“If you go by other people’s opinions or predictions, you’ll just end up talking yourself out of something. If you’re running down the track of life thinking that it’s impossible to break life’s records, those thoughts have a funny way of sinking into your feet.” Carl Lewis, U.S. Olympic Champion
“A champion is the one who gets up…even when he can’t.” Jack Dempsey, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Who better to turn to for inspiration about ignoring naysayers and getting up when you’re knocked flat than sports legends? No one knows better than they do the damaging power of negative self-talk and the amazing inner strength we all have inside us.
How many times have “other people’s opinions or predictions” persuaded us not to attempt something we’d like to do? I know this has happened to me—and I’m sure you can say the same. Once we take these limiting beliefs into our psyche, they become part of our own negative self-talk—and even up “sinking into our feet.”
But here’s something I’ve learned when naysayers arrive on my doorstep: I don’t have to listen. They want to sell me short. They want to harp on my lacks and limitations, not my gifts and strengths. But I don’t have to buy what they’re selling.
Instead, I can bet on myself. I can remember Jack Dempsey’s words: “A champion is the one who gets up…even when he can’t.”
Consider what Jack’s saying here: We have untapped inner strength that we can draw on, even when we seem to be down and out. There’s always a little more gas in our tank—we just have to step on the gas pedal one more time.
One of the amazing things about inner strength I’ve learned is this: The more we tap into it, the more there is to tap into. Strength creates strength. And when we dig deep, our self-imposed limitations fall away.
So what’s on your plate today? Are you struggling to overcome naysayers’ opinions and your own negative self-talk about some goal you want to accomplish? If so, don’t get bummed—get busy! Start digging deep! Then dig deeper! Turn away from your inner and outer critics and go where the gold is—deep inside yourself. Write on!
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