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Because the grass always seems greener on the other side :wizard: but its really not!You know what? I went through this very same line of thinking a few years ago when I decided to reactivate myself at church and in the singles scene. Which is funny because I am reasonable happy single why would I want to get married againut:?
:White Horse:
Lately I have been thinking a lot about life, perception and how I can be as truthful as possible with myself. This is just food for thought...
In trying to achieve a goal for yourself (speaking from a purely physical standpoint just for arguments sake) I found you have to be your own toughest critic and to look at everything from a deficit/pessimistic standpoint opposed to an overly optimistic standpoint.
Example: Trying to lose weight? Dont reward yourself with a cookie because you lost 10lbs. Instead say to yourself "Im 10lbs down, now if I skip that cookie and go run a mile, imagine how many more calories I will burn!" Sure you could reward yourself with a cookie and it probably wouldnt make a difference but that kind of "I deserve it" mentality (optimism) seems to be the kiss of death for most people trying to reach a goal. Its thinking like that which separtes those who reach goals from those who simply "have goals". Everyone has a goal, few people reach them.
Optimism is great don't get me wrong but sometimes you need to be a pessimist and look at things from a negative standpoint in order to push yourself to new heights. If you can find the good in yourself even in a pessimistic mindset than conquering goals should be a piece of cake!
Sometimes feeling that nothing is good enough and that its never okay to settle is the boost you need to break through a plateau in your life. Once you do then you can take the time to reflect on your accomplishment and be proud of what you did. Until then save that pat on the back, it may just set you back instead of push you forward.
So onto the LOUDSPEAKER idea:
Imagine you get lost in an airport or shopping mall and your 3 or 4 closest friends or family members are trying to find you. Granted you dont have a cell phone.
If those people who know you very well had to DESCRIBE you to the security office in a mall or airport so they could identify you over a loudspeaker or though a broadcast of some kind... What would they say?
Take into account this is a panic situation, time is of the essence.... How would those closest to you describe you to a complete stranger?
The answer doesnt matter to me, I dont want 50 replies explaining what you look like!
The idea behind this is simple, what we think we are or how we perceive ourselves often times is not what is portrayed in real life or perceived by those around us.
So the purpose is simple: If you are trying to reach a goal (lose weight, get stronger, dress better, convey confidence) are you settling for what you believe is that image of yourself or are you going one step further? Are you changing yourself to the point where if someone needed to describe you to a total stranger in a panic situation, they would specifically point out those characteristics you WANT to have and believe to obtain.
If you want to be very physically fit would someone describe you as "normal looking guy" or "hes a big guy, muscular" ....
If your a woman who wants to look beautiful would your best friend tell a stranger "She has long hair and is very pretty" or "She has long hair, wears a lot of makeup" ...
The optimist in us tells us our friends would say the very best things about us.
The realist in us may find that our friends point out things about us that really aren't as great as we would like to believe.
This came about because a buddy of mine had been telling me about his progress at the gym. He is a very normal looking young guy, not very big, not too skinny, just average Joe. I looked at him and saw almost no real difference in his appearance, yet he kept showing me his arms (while flexing) saying how they got bigger and hes really filling out.
Now in his mind and through our recent conversations he seems to have this mentality that because he drinks the occasional muscle milk and trains at the gym haphazardly a few times per week that he is a "big, strong guy, tough looking dude" and his cockiness and arrogance has really annoyed me. Its become tough to be his friend. Since this happened I have tried to figure out why people do this, act like this and how I can maybe tell him to relax and be a little more realistic. But as we all know sometimes you need to let someone see things for themselves for them to truly understand what you mean.
The fact is he is nothing like what he thinks he is. The truth is if I had to describe him to a complete stranger, I would say nothing more than "Hes an average looking guy" :redface:
I asked him this question the other day and he did not have a reply but I think he got the message. The question was "If you were lost in a mall and me, your sister and your 2 best friends had to describe you to mall security, what do you think we would say?"
If you wanna swing this around to detailing the same mentality applies. When doing paint correction are you really LOOKING for the slightest of defects after your polish and entire panel or do you believe that because you polished X panel with Y product using Z method that the yielded results will be perfect? Are you being too optimistic or are you being your own toughest critic? And if you are your own toughest critic and CANNOT find anything wrong with the results you got, then, well, maybe you reached perfectionartaaay2:
So ... are you settling for who you think you are or are you striving to truly BE the very best version of yourself which fulfills you personally and is displayed obviously to those around you?
"Clean up on aisle 5" comes to mind.
Was that directed to me Bunky?
I thought it describes me over a loudspeaker. :smile: