People often tell me I’m too hard on myself when, in reality, I’m just acknowledging my shortcomings. Okay I admit, sometimes I do repeat limiting beliefs to myself but it’s something I’m working on, and I’m getting better each day.

Maybe you’re like me and you tend to criticize yourself. According to Dale Carnegie, author of the book How to Win Friends and Influence People, criticism is one of the surest ways to stir up resentment. Oops.

As the ancient proverb goes, life and death are in the power of the tongue. Whatever things you utter about yourself will shape your reality in such a way to reflect that which you’re speaking. Psychologists call this a self-fulfilling prophecy. New-agers call it manifesting. The Bible calls it “Let there be…”

Regardless of what you subscribe to or what you call it, the truth remains:

What you say impacts what you believe, and what you believe determines who you are.

If you constantly call yourself an asshole, surprise! You’re probably an asshole. Oops. If you’re constantly cracking jokes about how broke you are, you probably won’t have a positive net worth anytime soon. Maybe your complaint is “not having enough time” to do XYZ. Well… I bet if you found out you only had two months left to live you’d make time for the things that are important to you.

Here’s an exercise. After you finish reading this article, take a moment and imagine the person you want to become. Once you’ve got that template in your head, think of how you would describe that person. This is how you should start identifying yourself. Make it a habit, and before you know it, you won’t even recognize the old you.

I hope this helps you somehow…

Happy Hannukah! 🙂