Personal Improvement

There is a tendency in the personal development and spiritual growth arenas to look upon the teachers and writers of the industry as icons, gurus, and so forth. To an extent this is harmless but in too many cases this becomes celebrity worship.

There is a tendency to think of the self as less and to find greatness in others. But because all of humanity is part of the collective consciousness, you are just as great as any of your heroes.

It’s great to read at least one book each month, and to continually listen to self improvement and wealth creation audio programs. I even recommend attending live seminars and workshops.

But understand that you are the true master of your destiny. Teachers can guide you, and your favorite speakers and authors can share great insights to help you open the doors along your journey, but nobody can create transformation for you.

Some of my favorite contemporary teachers include Bob Proctor, T. Harv Eker, Brian Tracy, Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Donald Trump, Marci Shimoff, and dozens of others. But I know in my heart that I am just as great as these people, and I accept their wisdom only as guidance.

It’s unhealthy to project your self-esteem into another persona and to presume others are somehow better or above you. You have all the insights of the teachers above, plus any teachers on your list of favorites.

Look at how Americans worship celebrity actors and musicians, and put such professionals on a pedestal. I’ve met many young people who derive most of their self-esteem from the career performance of their favorite movie star or recording artist; this is both sad and incredibly wasteful.

These youngsters are robbing the world of the greatness they have to offer from within!

By the same token if you get too caught up in any one personal development or business guru, you risk losing yourself. This happened to me early in my career as an online publisher, and for nearly two years I deprived the world of my unique contribution.

My personal experience compels me to help others avoid the same trappings.

Consider this: Psychologists and personal growth experts tell us that if we find something offensive or annoying in another individual, we are seeing in them a part of ourself which we disapprove of.

By this same token then, when we see greatness, beauty, and wisdom in another we must be seeing a part of ourself.

It’s crucial that we understand this. We can and should embrace the wisdom offered by others while at the same time understanding the same insight is contained within.

NOTE: This truth applies across all situations where we admire the teachings and actions of another human being. So apply the concept in this post not only to your favorite author or speaker, but also to your favorite historical icons!

My favorite inspirational figures from ages past include Ghandi, Lao Tzu, Miyamoto Musashi, Thomas Paine, and so many others. But it’s vital to understand these people are remembered by history because they took action and expressed their insights through their day-to-day actions, not because they were born superior to the rest of the human race.

There were many wise sages in the days of Lao Tzu who didn’t write books and are thus not remembered by history. And certainly there were painters as great as Picasso who were never discovered.

Likewise today there are hundreds of unknown guitarists who are better than Yngwie Malmsteen. And there are at least hundreds of non-competitive martial artists with many times the skill of any current champion.

Because someone is a published author, a professional performer, or a figure from history does not make them greater than the rest of humanity. They are simply in the circumstance of being recognized.

I say all this not to diminish our favorite teachers, but to drive home the important insight that we needn’t put any one personality on a pedestal and assume he or she is beyond what we can become. If we remain mindful of our own greatness and see our reflection in the teachings of Ghandi or the books of Deepak Chopra then we’ll be compelled to add our own wonderful contributions to the world.

I hope this makes good sense. I’ll revisit this point again in future posts.

You see the world around you through the lens of self. And if you don’t have a healthy self-image, all of your efforts to achieve your goals will suffer.

If you don’t love yourself, how can you honestly hope to give yourself nice things? And if you don’t feel worthy of greatness, what good is it to try and manifest your dreams?

Remember: You are a genius and and you are most worthy of love and respect!

This should be obvious, but many times people will try to move forward with the practice of attraction before addressing crucial issues of self-image. Experts tend to agree that self-esteem is often the most underrated element in a comprehensive self-development program.

This is ironic, since many times when a person fails to create the wealth, health, or relationship they claim to want, the cause of their failure is a lack of self worth. By overcoming any negative feelings you have toward yourself you will greatly increase your odds of attracting to you all the things you desire.

Now that you understand why self-esteem is so important, how can you set about to improve your own self-image? Here are a few things you can start doing right away.

Get Some Perspective

Start seeing yourself as another person. Look at yourself often in the mirror, and form a positive opinion of yourself as if you were thinking about a friend or family member. This mindset exercise will allow you to step away from your internal prejudices and focus loving energy on yourself on a regular basis.

Celebrate Your Victories

Another thing you can do is create a victory log. This is a simple journal that contains all of the positive achievements you have made in your lifetime. By continually updating this list as you create new successes, you will be creating a written record of personal greatness.

Completely Forgive Yourself Right Now

Perhaps the most important thing you can do toward restoring your self-esteem is to actively forgive yourself. Take the time to sit down and think of all the times you have been angry or disappointed with yourself; go back as far into your childhood as your memory will allow.

Focus on all of the silly, embarrassing, even detrimental things you have done in the past. Acknowledge that you are a human being and mistakes are a natural and fully acceptable part of life. One by one, bring up the events of your past and forgive yourself for each one of them. Let these things go and decide to immediately forgive yourself again should they ever come to mind in the future.

These exercises will have you well on the way to feeling great about yourself and believing in your ability to do amazing things once again.

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