This post is part of a 14 ways to help rebuild self-confidence series. We are working our way through the letters of SELF CONFIDENCE with this week’s focus being on the I in Confidence. Previously covered are Self Compassion & Self Care; 10 Ways to Enjoy your Life; Learning, Love & Laughter; Finding your passion & your happy place; Clear your schedule of activities that don’t serve you; Open-Minded – The way to go and the way to grow!; Neutralise Your Inner Critic & Self-Doubter; and Face Your Fears.
You’ve most likely seen them on TV or read some of their books – the self-help guru’s that tell you to visualize your desired outcomes with a determined, regular commitment and then they will come true! They call it ‘The Law of Attraction’. Well, though the title of this post is Imagine, Visualize and Believe, that is not what I’m here to tell you. Try as I may, no amount of visualizing a windfall of heaps of money has brought me my fortune!
Having said the above though, there is something to what they say, so I will say this: we have to stop (or at least control) the negative self-talk that goes on in our heads because it distorts and stunts our imagination and creativity, creates an internal vision of ourselves and our abilities that is not truth, and destroys our belief in ourselves. These are all big nasties when it comes to our self-confidence!
Let’s use the example of a blogger who would really like her blog to be successful (successful being her own personal interpretation of success). The problem though, is that she is constantly comparing herself to what she perceives to be the bigger, better, more successful bloggers and putting herself down in the process with thoughts such as “I will never be like them”, “I will never be as popular or as funny or as stylish as them”, “no-one will be interested in me or what I have to say” etc, etc. Instead, what she needs to do is to IMAGINE herself feeling proud of her blog, being inspired by her blog, and that there are people out there that are interested in her (because she is uniquely herself) and what she has to say. She needs to VISUALIZE herself and her blog getting noticed, appreciated, and enjoyed by the right people. She needs to visualize having exciting collaborations and opportunities arise. She needs to visualize herself being flooded with awesome ideas and creative flow. She needs to BELIEVE in herself and her abilities and believe that if she keeps beavering away, she will achieve the success that she hopes for. Of course, this is just one example but this approach can be applied to any situation.
So YES, do make a conscious effort to regularly imagine, visualize and believe but not because ‘SHAZAM’ a miracle will then occur but because it will help to shift your mindset from negative to positive. I believe that if we Imagine, Visualize and Believe enough we do start to have more positive thoughts and we do start to believe that we can achieve what it is that we want to and we do begin to gain more self-confidence!
Logic will get you from A to Z. Imagination will get you everywhere! ~ Albert Einstein
Ciao for now,
Linking up with Kylie Purtell for #IBOT
12 Comments
Yes it is the combination and action taking rather than just visualisation xxx missed some of the posts in this series- need to catch up xx
Yep that’s it! No problem – I struggle to keep up with what everyone is posting! xo
Hello, maybe we first need to see what we are doing in term of self-sabotage and then replace it with belief and visualisation… this is relevent for me as Im not quite sure where I’m going at the moment and not quite sure what the major motivations are… need to work that out and then focus and visualise… every time I write the work visualise, I see an image of a beach and palm trees. there’s a message in there somewhere!
Yes you’d need to have observed yourself and understand what your thought patterns are and how you are self-sabotaging – that’s for sure. I’m a bit like you Seana – sort of treading water not sure what direction to go in. Oh that beach and palm trees sounds nice – a holiday first perhaps?! 😉
Great post Min, and I especially like your point about comparing ourselves to others. I find that is my biggest hurdle as a photographer, not other people, but myself, and how I compare myself and my work to the photographers I follow, love and admire. I think for me right now the biggest thing is working out my motivation, what drives me, and what I’m doing what I’m doing, and then define how that looks.
Thanks Kylie – yes comparison can be such a trap. I still find myself doing it sometimes. It’s one of the reasons I haven’t done anything with my photography, amongst other things. You needn’t worry about your competition – you’re a fantastic photographer! I particularly love your black and white work. You have your own style and it’s fantastic! All you need to do is hone in on what direction exactly you want to go in and what you want to do and then go for it. You have the talent to do whatever you would like to! 🙂 xo
Comparison really is the thief of all joy, isn’t it?! Thanks for the reminder and I love that Einstein quote, it’s pure gold!
Hi Sammie – Yep comparison sure is the thief of joy and the Einstein quote is awesome – I just had to use it! 🙂 xo
Great post Min, I really need to let go of my negativity about myself and what I am capable of. I know that I am my own worst enemy but cant shake it. Self belief is something that I cant ever remember having, which makes me sad in a way because maybe I could be doing something more with my life/blog/painting. Maybe it is not too late.
Thank you for this post xx
Oh Beck – I can relate. I still have my struggles too trust me. It’s never too late to do what you’d really like to do and I’m sure you are very capable! xo
What a great series. I’m not sure that I actually go through all those steps but I do work hard not to compare #teamIBOT
Thanks Natalie! 🙂 x