Copyright © 2005 Pegine Echevarria, MSW
Team Pegine, Inc.
http://www.pegine.com/
(From the book "Kick Your Own Butt")
Our attitudes EITHER hold us back OR propel us forward. Which is
it for you -- right now? Tough question. "Kick your own butt"
by taking personal responsibility for answering that question
with total honesty.
Is your attitude one of self-defeat, victim mentality,
subservience, or minority hopelessness? Or are you living a
different attitude -- of winning, of survival, of victory? Are
you looking at yourself as the persecuted minority, or as the
powerful new majority?
To change your attitude, start by understanding that we all have
a story that we tell ourselves about what has happened up to
this moment. How we view our own story can instantly change our
whole perception of our life and ourselves.
For years I lived the "poor-me-my-dad-abandoned-me-when-I-was-
young" story. Then one day I stopped and asked myself what my
life would be like if he was around. Would I be who I am today?
Once I answered that question honestly, I realized: "I love who
I am ... without my story I wouldn't be me!" The story had a
totally different meaning than I had understood. I literally
rewrote the story on paper, with the new meaning, and my
attitude instantly shifted.
* Write your own "story" -- the one that makes you angry,
depressed, or frustrated. The one that says "if only." The
one that you've nurtured an used as an excuse not to take
action to look for opportunity in the present situation.
* Maybe you don't have a college degree, aren't rich, aren't
tall and thin. What is YOUR excuse story? Write it down.
* Or talk it into a tape recorder.
* Now read it over (or listen to it) and identify all the
"victim" or "poor me language." Then CHANGE the language
to "winner" language.
* Make the story about how you overcame the odds to succeed in
reaching this moment -- instead of how something held you
back.
The point is to REWRITE your personal story, so it's about
your survival and your willingness to embrace what's actually
happening RIGHT NOW. Then repeat the new story to yourself ...
each and every day!
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You can contact success coach Pegine Echevarria at:
mailto:pegine@pegine.com (or 904/280-8806) for more information
about her live motivational training programs -- and for a FREE
copy of her book "Kick Your Own Butt." http://www.pegine.com/
Copyright (c) 2005 Team Pegine, Inc.