That feeling of not being good enough, of being inadequate, of being lower than everyone else is just a trick of the mind.
“We can’t hate ourselves into a version of ourselves we can love.” — Lori Deschene
When your mind tries to trick you into believing that you aren’t good enough, then you should always remember these:
1. YOU AREN’T THE ONLY ONE
You would be surprised at how many people who have had such thoughts of being not good enough, and who have gone on to do great things in life just because they didn’t let the thought sink. People have those thoughts every day. So you aren’t the only one; but it’s how you react to it that matters.
2. YOU ARE SPECIAL THAN YOU THINK
You are more talented and special than you think; only if you believe that you are. Muhammad Ali said: “To be a great champion, you must believe that you’re the best. If you are not, pretend you are.”
Muhammad Ali once revealed that at the time when he said “I am the greatest”, he didn’t really believe it, but he wanted to keep saying it so the world believe it. And that’s it; you just have to believe that you are special.
3. CHASE PROGRESSION AND NOT PERFECTION
A lot of people are chasing perfection, and when they don’t get it, they feel deflated and inadequate. Perfection is an almost impossible (if not an impossible feat to achieve), rather than chase perfection, chase progression.
4. LEARN FROM YOUR FAILURES AND MOVE ON
The feeling of not being good enough would mostly arise after failure or disappointment. Failure provides an opportunity to learn; learn from your mistakes and move on. Life isn’t static and wouldn’t wait for anybody.
5. CHANGE YOUR THOUGHT PATTERN
You need to change the way you think; you ought to push away those negative thoughts and pay no heed to them; this would leave room for positive thoughts.
6. YOU CAN ALWAYS DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR FUTURE
Your past is gone, and it’s impossible to go back into the past and change what you’ve done. But you can rewrite your past by doing something about your future.
7. WORK HARD ON YOURSELF
Work hard on your self-worth, your self-esteem and your self-belief; nobody can do that for you apart from you — that’s why they start with ‘self’. And you would never be good enough if you don’t do this.
8. HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT WHAT YOU WANT?
Your passion is another useful tool. How much do you really want what you want? Let your passion for what you want, push you to work hard for it, rather than let your mind trick you to believe that you aren’t good enough.
9. NEVER LET GO OF YOUR VISION
When you lose your vision in life, then your life would just be over. Your vision should be your driving force even when you fail.
10. LOVE YOURSELF MORE
You need a bit of love from yourself when you fail terribly; if you don’t love yourself enough, you might not be able to stand up and face the world again.
11. BE GRATEFUL
It’s so easy to want more, and forget what you really have in the process. Appreciate where you are in life, and be grateful for whatever you’ve achieved. And always remember that someone would easily love to be where you are.
You just have to understand that failures are only lessons that need to be learned in life.
Jake