Welcome back Guys and Gals. Great to have you here! 🙂
“The only thing I know is that I know nothing” – Socrates
For a significant part of my life, several people told me that I would never be successful because I was not smart or strong enough to make it and you know what, I believed their words. When I achieved anything, it felt great because I proved them wrong, but that joy was short lived. I did not believe that I deserved success. I would say things like, “I was lucky this time and I don’t know whether I’ll be able to do it again”. When things did not go to plan, I would say “They are all right. I should be better. Perhaps this is just not meant for me. There are better people out there at this”.
I stopped fighting for myself because I believed I did not matter. I believed that my thoughts were factual and despite other people’s efforts to build my confidence, nothing changed. I told myself they were just being nice.
The key thing is that I had no evidence to support my thoughts. In fact, I had evidence to suggest the contrary. I did well in school, always worked hard in my jobs, never got in trouble, was great at music and able to build great connections with people. I shut myself away from all those great things truly believing I needed to become a perfect human being to be someone.
Guys and Gals I have learnt a lot and worked hard on my mindset over the last few years through thought work. It really does work. It is not a one time thing. You will need to keep practicing thought work throughout your life because it is important, but I promise you won’t be disappointed once you start this process.
I love the quote – “The only thing I know is that I know nothing – Socrates”. My interpretation of this quote is that we can never be certain that what we know or think is 100% factual. The aforementioned prevents us from making judgements based on potentially false information.
In the case of our thoughts, what we think may not be factual regardless of how strongly our minds lead us to believe it. When there is an awareness that our thoughts may not be factual, we invite the opportunity to reframe our mindset and in turn the way we see ourselves, achieving peace within ourselves.
Perhaps implementing a Pyrrhonist approach to thought work would be beneficial to our growth. Without boring you too much with philosophical teachings, Pyrrhonists utilised an epoche mindset which translates to suspension of judgement. Applying a non-judgemental approach to ourselves would eliminate any cognitive dissonance with regards to our beliefs about ourselves.
To keep it simple, think of it this way…
If a thought is not beneficial to your growth i.e. it is judgemental and likely to hurt your confidence and self-esteem, reframe it.
Here are a few tips to help you on your journey back to empowerment, self love and confidence – You’ve got this!
Key Takeaways:
Remember to live Purposefully and Be The Best Version of Yourself
Manuela xoxo
I love this post because I always struggled with accepting myself how I was as well. I always defined me through the work I did, through what I accomplished. I was never enough… Thanks for sharing, I think this makes such a great impact on people with similar issues. The fact that we are not alone with these feelings can be such a relief. 🙂 Have a nice day! Xoxo Nina
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Nina thank you for supporting Lifevolution. Your presence means alot. 😊 It’s so liberating to be able to love yourself for who you are. There are so many of us trying so hard to find purpose and happiness from our work and relationships but in the end the only person that matters is ourselves and what makes us happy. If we’re happy with where we are then we are exactly where we are meant to be. I find that the new sense of freedom is amazing. Manuela xoxo
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Great to see you empowering others through your wise advice. Thank you.
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Thank you for supporting Lifevolution. It’s great to have you as part of this little community. 😊
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