Introduction:
Life is beautiful, magical and limitless. We are the precious creation of nature and should never limit our potential by doubting our capabilities.A world where people are insecure about their abilities is a world without the marvels of human achievement, because no one would be willing to step out of their comfort zones. . The Everest would have never been scaled if Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay had no self-belief, and several greats of humankind would not exist if they had allowed themselves to be deterred by rejection. .As Mignon McLaughlin very rightly said, “Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers.”
A story of triumph
Let me take you through a phenomenal story that depicts the triumph of self-belief and discards the notion of limiting one’s potential on the basis of what others say or believe.
A man goes to a village and very firmly challenges all the villagers to climb a really tall wall. The conviction that the man had in his challenge, made most of the villagers say no to the challenge without even trying it once. Even those who did choose to come forward, were discouraged by a constant litany by the villagers of their destiny to fail . The chain was broken when finally a young man took up the challenge and failed. He kept failing for a few times, but kept on trying until he eventually succeeded.
This left the man who had put forth the challenge startled. He went up to the young man to ask him the secret behind his success. To his surprise, however, the young man kept staring with no answer forthcoming.
Seeing this, an old villager stepped up and revealed to the challenger that the young man was deaf.
We, as individuals, have the potential to achieve a lot. Unfortunately, more often than not, we allow the words and opinions of those around us to prevent us from fully realising our potential. Often, we let these words validate our failures and we simply give up on trying again. And then we wonder why we cannot accomplish the things our heart truly wants.
To let go of this external negativity and truly embrace the power of what we can do, we perhaps need to be like the deaf young man in the story. Discouragement and questions are easy to come across, but it is upon you to put them aside and still march on towards what you want to achieve. .
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How about an exercise:
To make yourself understand better, get a pen and paper and do the following exercise:
Remember to be brutally honest with yourself during this process.
Close your eyes and relax. Sit back for a while and think of that one thing that you planned but could not achieve in the last six months. It could be absolutely anything- personal or professional.
On the paper note down the following things:
- Why was achieving that task important to you and how close are you to achieving it?
- Are there any excuses/fears/reasons that are stopping you from achieving it? List them.
- What will be the outcome if you achieve it and if you fail at achieving it ?
This will help you realize the importance and all other aspects of your goal. Observe your own responses and get ready for the next step:
Write down these excuses/fears/reasons and let your mind sift through the cause behind these. Once you have found the answer, plan and set a time frame regarding what you are going to do in order to overcome these fears.
Then, close your eyes and visualise the feeling of success, the emotion that will surround you once you have accomplished your goal. Write this down on a new page in bold letters and pin it up at a place that you look at often. .
This process will initiate your journey towards the realisation of limiting beliefs which you may have and overcoming them .
Each individual in this world is sufficient. The need of the hour is hence to to leave behind the self-doubt and self-rejection by realising the power of your inner self. You need to stand strong by assimilating all your focus and dedication in the direction of your aims and goals . Make yourself like the young man, deaf towards all other noises, except your goal.
You are your own limit and nothing else should ever impact the decisions you make or the path that you choose. Believe in your worth and the cosmos will be yours.
(Aditya Kuchibhotla is a Career Coach and a Life Coach helping people with their personal and professional aspects. You can reach out to him on his website www.adityakuchibhotla.com)
