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The Stupid, False Messages We Tell Ourselves

You may not realize it, but you’re talking to yourself. A lot. Like, right now.

Every time you make a decision, you have a brief, silent conversation with yourself – reviewing the decision and measuring it up against your past experiences, the information you know, and the assumptions you have.

Unfortunately, a lot of the assumptions we make consciously or subconsciously, are completely wrong, such as…

  • “I can’t do this.” Most of the time, you really probably could. It’s just going to take effort, sacrifice, discipline, maybe being a little miserable, and making peace with the idea that you could fail. Most of those things, especially failure, are not nearly as bad as you think they are, so calm down. Take a chance, because you’ll be happier on the other end of it.
  • “I can do anything.” No, you can’t. You need a real, honest concept of time. Limit yourself, and you’ll get more done, and do better work on top of it. Take things one at a time.
  • “I’m in a unique situation.” Nope, wrong again. There are hundreds – if not thousands – of people dealing with the exact same situation you are, or something insanely close, and they’re doing just fine. Suck it up and keep going.
  • “I’ll do it later.” No you won’t. Do it now.
  • “Privacy is really important to me.” If that were the case, you wouldn’t be on Facebook. Seriously. This is the absolute truth.
  • “I can’t afford to do this.” Maybe not RIGHT AT THIS SECOND. But you could. Again, we’re back to discipline and sacrifice. You can save up for anything. My wife and I went to Europe for two and a half weeks last year – but we planned it and saved up for 3 years.
  • “But, I NEED [insert thing here]!” Probably not. You need food, water, and shelter. You need to take care of your family. After that, you can probably do without most things.
  • “It’s too late to do this.” Unless your goal is to be the lead in your high school’s production of Bye Bye Birdie (example chosen only because I WAS the lead in my high school’s production of Bye Bye Birdie, thankyouverymuch), it’s not too late. You can still find love. You can still repair your marriage. You can still have that dream career. You can still build a healthier life. You can still make major life changes whether you’re 25 or 65.
  • “I don’t have enough time.” You have as much time as anyone else in the world. Theodore Roosevelt was a politician, a cowboy, a hunter, a student of nature, an author of over 30 books, a reader of thousands of books, a Vice President, a President, a father, and a husband… among other things. He didn’t have the internet. He didn’t have audiobooks. He didn’t have a microwave. He had 24 hours in a day. So do you. Get going.

What do you think? What messages do you catch yourself saying that are holding you back?

achievement, doubt, fear, lists, productivity, risk, thinking, time