Day 255: On Self-Image
You always behave consistently with the picture that you hold of yourself on the inside.
Your self-image directly affects your self-discipline and virtually everything else in your life.
If you think of yourself as a lazy person, how likely is it that you will engage in productive behaviors? The picture that you hold of yourself on the inside won’t match your intended actions. Whenever people feel their actions aren’t congruent with themselves, they stop engaging in them.
On the other hand, if you think that (deep down) you’re productive, you’ll feel good when you manifest that in the real world. At the same time, whenever you catch yourself being lazy, you’ll feel that it clashes with your personality and subsequently, do whatever you can to avoid it.
Negative self-image keeps you away from making a change, while positive self-image creates a virtuous cycle. Whenever you’re setting new goals, start with your self-image. What do you think of yourself in relation to the goal you want to pursue?
What if, instead of calling yourself a failure in business, you’d call yourself a person with many experiences to draw from?
What if, instead of thinking of yourself as a person with weak self-control, you’d call yourself a person deeply motivated to build self-discipline
?
Change your opinion about yourself and it will be easier to stick to actions that would otherwise feel unnatural and clash with who you think you are, deep down.