Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new. Were you full of doubt or brimming with enthusiasm? The answer may lie in how you felt about being able to proceed with confidence, and confidence usually comes from experience. If you haven’t had the experience you think you need to tackle your current goal, you may need to borrow confidence from your past successes, even if they’re in a different field of endeavour.
Our minds are built to learn from our past experiences. Since most of us have failed at something, we sometimes let our memories of times we didn’t succeed get in the way of succeeding in the future. We weigh the risk of succeeding at something new against the safety of our current comfort zone.
One way around the mind’s tendency to imagine the worst is to remind ourselves of times when we’ve done really well. In effect, we become our own cheerleaders. One way to do that is to create a visual representation of ourselves as a person who possesses plenty of positive qualities we can use as tools to propel us forward into new challenges and skills.
This month we’ll create a positive self-portrait. Start with a background page you created last month, then add colourful borders, and a collage version of yourself from magazine images. It doesn’t need to “look like you” ~ it’s a portrait of aspects of your Inner Positive Self.
Confidence is a beautiful thing, and the more we gain by doing new things, the more we’ll have for future opportunities we haven’t even dreamed of yet. I’m confident we’ll not only dream of them, but we’ll succeed at them as well.
Here's a writing exercise to help remind you of times in your life WHEN you feel positive. Keep these phrases to incorporate into your self-portrait so you can be surrounded by your own positive past experiences.
More ways to be positive:
~ Don’t belittle yourself if things don’t work out. I once won a poster contest with the phrase “Everyone Starts Somewhere”. If that isn’t positivity in action, I don’t know what is!
~ Don’t let your mood get the better of you. Learn how to know when you’re reaching the end of your rope and it’s time to call a friend or call it a day.
~ Build a network of people you can count on, even if you never need to ask anything of them (or they of you), you’ll feel more positive knowing you can be there for each other.
~ Don’t tackle everything at once. If you break things down into manageable chunks, you won’t be overwhelmed and you’ll be more likely to succeed.
25 More Positive Things to Say (and think) for Yourself
(and those you love)
1. I’m grateful for you ❤ 2. Your words are meaningful
3. You have great ideas ❤ 4. You don’t have to be perfect to be valuable
5. Your opinions matter ❤ 6. I believe in you
7. My life wouldn’t be the same without you ❤ 8. I know you’re doing your best
9. I accept everything you are ❤ 10. I love your creativity
11. I love hearing about your day ❤ 12. You are interesting
13. I’m lucky to have a friend like you ❤ 14. Seeing you makes me happy
15. I’m glad you’re here ❤ 16. You can try again tomorrow
17. I love how you talk about the things you care about
18. Not everyone will like you, and that’s okay
19. You are beautiful inside and out
20. It’s good to be curious ❤ 21. Let’s try it your way
22. Being around you is fun ❤ 23. Don’t be afraid to be you
24. Watching you grow and change is inspiring
25. Your actions and choices matter to me
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| Tired of trying to cram her sparkly star-shaped self into society's beige square holes, she chose to embrace her ridiculous awesomeness like the supernova she was meant to be. |
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