This is the thirty-fifth edition of The i’Mpossible Project: A series where anyone can share a personal story of inspiration or an event in life where they overcame tremendous odds. Everyone has a powerful story to tell and something to teach the world. (See HERE for guidelines on how you can write for The i’Mpossible Project.) Here we have Irene Conlan with Let’s put “Self” Back in Self Improvement
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You’ve done
everything you know to do. You’ve lost that extra 30 pounds that kept you from
your “perfect size.” You spent your last bit of savings getting a
makeover – new hairdo/haircut, new wardrobe, ripped abs, teeth
whitened. You look good and you know you look good. You’ve studied
successful people and do your best to emulate their walk, the way they speak,
how they react to others. You should feel good about yourself but, surprisingly,
you don’t.
You look in
the mirror and the image that looks back at you is a facade – a fake. A phony.
At least that’s what you think. The false smile covers up the emptiness you
feel inside and it masks the pain that seems always to be there. No
matter how great you look you still don’t feel “good enough.”
“Why can’t I
be like everyone else?” the voice inside your head asks.
The answer
might surprise you. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe you have become just
like everyone around you when, in fact, you are a unique, remarkable
one-or-a-kind human being.
We are
bombarded by the media to look a certain way, talk a certain way, believe
a certain way. But, think of this (and I know you know this already), there are
over 7 billion people on the planet and no two are alike. We aren’t supposed to
be alike. So why don’t you stop trying to be like someone else and discover you
own uniqueness? It comes down to the questions:
Who are you?
Why are you here?
What do you want?
Why are you here?
What do you want?
Real,
lasting self improvement involves answering these questions and getting to know
who you really are. It involves self awareness, self acceptance, and self love.
Answering these questions will bring you worlds of information about yourself
and it will open up more questions. It is an exciting adventure and you are the
only one who can do it. No one can do it for you.
The perfect
starting place for this “inner work” is to learn to sit quietly. Simply
be with yourself. Pay attention to your thoughts and the way your body feels.
Relax by taking a few deep breaths and consciously releasing any muscle tension
you notice. Then, relaxed and quiet, ask yourself the questions. Don’t be
surprised at the answers to “Who am I” that come into your mind. Write them
down. Each time you ask, let your mind explore further. Pay attention to the
information you receive either at the time or as you proceed through your day.
Pay
attention. Become a
student of you. Why do you react to things the way you do? For example, how do
you react when someone tells you “no?” Why do you react that way? How do you
react when you’re cut off in traffic? Why? How do you react to something
beautiful? What touches your soul and brings tears to your eyes with its
beauty? What do you like? What do you dislike? Why? What things do you
react to in ways that you saw your parents react when you were a child? For
example, you see someone dressed a certain way and you immediately decide you
don’t like them. What are your broad generalizations about people? I heard a
little boy make the declaration, “All girls are slow!” He was seven years old.
How did he come to believe that? Will he learn better? What “old
programs” do you still have running?
Monitor your
thinking. Are your
thoughts about yourself predominantly positive or negative? When you make a
mistake do you say “I can and will do it better next time” or do you berate
yourself with phrases like “You don’t do anything right. How can you be so
stupid?” Begin to change your thinking to more and more positive. Yes, even
Pollyanna-ish. Your thoughts are the powerful creators of everything in your
life. If you pay attention you might be surprised about where your thoughts
take you and what they are creating for you that you aren’t aware of.
What do you
believe? Have you
examined your own beliefs about the important things in life? What do you
believe that you weren’t told you HAD to believe about God, politics and
government, sex, marriage, family, work, play, human potential? Have you
thought them through?
This is by
no means an end of the self discovery process but it will give you a good
starting place.
Self
improvement is most definitely an inside job and going within is as simple as
getting quiet and relaxed and allowing yourself to as honestly as you can,
answer the questions. As you know more about who you are and what your truly
want, you will begin to notice small but significant changes taking place
within you and the person in the mirror will begin to smile back in approval.
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Irene Conlan
has a master’s degree in nursing. She taught nursing at Arizona State
University, served as Director of Nursing Administration at a Phoenix hospital
and served as Assistant Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.
She is also a certified hypnotherapist. Irene lives in Scottsdale AZ and has two
sons and three grandsons. She is an avid blogger on her favorites – The Self Improvement Blog. and The Self Esteem Blog She is
also the host of The Self Improvement Show on VoiceAmerica's Empowerment Channel.
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Why is this "The i’Mpossible Project?"
Inspired by Josh Rivedal's book and one-man show The Gospel According to Josh: A 28-Year Gentile Bar Mitzvah. Gospel (non-religious) means "Good News" and Josh's good news is that he's alive, and thriving, able to tell his story and help other people.
On his international tour with his one-man show, he found incredible people who felt voiceless or worthless yet who were outstanding people with important personal stories waiting to be told. These personal stories changed his life and the life of the storyteller for the better.
Josh's one-man show continues through 2015 and beyond and he is looking for people in all walks of life, online and offline, to help give them a voice and share their stories with the world.
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