Success & The Self Image

What I want to discuss today, is the power of our personal self-image, and the role it plays in how successful we are in life. I want to share with you how it is developed, what influences our self-image, and whether it is possible to change how the self-image affects and influences our lives, or whether its fixed, and we’re stuck with it! First of all, I have to say, that our self-image or personal perception plays a big role in influencing our lives. The way you view yourself, can either move you forward in life, or it can immobilize you completely – it’s that powerful! You will either feel empowered or dis-empowered based solely on how you view yourself. The self-image is a major player when it comes to success in life. Today, I want to share with you information you may not have ever been aware of about yourself, and how a persons self image is developed. So, lets take a trip back in time. Lets go right back to when we were very young children. Those were the days when we were inexperienced in life. We had no experience of the wider world and its functions. We had little experience in dealing with life’s situations. So we were really at the mercy of others! We had authority figures who molded and shaped our little world. People like our parents, teachers, relatives etc. These all played key roles in our early development. And because these individuals were “older and wiser” than ourselves, we believed everything they told us. And why wouldn't we? We didn't have any knowledge or experience at the time, with which to compare or validate what we were being told – especially about ourselves! And that really is the crux of this topic – the things we were told about ourselves by others! There is a proverb in the Bible which says: “The inexperienced one, puts faith in every word.” So there we have authority figures saying things to young children, which at the time could have been offensive, derogatory, sarcastic etc, and their young minds soaked up what they were told like a sponge! They accepted what they were told, because they believed that whatever they were told, must be right, because it came from someone who had more knowledge and experience than themselves. So as young children, we were all at a disadvantage to begin with. We accepted as gospel anything we were told – and as I said, we especially accepted what we were told about ourselves. For example: how many times must a child have heard the word “no”, more than “yes”? How many times must a child have been told they were “stupid” or “dumb”? What about as they were growing up, they had an idea to do something, and then put down with the standard: “You can’t do that!”. If you were to survey people about their childhood experiences, in most cases, they were probably the most negative and traumatic of times; and the most frustrating of times, simply because we did not have the skills and experience to respond and deal with the situations effectively. Some people reading this article, may have had a better childhood than others. But the information presented here, can help you to be aware of how others have been affected by their childhood experiences, can help you guard against negative input in your own offspring if you have children; and can help everyone understand how the self-image is developed. It will also make you aware, if you have a poor self-image, why the affects of the past, carry over into adulthood, and therefore influence your level of success in life. How then, is the self-image developed? As we mentioned earlier, the self-image is developed over time, from our earliest of experiences in life. It is created through the interactions we had with our parents, relatives, teachers etc. It has it’s foundation initially, based on what other people told us about ourselves, and the experiences we had. To try and illustrate this, I want you to think of a time from your past. Did you have any experiences that caused fear, rejection, or any other experience that affects you today? An example from my own life, might help you to better understand the point. Many years ago, I went to the swimming baths with my Father. For a moment, he took is focus away from me, and I went under the water. That experience as stayed with me all my life, I hate being near water. To this day, I cannot swim – because of that event. Now in peoples lives, there are numerous experiences that they’ve had, that create similar results for them. You might be wondering, why do those incidents have such a powerful impact upon us? If you did recall something from your past, as I mentioned, you may have noticed that you experienced the same emotions or feelings, as you re-lived the event in your mind. That’s because every memory and experience you have, is stored within your nervous system, and subconscious mind. And its the subconscious mind that is the Master when it comes to the self-image. When you have read this entire article, I want you to go back to the exercise of recalling some events and experiences that you had in your life, and just notice how you feel when you recall them. You will have the same or similar feelings associated with the past event. I want you to have this experience, so that you can connect with what I am saying. I want you to prove to yourself that what I am saying is true and sound. Now, lets get to why it is, that we have those feelings, and why they are so strong and influence us so deeply, when the event exists in the past. It all goes back to our childhood again. The answer resides in the subconscious mind as I said, and specifically the brain development. As we develop in childhood, so do our brain waves. There is a structure to them. At a very early age, our brain waves are at the Delta range of brain wave frequency. This is where deep sleep is – and that’s why babies spend most of their time sleeping. After the Delta range, there is Theta, then Alpha, and finally Beta. That’s the range we operate in during our waking hours. Back in the early 1940s, there was much research done on brain activity and development. It was discovered, that the Alpha range, was the brain frequency that allowed an Hypnotist, for example, to reach the subconscious mind. This is the range in brain activity, where the mind is most open to suggestion! It is knowing this specific information, that helps us to understand why past experiences and events, still have a powerful hold over people, even though the initial event was many years in the persons past. It is of particular interest too, that researchers have discovered that our most influential years, were between the ages of 7 – 14. Those were the times when we were most susceptible to the influence, and input from other people around us. Does this mean, that our self-image is rigid, stuck or fixed, and cannot be changed? Thankfully, the answer is “no”. It is not fixed, and “yes,” it can be changed. I have only skimmed the surface of the subject of success and the self-image in this article. My purpose in this article, was to make people aware, in very simple terms, how the self-image is created, and what influences its development. Also, to make people aware of why past experiences still linger so strongly.