There is this Idea, so powerful, it can cause a tectonic shift in your mindset. I know it for a fact. It has changed my life and I believe it can change your’s too. So here is it-
“We always behave and act in a manner, knowingly or un-knowingly, to always protect our self-image”
The power of self-image
Let me elaborate a little. Our self-image has a powerful influence on our mindset and thinking. In fact I feel it is the very foundation of our existence. The way we are now and our actions today which ultimately create our future self, all depends on our current self-image. It is our identity. If we lose it, we lose everything. It is kind of a limiting factor which makes us resistant to change. We do all sorts of things to protect it like it is life & death. We make excuses, lie to ourselves and others, rationalize all our actions, live in denial and even self-sabotage ourselves.
Our self-image is built up of many many small beliefs. Few simple examples would be our likes and dislikes about food, favorite colors, favorite this and favorite that. We tend to have strong beliefs about these without any strong logical reason. And we are always ready to fight for them tooth and nail.
I find it astonishing that people, when offered with a food they dislike, act as though they are being offered poison!! The very same people sometimes turn into a crazy hungry animal and act like a fool around there favorite food. They go out of the way to highlight their favorites. Similar is the cult of celebrity fan following. It is all that self-image in the play.
I am no expert on the subject, but what I can say is that we are always in a process of forming those beliefs and building our self-image. It may be a vast subject to understand how all these beliefs are formed. But if I reflect on my personal experience, we come across some thoughts triggered by specific incidents or just ramdomly and we latch on to them. We keep repeating the thoughts in our mind again and again till they get ingrained in our brain permanently.
We can change our self-Image
Personally, I have been trying to work with my beliefs and self-image ever since I came across this idea. Some beliefs I have changed, still trying to change some and probably keep finding more to change. I will mention a couple beliefs specifically related to fitness, which I have successfully changed-
- My genetics – I was always a skinny fat kid growing up. Meaning, I had small body,arms and legs but a round protruding tummy. All elder men in my family were walking around with a huge tummy. Obviously it is genetics, I believed. Little did I know all of us in the family have similar habits- similar food and no physical activity. It’s been proven wrong ever since I took matters into my hands.
- I can never change my body– This is again proven wrong but I held this belief for as long as I can remember. The reason behind this is all those failed, dozens of attempts to go to gym since I was a teenager. I just went to gym but did nothing right and consistent and did not even have the concept of proper nutrition back then.
Like I said, we are always in a continuous and ongoing process of building our self-image. We can choose to either control it or just let it happen by itself. Follow these 3-simple steps to control your self-image
- Identify limiting beliefs – some of them may be easy to find but most of them very difficult. But a simple way to identify them is that, they always make us un-happy or feel helpless. Just like I felt helpless with my genetics.
- Find ways to break them – all you need to do is keep looking for right knowledge and tools you need to break your beliefs. Everything you need is on your finger tips in this internet age. Find books, blogs, youtube videos, knowledgeable people in social media which can help you. There is no limit. Try different ways till it works. And it will eventually work.
- Take contrary actions – take some action which is against such beliefs and keep repeating again and again. This will not only change old beliefs but also form a new one. And the best part is, you can control it and once formed you will undoubtedly protect it. In my current belief, I am a very disciplined person who haven’t missed a single workout in 2.5yrs without an extremely unavoidable situation or reason. And I protect it and fight for it fiercely!!