Have you ever gone through a dip in motivation and questioned yourself?

You start feeling more struggle than purpose, and now you’re doubting your decision to be doing what you’re doing altogether?

I’ve been going through an annoying, yet informative patch of self-doubting thoughts and feelings: questioning my path, feeling unsure, wondering if I’m really making a difference and if there’s something different I should be doing.

Noticing these moments of self-doubt pop up made me curious, because I can see a historical pattern percolating. It reminds me of another time, long ago, when endeavoring to break into the professional dance scene. 

As more opportunities and success than I was used to would present themselves, self-doubt would inevitably lead to some degree of self-sabotage. 

This cascade of internally broadcasted limitations would in turn confirm my feelings and thoughts of being unworthy, or less than what was required. 

In other words, a downward spiral of convincing myself I wasn’t up to the task. Can you relate? 

Self-doubt is a window into our self-image — the internal picture we hold of who we are and what we’re capable of. 

It’s an expression of an inner limiting belief that says:

“Slow down. Are you sure you want to do this? It’s potentially embarrassing, unsafe or even dangerous. You’ve never done this before. You don’t know how it’s going to work out. It could be a complete waste of time. If you fail it will be really bad.”

This kind of self-doubt is usually a sign that you’re either facing something new, or that you’re on the precipice of breaking through a former limitation and performing at a higher level. 

It’s the kind of fear that advises us to quit while we’re ahead.

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“Each level of life corresponds to a different identity.” 

-Neville Goddard

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It’s our self-identity, our self-image, that gets in the way of our greater success. Our current self-identity, (who we believe ourselves to be), can only take us as far as it knows. 

To step into the next level, a new identity is required.

We tend to think that in order to progress or succeed at having the deep, connected, loving relationships, the highly successful dream career, the ideal fitness and health, the dream home, we have to fix or somehow repair and improve our “old” self in order to become the person we want to be. As though the path forward runs through the past.

We don’t have to be loyal to our former identity. 

This may sound harsh, but we can choose a new one. Not by erasing who we’ve been, but by deciding that the conclusions we drew about ourselves from past experiences no longer have to define what’s possible for us now.

New, greater success won’t come from inhabiting an old self-identity. A new “energetic signature” is required to have a new result. 

In other words, if you already had what you truly desire:

• What would be your dominant thoughts? 
• What would be your dominant feelings about yourself and your capabilities? 
• What achievements would you be expecting to be celebrate? 
• How would you be communicating with other people? 

This is what I mean by an energetic signature.

Think of your self-image as the signal you’re broadcasting out into the world every single day, whether you’re aware of it or not. 

Life responds to that signal. And when that signal is rooted in old limitations and outdated beliefs about who you are and what you’re capable of, no amount of hard work and “pushing through” changes the outcome. 

The identity has to shift first. A new signal ushers in a new life.

This isn’t about becoming someone unrecognizable. It’s about stepping into more of who you already are, without dragging all of the old perceptions, mistakes and failures with you. 

The old self-image was never the complete picture, anyway. It was a set of conclusions drawn from experiences that are behind you. You are allowed to leave them there.

Now it’s time to create the new self-image. 

Step One: Ask

Who IS this “better version of you?” What do you bring into the room? Who are you being?

Step 2: Describe

Describe this version in three words.  For example: “I am confident, generous and fulfilled.”

Step 3: Affirm

Then say these words to yourself, multiple times every day:

“I am ________, ________ and ________. This is who I am now.”

This is how the self-image begins to lighten, not by trying to eradicate your faults, but simply by shifting your attention to who you DO want to be. 

This is how you stop carrying a version of yourself that was never meant to be permanent. And what opens up on the other side of that feels very much like freedom.

I’m challenging you to do a 90 day experiment. Affirm this to yourself out loud, for 90 days. I’m doing it with you. Are you in? 

You are so much more deserving, lovely, capable and resourced than you’re aware.