Page 130 - SpontaneousSuccessMatos

This may seem like splitting hairs, but a caring,
creative, and organized person is not the same person as
a vigilant, resourceful, and methodical person. This
becomes more obvious when you look at the negative
words people use to describe themselves. Words like “I’m
shy," "I‘m 'negative', and "I am ’antisocial." You weren‘t
born that way. If someone believes these descriptions of
themselves, just imagine the catastrophic consequences
of decisions made based on these false beliefs. How can
anyone take the fast track to spontaneous success if
they‘re not sure who they are to begin with?
A young firefighter named Jackson once told me he
was shy. His mother called him shy when he was
growing up. "Oh yes, Jackson‘s such a shy boy." "Oh,
Jackson. Stop being so shy!" Well, jeepers. Hearing this
over and over, the seeds are sown. When Jackson takes
the Purpose Quest and discovers there‘s no such thing as
shyness—that it‘s not a natural-born attribute—and that
he‘s actually "cautious and reserved," which are good
things, his negative self-esteem stops holding him back,
and he‘s able to move along a different, stronger path.
"People say I‘m negative," Mehdi, a sound engineer,
explained. "I‘ll be in a meeting and someone comes up
with a great idea, and I get mad that I didn‘t come up
with one myself."
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