“I didn’t grow up as an athlete and, therefore, my potential is less than those who did. I can’t possibly be as good as them, no matter how hard I try.”
This was me. This is me. This may be you too.
Remember, beliefs are just thoughts that we think over and over again. They seem automatic and simply observations of the world. But the only thing true about the statement above is that I allowed myself to believe it for too long.
This simple statement ties in several concepts from other blog posts I’ve written this month: Story vs. Fact, Self Doubt, Confidence and The Self Coaching Model.
This statement is not a fact, eventhough my brain likes to tell me so (at the most inopportune times I might add!). It’s a thought, a simple story on loop in my mind. As the Self Coaching Model teaches us, all feelings are triggered by thoughts. This thought is definitely one of the root thoughts of self doubt I experience. It’s not a thought that provides any confidence because my opinion of myself and my capabilities is not high in this space.
By putting a thought like this one through The Self Coaching Model, I can now see why I was not getting the results I wanted, racing far below my potential, and feeling less than my peers. Those sub par results were just evidence for my toxic thought (ultimately a limiting belief).
Think about what you think about on a regular basis. Those thoughts that seem automatic and just observations are actually choices. And what you choose to think will always impact your results.
"I didn't grow up as an athlete" still shows up in my brain now and then. I notice it and gently remind myself that what I did or did not do as an athlete in my past has absolutely nothing to do with the possibility of my future. I write that story.
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