There is one question that will help you to change your perspective on life. That question: “Why not me?”
I will admit that there are times where I look at others and wonder how they achieved the level of success that they have.
I’ll be driving along on the freeway and will see somebody in a nice car and immediately wonder why they have a nice car and not I. I might be looking on Instagram and will see somebody who’s speaking on stage and wonder what I have to do to get to that stage (pun intended). Or I could even just be conversing with someone who talks about their life or how much money they make and wonder why I don’t have that life or make that amount of money.
We have all experienced this before. You know, that little feeling of envy or jealousy. It’s not that I would rather be that person, but I sometimes find myself wanting to be in their shoes instead of walking in my own.
When I experience these feelings, I immediately begin to feel down on myself. I begin to doubt that I will ever achieve my dreams or that I am simply not working hard enough. I think to myself how cool it would be to have a life like that – a life where you have achieved your dreams and wonder what I am doing wrong or why I am not yet living that life.
Now I get that you only get a glimpse into somebody else’s life when you are on the outside looking in. But part of me still wonders what separates those who achieve their dreams from me. Why does life seem to favor others more than some?
One Question To Change Your Perspective
Here’s the truth…
Those who have achieved their dreams are no different than you and I. Those who have achieved their dreams in life have no special abilities and life doesn’t favor them more than others.
If you really want to get ahead and master your life, start asking yourself this one simple question that will help change your perspective: “Why not me?”
You are no less capable of achieving your dreams than those you admire for already having done so. You ARE capable of achieving anything and everything you are willing to work for. So the next time you find yourself being envious or jealous of others, ask yourself “Why not me?”
Instead of asking yourself why life seems to favor others more than you, ask yourself “Why not me?”
Instead of getting jealous by the success of others, ask yourself “Why not me?”
Instead of doubting yourself and not thinking you’re good enough to achieve the things you want in life, ask yourself “Why not me?”
Learning To Believe In Yourself
Believing in yourself is all about realizing that you – and only you – are the driver of your own success. When you want something badly enough, you are the only one who can achieve it. The more you keep questioning yourself and wondering why life seems to favor others more than you, the more distant you are putting yourself from your desires and your reality.
Believing in yourself and becoming the best that you can be is about accepting responsibility for your life and working to overcome all of the challenges that you experience no matter how daunting they may seem.
Believing in yourself and becoming the best that you can be isn’t about uninterrupted success. It’s about finding your inner strength so that you can embrace the journey that is life, learn from all of the various ups and downs, and realize that each challenge brings new lessons, skills, understanding, and strength.
How do you start believing in yourself? By realizing that you are in full control of your life and taking responsibility of what is rightfully yours.
What Helps Me To Believe In Myself?
Just in case you are still struggling, here are a few things that help me to find the belief in myself I need in order to continue to move forwards.
1. Realizing that it starts with me.
Whenever I am going through a challenging time or find myself become envious of others, I think the thing that helps me the most is realizing that everything in my life, everything about my life, and everything that my life will become starts with me.
I am where I am at in life today because I have acted in such a way that has gotten me here. In the future, I will go where I want to go only if my actions align with my vision.
Do other people influence me to make certain decisions? Yes. Do other people present challenges that can make life a little more challenging? Sometimes. But at the end of the day, I have to remember that I am responsible for me and for where I am at in life today. If I don’t like where I am at (I normally do like it), then it is up to me, and only me to change something.
2. Challenging my limiting beliefs.
Yeah, life may not be perfect, but it also isn’t that bad either. In fact, my life is pretty damn good if you ask me. But that still doesn’t mean that I don’t experience negative thoughts from time to time.
When I experience these emotions, it’s important for me to challenge them. Otherwise, I just think about them too much until the consume me.
There have been times where I become so envious of others that I wonder why I don’t have all that they have in life. Now, again, the outside of somebody’s life may look nice, but you never know what they are feeling on the inside.
When I ask myself why I don’t have the life that others have, I have to ask myself “why not?” Why don’t I have a similar life? Why haven’t I achieved that level of success? You get the idea.
The thing is, there isn’t anything that I can’t achieve just as long as I am willing to believe in myself and work for it. As long as I believe in myself and work for my dreams, the vision that I have for my life will come to fruition soon enough.
3. Remember to always keep going.
I can’t tell you the number of times where I have wanted to cave and give up on all of my dreams and just make life “easy.”
Want to know what stops me? Seeing the millions of individuals out there who hate going to work every day.
I never want to be in that position. I never want to hate the place where I spend roughly a third of my life. And it is that thought of my future self hating the idea of having to go to work that pushes me to keep going.
No, I don’t hate my job. I actually love my job. But I also want to be independent some day and see my dreams come to reality. The mental image of hating my job along with the image of having achieved my goals and living my dreams gives me all the motivation I need to keep on keeping on.
Before You Go
These are the 3 things I try to remember when I start getting down on myself.
Life is full of emotions. Some days are going to be better than others, but no matter what you are experiencing, it’s important to never give up on yourself. You can achieve anything and everything you set out for. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, but just know that nothing is impossible. Even the word impossible says I’m possible.
So the next time you find yourself asking “Why me?” or “Why them?” ask yourself “Why not me?”
Doing so will help change your perspective and will help you to realize all that you are capable of achieving.
Over the course of your life, you have already overcome more challenges than any single challenge you will ever face. This just goes to show that there’s nothing that can stop you other than yourself.
Michael Bonnell
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