April 1st is April Fools’ Day – a day dedicated to fooling others.
Yet there’s so many ways in which we – unknowingly and unwillingly – fool… ourselves.
And so I thought I’d come up with a – non-exhaustive – list of common, typical ways in which we tend to fool ourselves…
1. Believing you haven’t got what it takes.
2. Believing you can make someone like you.
3. Wanting to control what others do or say.
4. Believing you know nothing.
5. Believing you know it all.
6. Believing they know it all.
7. Giving up (because you believe you can’t make it work).
8. Not giving up (because you believe that quitting is weak).
9. Pretending to be happy.
10. Believing perfection = happy.
11. Pretending you don’t care.
12. Being your worst critic.
13. Believing that what they say about you is always true.
14. Believing you’ve got nothing of importance to contribute.
15. Believing you’re boring.
16. Believing you need to fix yourself to succeed in life.
17. Not taking the rest you need.
18. Pushing away your feeling of discomfort.
19. Wanting to be like someone else.
20. Hiding.
21. Taking things too seriously.
22. Not setting boundaries.
23. Living out other people’s expectations.
24. Forgetting to play.
25. Believing a mistake is the worst that can happen to you.
26. Never-ending worrying.
27. Believing there’s a wrong and a right way to do things.
28. Believing a never-a-doubt-or-worry-always-happy-never-a-cloud-in-the-sky life exists.
29. Believing you should have been further ahead by now.
30. Forgetting to be proud of where you’re at.
Do these sound familiar?
Well, what’s important to know, is that these thoughts, self-talk and habits are NOT a reflection of who you really are.
They are simply the result of opinions + perspectives from the people around you that you’ve picked up along the way and integrated as your own. (Which is perfectly normal, that happens to all of us, our brains are wired for that.)
They are simply learned strategies that used to work for you in the past, but are not as helpful anymore.
Because they are fooling you into thinking that you’re not good enough as you are, that you are not smart enough, not capable enough.
Because they are fooling you into underestimating the value you bring to the table and what you’re truly capable of.
But the good news is – you caught these sneaky April Fools’ pranks your mind is playing on yourself.
And that’s so powerful.
Because now you can choose to go about things differently.
You can choose to start shedding the unhelpful self-talk, thoughts, habits.
One tiny counterproductive habit at a time.
One tiny disempowering thought at a time.
So that you genuinely start seeing that you are plenty.
That your opinions matter as much as anybody else’s.
That you are so much more capable than you tend to give yourself credit for.
Because you truly ARE.