people who go on a diet to lose weight gain that weight back?

It's as if we have a default setting, and something may occur to change the setting, but usually we seem to return back to that setting eventually.  We do. In a nutshell, it is
a person's image of self that determines their own unique settings; their expectations of their self, their inner picture of what their outer picture is.  Phrases like,  "I'm the kind of person who..." are very illluminating. 

What you see is what you are; i.e. what you expect for yourself is what you create of yourself.  Do you have trouble selling yourself in business?  Or building a connection with others?  Think of those people you have met who make it look easy.  They seem to have a natural confidence and uncanny timing; people consider them to be lucky or blessed.  They are!  They are blessed with a picture of themselves being successful in these situations.  They simply expect it to happen.

You are already much better at this than you think.  Consider one or two areas of your life or work in which you feel proud of yourself.  You may not feel you can talk to others about it, but inside you feel really good about these things- your performance, your expectation of yourself is always positive.  "I'm naturally good at ____, or people are always complimenting me on my _________."  These are perfect examples of how you are already using this powerful principle for success.  Once you realize it, you can work to apply it in other areas of your life or work.  What would you like to tackle first?

Technique/Action Steps:
1. Consider something about yourself you would like to change
2. Every time you think about it, have awareness of connecting it to the external (i.e. I am late because of the traffic, or I got a phone call, I'm so busy I forget to check the time, etc...)
3. Acknowledge that you think of yourself this way (i.e., I am a late person, I've been struggling with this for as long as I can remember)
4. Re-write your results by identifying what you would like to be different, in a positive way, in descriptive, powerful words that convey confidence in your ability to achieve (i.e. I'm a just-in-time person; I always have just enough time to be punctual regardless of the situation)
5. Form a picture in your mind of how things will be different, starting now. Visualize the results for just 1-3 minutes, on a daily basis