After a set-back, how can we get back on track and give our self belief a boost?

Goreygirl

Gold Member
Hey all

So lack self-belief is one of my big saboteurs.... something happens and I lose confidence and then I cave. So have been doing a bit of Googling to help my pondering on this and found this technique.
Self belief in much the same way as self confidence isn't something we either have or have not got. It moves between two extremes.

At the low end, where you feel depressed, worthless; everything is difficult or too much trouble; the world looks as if it's closing in on you and is full of people who ignore, abuse or bully you - and you are powerless to do anything about it.

At the high end, you feel elated; life is full of pleasure and opportunity; people respond positively to you; you have that power to make a difference and you feel really good about yourself.

As we go through life, we're generally hovering towards the high end, until that "something" happens to upset our equilibrium. We lose our job, fall ill, cease a relationship or lose someone close to us, for example; all these things can drag us towards the low end of the continuum and deplete our self worth.

So when your self belief takes a knock and your inner voice wants you to concentrate on how bad things are (and how much worse they're going to be - everything happens in threes etc) just mentally say "thanks, but I'm going to look at things this way".


Then capitalise on one factor. That factor is that the human brain can't distinguish between "fact and fiction". So if you can fool it into accepting something that you can visualise in your minds eye (fiction) as already happening (fact), you can use this to help you to move towards the high end of the self belief continuum."


So when you break from the plan/choose food over CD/ are struggling to stay focused .... Rather than allowing ourselves to get into a downward spiral of self-criticism, negative talk, self-hate etc, say "thanks, but I'm going to look at things this way". Then close your eyes and picture yourself at your ideal weight... picture what you are doing...(chatting with friends? Lying in a beach? etc) . First of all as an observer; if the picture you see is in black and white, imagine it in colour and turn up the intensity. Then step into the picture - what can you hear, smell, see? How do you feel? How does it feel to be in those close? How does your body feel when you move it?





Once we've "been there", if only in our minds eye, we open up the neurological pathways that can provide us with the resources to move along the self belief continuum and achieve that boost. And giving ourselves such a boost will help us to formulate a much more positive approach towards goal :D
 
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