“Building wealth has a 100% nothing to do with money, it has 100% everything to do with you and your mindset towards money “- Patrice Washington
There were two boys who were being raised by a single dad. This was because they lost their mom due to an illness. The dad was trying his best to make ends meet. Raising two kids can be a challenging task and it’s even tougher trying to do everything by yourself. He was doing everything he could to provide for his boys, but he found it truly difficult.
The pressure and demands of being a single dad finally got to him up and in the heat of the moment he snapped and made a decision that would change his family’s life forever.
But before you read the end of this story, let’s understand what the self image is.
In Psycho Cybernetics, one of the highest selling personal development books of all time (the first book to talk about the idea of the self image), Maxwell Maltz introduces the concept of a self image. This self-image is a mental blueprint that describes the kind of person one is. This image of oneself contains all the beliefs one holds about him or herself.
Let’s look at two diagrams to really understand the concept of self image:
Source: Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Maltz (updated and expanded).
This diagram illustrates a person with a limited view of himself (the scope of what this individual deems possible is determined by the dotted square). This limitation is mainly due to formed interpretations of life based on his or her experiences of past events. This person’s scope of thinking and belief in what’s possible is quite small. This person has a lot of fear, avoidance, and such a person does not learn much.
He or she is not likely to make plans, take risks or think constructively about the future. An observation of such a person would show that he or she holds a lot of negative ideas about him or herself. Such a person majorly uses his imagination negatively (a chronic worrier).
“A strong positive self image is the best possible preparation for success in life” ~ Dr. Joyce Brothers
Source: Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Maltz (updated and expanded).
By contrast, let’s examine the individual in the second diagram. This chap has a more positive self image of him or herself. Such a person consciously lives life based on the idea of who he or she wants to become ( not based on the limits created by past experiences). This person realises that one’s self image CAN BE CHANGED!
And here lies the key difference between a poor self image and the positive self image. The poor lives his life solely based on the perceived limitation’s imposed of past events, while the positive self image is focused on who he or she desires to become in the future.
How do you change (or enhance) your Self Image?
Firstly, by using your imagination you will improve your self image. If experiences are the cause of self image, and the brain can’t tell the difference between a real of imagined thought, you can use your thoughts, and imagination to expose your mind to newer ways of thinking, and by regularly exposing yourself to the new experiences you will live a more fulfilling life
According to Lanny Bassham, Olympic medal winner and author of the book With Winning in Mind, winning is 90% mental. To this effect, he was able to win the two events he competed at the Olympics by spending 2 to 4 hours every evening imagining (he conducted this visual rehearsal for years).
He would actually go through every single step it would take in his head. Larry said he won a gold medal thousands of times in his mind before he won them in reality. At the Olympics, he performed excellently at the events he partook in (the medals he won are proof of this).
“ Imagining doing something well consistently will improve your performance “
The other way to enhance your self image is via positive self talk. The words you use when speaking to yourself i.e. your inner dialogue directly affects what you think about yourself. If you regularly say to yourself “I am bad with money “, this reinforces the image of poor performance with money and eventually that is what is expressed. (your subconscious mind is a recorder that is never switched off even when you’re asleep, it records what you think and what you say to yourself) .
Alternatively, making the regular statements such as “I know how to create and grow money” for a long period of time will reinforce this positive outcome in your life .
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DIRECT YOUR SELF-IMAGE BY DIRECTING YOUR SELF-TALK.
If you do these long enough (at least one month straight) you will start seeing and feeling differently about yourself.
As promised, here’s the rest of the story:
One late evening, desperate for money, the dad decided to rob a local supermarket.
The store clerk and a mother of 3 ended up getting shot. After a court hearing he was sentenced to life in prison. The unimaginable had happened, the two boys had lost both parents. The boys ended up going to different qualified foster homes.
Years went by and the brothers had very different futures.
One of the boys became an extremely successful man, ran his own business, and was living his dream life.
The other, was in and out of jail, got addicted to drugs, and lived a life of struggle.
A journalist was very intrigued and interested about what had happened to the boys. She decided to follow up with them to possibly create a story….
The Journalist caught up with both boys 15 years later and asked them both the same question.
How did your life end up the way it did?
They both, ironically, had the same answer:
“With a father like mine, how else would my life turn out?”
Same tragic past, but different perspectives, and with different perspectives come different beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and outcomes.
The brother who ended up in jail struggled through life because he failed to enlarge his self image. He was unable to remove the self imposed limitations of being abandoned by his criminal father.
On the other hand, the extremely successful brother, was able to expand his concept of self . He didn’t let his thoughts or beliefs about his past determine who he was to become. Instead, he chose an empowering future version of himself. He visualised the version of himself, and aligned his thoughts, feelings, values and behaviours to that of such a person.
Are you trying tirelessly to reach a goal and you always seem to miss it no matter what ? Your self image could be the limiting factor. With a new self-image, you’ll think of yourself as a different person, and feel yourself becoming your ideal self.
See a future VERSION OF YOURSELF and BELIEVE its possible. Start taking the step that this version of you would be taking in the present. This is how you win the inner game of wealth. From this moment on, make the conscious decision to become the best version of yourself by improving your self image.
Wishing you all the success you deserve.
Key takeaways:
Try these image building ideas to expand your self image
- Do this exercise: Think about the qualities of a person you admire and respect. Write out a description of the qualities that they have and you admire. Begin to visualise yourself your becoming that person for 30 days
- The technique: Every day for five to ten minutes, close your eyes and mentally “see” yourself performing with those qualities, being happy, healthy and enjoying your ideal lifestyle.
Dig deeper:
AUDIO: Earl Nightingale – Your Self Image (11mins)
AUDIO: With Winning in Mind summary (Philosopher’s Notes) (12 mins)
AUDIO: Bob Proctor – How to Build your self Image (13 mins)
VIDEO: She Went From $18,000 in Debt to Owning a 7 Figure Business! – Patrice Washington on Women of Impact (54mins)
AUDIO: Maxwell Maltz – Psycho-Cybernetics (Audiobook, Unabridged) FULL ( 10 hours, 13 mins)
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