It's NOT Just The Way You Are...
How many times have you said something about yourself, followed up by “that’s just the way I am?” Or heard someone around you talk about themselves and follow it up with “that’s just the way I am?”
“I take things personally, that’s just the way I am.” “I always run late, that’s just the way I am.” “I’m a total neat freak, it’s just the way I am.” “I don’t have a creative bone in my body, it’s just the way I am.”
Here’s the thing…it’s not just the way you are. It is how you think you are, a decision you made about yourself or what you have tolerated for yourself. As humans we are not fixed creatures, we have the ability and capacity to grow, expand and change whenever we are ready to.
The reason we follow up with the “it’s just the way I am statement” is because somewhere deep down you are making a justification, reason or excuse for yourself. The convenience of this keeps you from having to take full personal responsibility for the behavior and alleviates you from having to take any action to change it.
In addition, continuously using this type of language sets self-inflicted limitations and labels. If you say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body,” how likely are you to ever try to access your creativity? If you say, I’m horrible with money, how likely will you be to create financial freedom? Our thoughts become things. Where are focus goes, our energy flows.
Take a moment and think about yourself, your ways of being…where is it getting in your way? How would it feel to not take things personally? What is running late all the time costing you? What would it feel like to let go and be a little bit less of a neat freak?
You have the ability to create the vision of who you are and be that. You have all of the power. All it takes to start is a new decision…
