We lie to ourselves on a daily basis. This is primarily because we are exposed to things that leave a mark on our subconscious; although truth is hidden in plain sight. These lies highlight our perceived shortcomings and prevent us from moving forward and accomplishing things. Ultimately, these lies place limitations on our lives and our ability to achieve bliss one day. In the end, our lies only serve the purpose of soothing us in the short-term, which will never help us plan a great future.
Recognize these lies and promptly stop the conversation:
“I don’t have a choice.” We all have an unlimited number of options available to us at any time. In every situation, you have the power to choose whether you will go right or left.
For example, You may be stuck in a job that you can’t stand and feel that you have no other choice but to stay in order to maintain your lifestyle and pay your bills. In reality, you DO have a choice! Are you living beyond your means and keeping this job to keep up with the extras? You might need to trim the fat of your lifestyle to have peace of mind and start achieving your financial and career goals. Remember, these uncomfortable situations are temporary but you can have peace throughout.
“If it’s not perfect, it’s a failure.” If you have to be the best at something before you’ll try, you’ll never get off the couch. There are only so many hours in a day, only so much energy we can expense, only so many things we can focus on at once, and only two hands to complete everything with. We are human and purposely designed with flaws and limitations.
Furthermore, do you really need to be the best? You should primarily focus on whether
you’re growing and moving forward. There’s no reason to be competitive with everything
you do. Realistically, you’re only competing with your own insecurity. Get off that playing field.
“If I do X or say Y, people will think less of me.” I am definitely guilty of this one. The truth of the matter is, people aren’t thinking about you that deeply. Everyone is too preoccupied with their own lives or else wondering what your opinion is of them.
If you believe you’re worthy, you won’t have these types of thoughts. You’ll believe that
you’re good enough and confident enough in what you say and do. Not to mention, if you are surrounded around good people who truly love and care about you, they will accept you as you are, encourage you, and won’t judge you. If you have these sort of concerns with your current group of friends, you need to ditch them.
“I’d be happy if I had more money.” I’m sure ALL of us have said this at one time or another! However, what you’re really saying here is that you would like the freedom to do things that make you happy without the restraints of money.
The key is to seek true happiness within yourself instead of looking for outside stimuli to create this for you. This requires us to confront the painful and ugly things we tend to cover up collecting an storing material possessions. Look at the vast number of lottery winners that go bankrupt shortly after their winnings. Money didn’t solve their problems, it only enhanced them.
“It’s too late for me.” People have graduated from medical school in their 60’s. Susan Boyle became an International sensation for her operatic singing on Britain’s Got Talent at age 48. Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa at age 75. Ray Kroc purchased the McDonald’s, Inc. from the McDonald brothers in order to franchise and expand the brand at age 59. Need I say more?
It’s true that some things become less convenient as we get older. For example, it is more challenging to go back to school when you have a family and a full-time job compared to a single, 20-year old that doesn’t. However, challenging and impossible are COMPLETELY different concepts! The media has positioned in our minds that only young and beautiful people accomplish great feats in life. However, God doesn’t tell us that. As long as we have breath, we have work to do.
We are masters at fooling ourselves. We lie to the person in the mirror in order to protect the false sense of comfort we have. Avoid giving up your future in order to appease your emotions for today. Change your self-talk by creating a rebuttal to these lies above. For example, instead of entertaining the thought of, “It’s too late for me to accomplish this”, insert the thought of, “I am older, wiser, and more mature than I’ve ever been. This is the best time for me to accomplish this”.
Start being intentional about your thoughts today. After all, your future depends on it.