Midweek Motivation – The Three Biggest Discourages In Your Life
I was listening to a clip from motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, a man with no arms and no legs, and he made a statement that was so powerful, so provocative that I had to go back and listen to it again and again. He said “Think of the three biggest discourages in your life.” and while I was doing that, thinking of some family members, former bosses, and ‘the man’, he proceeded to say “They aren’t your biggest discourages. You are.” Those last two words were so unexpected yet so profound.
Here is the thing. I know that we have to be our biggest cheerleader. I know that we have encourage ourselves, to believe in ourselves when no one else will. That we are the captain of our ship, the controller of our destiny and so on and so forth, but I must admit there are times when I doubt myself, when I second guess my abilities.
Sometimes the goals I set seem so out of reach that a voice inside my head asks me why I am doing this. Tells me that I’m not smart enough to accomplish this, that I’m too old to accomplish this, that I have no idea what I’m doing and as soon as someone outside my head gives me a discouraging word, I throw my hands up and say it’s because them that I can’t reach my goals, when in fact, I had already given up on myself. I just needed someone outside of me to blame it on.
You see life doesn’t always go as plan. There will be both road blocks and stumbling blocks. We will get knocked on our butt a few times. But that’s life. You take the bumps and the bruises and you keep going.
Nick’s words reminded me that in life, outside forces, people and situations, can negatively impact our life causing us to feel discourage but we must remember that we are the first person we talk to every morning and the last person we talk to every night. And during those quiet moments in our head, we can either lift our self up or tear our self down. So be mindful of your self-talk because it is a powerful tool. Use it wisely.