2012 Resolution #6 - Expect the Best From Yourself
Posted on January 06, 2012 by Maria McInnis, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
#6 in a series on resolutions using NLP and Life Coaching
Resolve to expect the best from yourself.
The phrase ‘giving it 110%’ comes to mind with this particular topic: Expecting the best from yourself is something that sounds easy, but is hard sometimes to put into practice.
In this modern world we constantly have messages, images and more coming at us all of the time that tell us that, somehow, we aren’t good enough because we don’t have the newest product, or because we don’t look like the models do. Our self image and worth is attacked each and every single day from the time we are born to the time we die, and though we try to expect the best, we often plan out our own failures based on those that present themselves to us every day. Failures that, often times, do not honestly exist except in our imaginations.
Expecting the best from yourself is an important thing to do in order to battle the constant assault upon our senses. You must arm yourself with the knowledge that you are a human being whose birthright is personal greatness. You must realize that you have every resource you need in order to succeed and that all you need is to apply those resources to your day to day life.
“The thrill isn’t in the winning, it’s in the doing.” – Chuck Noll
Expecting the best from yourself starts, in my opinion, with having fun. I don’t just mean going out for a night on the town, or sitting down with good friends and family; I mean finding something in everything to enjoy. Life is given to us, and it is our choice how to spend it…but even our most basic chemistry tells us to have fun.
When we smile or laugh we release endorphins which boost our immune system and make us feel even better. Having fun means to use the resources you have to make the most of every moment you have. It means that you allow life to lead the way, instead of forcing the path. Expecting the best from yourself means that you must allow your body to do the job that your mind is trying to force.
Too many people base their lives around others, often with unhealthy consequences that help no one, least off themselves. Expecting the best from yourself means listening to YOUR inner voice, and following YOUR gut. Expecting the best from yourself means using everything you have earned through a lifetime of experience to achieve a goal, a dream or to simply live life to the fullest.
In life coaching the most common issue I run into is a person’s sense of self worth. In their minds they are always telling themselves that they are too much of one thing, or not enough of another. Self image is distorted and the person hides or seems lost behind an image that can never be, because their minds tell them that it cannot exist in their world. They place stipulations upon themselves and play, what I like to call the ‘What If’ game.
In the ‘What If’ game, which is a single person game, a person questions every action they have taken, can take or are taking and every one who plays it loses. Often they will scare themselves into inaction through assumption, personal defeat and distorted concepts of their own mental acuity or intelligence. The results are devastating, and far reaching in a person’s life.
“And I? I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost
We must not look to the road that is blazed for us, we must go forth and create new roads upon which to travel. Sometimes it is roads that we start down alone, but when life opens up, and one begins to explore their own potential, they quickly meet others along the way: other trail blazers who have moved past fear, allowed themselves to expect their own personal best, and who have armed themselves with the knowledge they need in order to move forward.
Human potential is one of the most untapped things in this world, and we gain nothing by letting it go to waste.
Expecting the best of oneself is a daily exercise that allows you to expand your world, but the first step is to believe that you have the ability to achieve; to not grieve that which you cannot change, but to receive the universe’s challenge to change what you can; both within yourself and your world.
Be everything you can be, and allow yourself to become more. Resolve to make everyday a new adventure, challenge or learning experience, and allow yourself to realize that you have everything that you need. Give everything that 110% that is yours to give, and soon, you’ll be receiving it back ten-fold.
