Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Your Success Depends on How You Perceive Yourself

What you think of yourself plays a great role in what you actually become. Self-perception is created over time due to the environment and other people around you. As one grows, it is also shaped by the successes and the failures that one faces and the manner in which one treats them.

The comments, positive and negative determine what you think of yourself as. If there is a plethora of genuine praise that comes your way from friends and acquaintances in the early stages of life, you tend to have confidence and belief in your capabilities. On the other and if criticism is all that you face in your formative years, chances are that you will end up being a self doubting, vacillating and insecure person. It is this grounding that dictates the manner in which you accept and process the various events, failures and achievements that you face.

A person who is self-confident faces negative situations optimistically and looks at them as consequences of certain factors that may be external and internal. He does not believe that the negative outcome is a product of his capabilities alone. This enables the optimistic person to strive to overcome the hurdles that he faces going forward in life. A pessimistic person tends to blame himself for all the defeats and setbacks and gets wrought with thoughts of failure, refusing to try to work around problems.

A strong belief in your capability can propel you in the right direction in any situation, giving you positive results. Negative thoughts and action will do exactly the opposite and take you further away from your goals. If you constantly have self-deprecating thoughts about your potential, it is likely that you will sub consciously prove what your beliefs are and work towards it.

With positive thoughts, you tend to have faith in your capabilities and competencies and therefore initiate a self-propagating cycle of positive thoughts followed by achievements that in turn infuses more positive thoughts. Starting this cycle is the only aspect of the process that takes time and effort and once the kick-start has been achieved the process becomes a self-sustaining one.

A positive approach shall also ensure that your self-image, self-esteem and confidence experience a major boost. The one manner in which you can ensure that your mind entertains only positive thoughts is to talk to oneself. Try and speak to yourself and initiate a meaningful dialogue motivating yourself to think and act positive.