Cans of Confidence

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” ~Michael Jordan

The obstacle

I remember watching my older daughter as she was on a mission to learn how to tie her shoes.  She had me show her a few times, and then she tried over and over again, getting better and better with each attempt.  I remember her breakthrough, when she took a rope and placed it around her waist, and finally tied the knot.  I remember seeing and hearing how absolutely thrilled she was that she was finally able to do it.  It was a big accomplishment, and no doubt she was brimming with positive self esteem and confidence.

If I were to ask you if you could tie your shoes, you probably could do it in about five seconds or less.  It’s merely a routine action now days, and I am guessing that many of you do it without even a thought.  None of you are brimming with positive self esteem and confidence.  Why not?  The answer is simple — you’ve moved on to bigger challenges.

If we continually push ourselves to try new things — to move outside of our comfort zones, it can be scary, and the fear of failure can be enough to cause us to stop before we start.  Sometimes not moving outside of our comfort zone, however, is frustrating, because we know we are capable of more, yet that fear of failure stops us, even though we are frustrated.

It’s time to move from being a “victim” to becoming a “victor.” (I am pretty good at being a “Victor,” since that’s my name, but I still need work in the “victor” department).  Instead of playing the role of a victim, and simply complaining about what is, but yet not doing anything about it, move into the role of a “victor,” and ask yourself what you can do about it.

However, if you ask yourself, “So, what can I do about it?” You may come up with a list of possible solutions, even if they are only in your mind.  Some may be more ambitious than others, but some may be within your reach.  Maybe one of your ideas would be “I will not eat any snacks after supper for one week.”  Now you have set up a challenge for yourself — something to reach for, just like the challenge of learning how to tie shoes for a child.  If you can make it through the week on that commitment, you will gain self confidence and positive self esteem, which will motivate you to extend your streak of non snacking, as well as providing you with the confidence that you actually can accomplish something, which may push you to try some of the more ambitious weight loss ideas you came up with.