“I suck at math”

That’s what I told myself since I was a child until I solved a complex problem on my own.

When I was in 5th grade, my teacher would repeatedly tell me that I suck at math and scold me for not solving a simple problem.

That one incident led to a decade of failure where I would fail every math exam conducted by my school.

But I didn’t mind it because I repeatedly told myself “I suck at math”.

And this is the case for the majority of people.

People form mental beliefs about what they’re good and what they’re not.

They have a self-image of themselves where they set themselves up for failure.

“I’m bad at drawing”, “I’m bad at sales”, and every other belief people tell themselves, closing off an entire skill or a faucet of their life just because they think they suck at it.

Why is this the case?

The Root Of Your Beliefs: Self-Image

Every person is hypnotized by their beliefs.

Good or bad ― You know how powerful beliefs can be.

Your negative beliefs aren’t a result of facts or experiences but rather ― the conclusions you draw from them which form your self-image.

Your self-image determines how you view yourself. Whether you view yourself as a person determined for success or failure, you’ll only get what you believe in.

You tend to believe this self-image and live your life based on this belief of yourself.

This explains how some people seem to always be successful, and others constantly fail. Their subsequent experiences will support the self-image they have of themselves.

Dr. Maltz was a plastic surgeon. He saw example after example of patients who would have their outward appearance transformed (via plastic surgery), but wouldn’t end up any happier as a result of having had their surgeries.

In short: their outward appearance would change, but their internal feelings and attitudes would remain the same.

Hypnotize Yourself To Success:

Here are 3 ways to reform your self-image and hypnotize yourself for success:

1. Ask “Why?”

The question “why” is powerful.

Start uprooting the beliefs that you create through your self-image that create your sense of inferiority, and ask “Why?”

Rational thinking is a crucial tool you can use to control your unconscious mind that forms your self-image.

Doing so will help you overcome irrational and false assessments like, “I failed yesterday ― therefore I’ll fail today.”

Instead, when faced with such a thought, you’ll be able to see that each day presents an opportunity to learn from the past.

2. Use Your Imagination

The human nervous system can’t tell the difference between experiences that we imagine and the ones that actually occur.

You often react automatically to your environment. Seeing a bear will make you feel fear and run. It’s not something you need to think about first. You automatically react to the environment based on what your nervous system tells you, regardless of whether this information is true or not.

It is what you believe to be true that causes the reaction.

Numerous studies have shown that mental practice improves actual performance.

The key is to practice the correct mental image of the actual action.

Use 30 minutes a day to relax, close your eyes, and imagine you are watching a movie of you. Get detailed. This is your mental practice for life. View positive interactions, opportunities, responses and dreams.

Don’t worry if you don’t believe it—that will come. Think about how each of your senses will experience what you are imagining.

Imagine positive feelings that you will experience. And remember that it may take you at least 21 days of practicing this before you notice changes. Practice will lead to new, automatic responses based on the self-image you are developing.

3. Find Good In Crisis Moments

The biggest growth phases of your life come after a big crisis moment.

To learn to turn crisis into opportunity, you first need to practice reacting to challenges without the pressure of a crisis situation.

This is similar to practicing fire drills before a fire. You learn the actions without stress so you can take those same actions when the pressure is on. You also carry over an attitude of calmness and competence.

When you face a crisis, be confident and assertive. “This means maintaining an aggressive, goal-directed attitude, rather than a defensive, evasive, negative one:

“No matter what happens, I can handle it, or I can see it through,” rather than, “I hope nothing happens.”

Bring to mind feelings of success by focusing on positive things.

These feelings lead to successful actions and outcomes.

You can also take time to recall successes in your past.

The imprinting in the brain is strong for these and becomes stronger with recall.

The winning feeling accompanying those past successes will carry over into your current goal-seeking activity.

If you haven’t experienced a great deal of success, begin with small measures you are successful at, and build on these, both with repeats of the success, and growing memories.

Gradually increase the challenges and successes, as if you are weight-training. You will become accustomed to success.

That’s it for today.

Have a great week ahead.

- Nithish