I met someone a while back that really impressed me. A volunteer, family focused, a leader in the community, a giving soul. All attributes that I admired in myself – and couldn’t help but really admire in others.
As I got to know the person better – and honestly as I get to know everyone better, myself included, but that’s a topic for another post – I couldn’t help but to find a real lack of self-esteem underlying their persona.
Which is when I realized, that many people who feel a need to succeed, are probably driven by the internal message that they learned in their childhood, that they are nothing. So to combat that message, they focus on proving to the world (and their internal voice) that they are something by volunteering, having a picture perfect family, or taking leadership roles.
The ironic thing is that often times many people really do blossom into “someone” amazing, but they still live with the internal message that they are “nothing” and continue treating themselves as such. So for this group, they need to do the hard work to appreciate how amazing they really are, and not quit until they really know that not only are they not average, but they are WELL above average, and in fact, they have escaped the reality of their childhood beliefs.
So if this post speaks to you, take a moment and reflect if perhaps it is time to work on figuring out how to escape from the false message you have been telling yourself for so long. The only person who doesn’t appreciate how amazing you really are – is you.