“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.” ― Patrick Rothfuss

How is your self-image? What do you say to yourself that builds you up – or tears you down? Are you one of those few people who recognises their faults but also knows their strengths, or do you focus on your flaws while forgetting just how great you are, or could be?

The stories we tell ourselves in moments of doubt do have a salient effect on our results. If we enter into some project ‘knowing’ we are going to fail, how can we ever know whether we would have succeeded if we’d gone into it with confidence? To the same degree, and I address the famed ‘Law of Attraction here, how do we know we are good enough if we keep succeeding by accident?

The truth may be that we don’t really ever get to know the truth about ourselves, and this is usually because so few of us ever conduct any self-analysis intended to make that discovery. Even if we do, the stories we are already telling ourselves influences the answers we now produce.

Can you ask somebody else? Yes, but it has to be someone you can trust, who chooses their words carefully and can be blunt without being rude, complimentary without fawning.

And for your part, you have to be willing to trust that what you hear is in some way accurate. Asking someone trustworthy what they think, and then reacting defensively won’t produce the improved you that you were looking to create.

Of course, there is also a continuum to ego – from incorrect self-doubt at the lower end, to selfish arrogance at the other, when someone believes their own publicity to the degree that they consider themselves above all principles. The stories we hear about overly-demanding celebrities demonstrates such an approach to self-awareness.

Keep it real. Know who you are. Act with character.

Apply The Three Resolutions.

If you wish, you can go HERE to see or download an exercise that can help you discover whether who you think you are is REALLY who you want you to be.