I can state without any doubt, it is the strength of your self-image that makes all the difference in your life. It is our self-image that either holds us back or allows us to grow and expand. We cannot see or touch our self-image; however it is the most real part of us. It is the image we hold of ourselves that governs everything we do positively or negatively, and it’s in control of our feelings and emotions every day of our lives.
Your self-image is the built up picture you hold of yourself, and it has been building for as long as you’ve been alive, whether you paid attention to it or not, it’s controlling your life for better or worse. If you see yourself as nothing more than this body, made up of tissue, skin organs, bones and blood, you become trapped in the false physical image and may never become aware of your true nature. You are a creator, and you create your experience, all of it.
I believe the most important qualities for an enjoyable and satisfying life is having an empowered self-image, which means feeling at ease with you, feeling good about yourself…liking yourself.
We doubt ourselves and our ability to do what we want because of the lack of understanding about our self-Image. Your self-image, when the doubt is gone, gives you the courage to have a go. It lets you understand you have the same rights as everyone else to be happy and follow whatever makes you happy. There is an addendum here… as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone or go against another person.
No one would neglect their self-image on purpose, what we tend to do is get caught up in the daily running of our life and never stop to think about how we actually feel about ourselves. Instead we look to others for approval, and love. Here is where the problems can start, because if the others don’t approve of us, and we don’t have this understanding of what truly motivates us to do what we do, our self-image takes another blow, and eventually, if this happens often enough, we find ways of coping, instead of ways to feel better about our self.
What makes our self-image?
It is the composition of all the successes, the failures and experiences that have made up our lives; and the perception we hold of these successes, failures and experiences in our mind. It is this perception we hold of ourselves that determines how we feel, how we react, and what actions we become involved in. The majority of people have the wrong perception of them self, and believe they have no control over what happens to them, they follow the dogma of a society that wants you to believe you have no choice. What needs to change is the way we view ourselves internally, what the voices and the pictures we are forming in our head are saying, and to correct the self-image.
Self-confidence or self-esteem is the product of a good self-image.
Self-image put simply, is the idea or picture we carry in our minds of what we think we are really like. Ever carried a picture of someone you like in your wallet or purse? Our self-image is like that; except it’s the picture of ourselves we carry in our minds. Unfortunately, the self-image picture of our mind isn’t always as accurate as a photograph. Sometimes just like some of the photo’s I take it’s out of focus, blurred or just plain wrong.
By allowing outside influences to blur our image of ourselves we allow the picture to fade and become a shadow of its former self. Have you ever watched children? I have 3 grandchildren aged 4 to 6 and I love watching them, because they have the best self-image at that age, they believe they are all there is, they never see themselves as less than or undeserving, they believe they can do anything. The unfortunate thing that happens is we tend not to recognise it and we make the children conform to what we want from them and this leads to the biggest problem we have with self-image in adulthood.
Changing Self-image
You can become your own cosmetic surgeon by removing all your inner scars, created by your thinking up to now.
- Stop comparing yourself to others, why? Because you will become bitter or vein
- Build the new image in your mind, by writing exactly what the new you is going to be
- Set your goals for achieving your new image
It needs to be written in the present tense with all the enthusiasm you have.
Here is an example of how you write in the present tense:
I am so extremely happy now that I am………………………………………………
Now write what you want in the areas of your life you want change and read it daily change it when you need to, because it’s this vision of the new you, you want to keep your focus on..
Remember, mistakes and any negative feedback acts as a guide for our relearning and future outlook, never to be taken as failure.
