Many people are largely unaware that the quality of their lives is to a significant extent determined by whether they have a positive or negative self image. The way in which you perceive and feel about yourself is bound to have a considerable effect on whether you succeed or fail in many of life’s endeavours, on whether you are happy or unhappy, fulfilled or unfulfilled.
Your deeply rooted self image is the basis upon which you operate in your day to day life, and it is often the factor on which many of your choices and decisions are ultimately – though often unconsciously – based. If deep down you don’t see yourself as a person worthy of love and respect, or as a person capable and confident enough to succeed in overcoming challenges, then your self image is selling you short and holding you back.
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. This goes to the heart of something that many people are either unaware of or think just can’t be true, that being that whatever poor self image may have been derived from an individual’s childhood and early youth, the truth is that it’s not set in stone, even if it may feel or seem like it. There is no decree or law of nature which says that because you “believe” – consciously and/or unconsciously – that you don’t come up to the mark in comparison to others that it must be actually “true” or “real”.
In order to build a vibrant and healthy self image, you must nurture it and work on it. In the same way that you most likely take steps to improve or at least preserve your outward appearance, similarly your inner self image needs to be maintained and if necessary improved.
This can be done by first understanding that the key lies within your own mind and also by understanding that you are free to use your own mind to think of yourself in any way that you wish. Whatever thoughts you regularly and habitually impress into your subconscious mind will sooner or later be accepted by it as true. And when the subconscious has accepted a new self belief system as true then that new belief system actually becomes true and the self image – and thenceforth quality of life – changes accordingly.
Create for yourself and stick to it for as long as necessary – usually anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months – a regular program or discipline whereby on a daily basis you nourish your mind and self image with positive thoughts and feelings about yourself.