I See You, I Hear You

Read time: 3 minutes

  • "I'm not good enough."

  • "I can't change; this is just who I am."

  • "I'm too old/young to start something new."

Sounds familiar?

I've heard many people claim this (& much more) multiple times before.

My client last week was one of them actually.

Diana (not her real name) claimed that she had the worst week thus far in her self-development journey:

  • Not completing the resources I've allocated for her.

  • Not honouring her own needs.

  • Not showing up in ways she said she would.

Although she was disappointed & disheartened, I made it abundantly clear that the first step had already been done.

"How is that?" asked Diana.

"Because you're catching yourself. Intentionally." I proceeded to tell her.

Her acknowledging that it's been an "off" week is the first & hardest step.

People usually lie to themselves. As well as to others.

They don't do any sort of audits or self-reflections and thus as a result — never know what they have to work on.

Conclusion?

They continue to bring in mediocre results.

Leading to a mediocre life...

Why is journaling & self-reflecting so important?

It allows you to see things in a way you didn't before.

That's how you create change.

Your new (& iterated) behaviour will follow from there.

The self-audit & reflections are always the first step of the process.

But they are just one piece.

They are not the entire puzzle.

You then need to match it with the corresponding action to "test" what works & what doesn't.

But this is the thing, my friends — you can’t place new actions or habits on top of old ones.

Why?

Because the underlying issues would still be present.

Think of it like dealing with cavities.

You have to remove the old decay before making space for the new filling.

You don't just put the new on top of the old.

It's exactly the same here.

You need to bring all the negative to the surface (to your attention/awareness).

All the bad.

All the things you want to change.

But for that, you need to acknowledge them.

You need to see them. You need to hear them.

Which you do through self-auditing, journaling, and reflecting.

You're doing it with the intention of gaining more clarity on everything you're doing at present.

This way you can start evaluating & analyzing what is useful, productive, & effective for you & your life at large.

As well as all the things that aren't.

The latter is just as key in identifying.

It will allow you to continually take actions that intentionally shed away unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.

Usually, these unproductive obstacles that you find on your path through life stem from deeply ingrained false beliefs.

Things that family members, parents, or others have said about you... ultimately leading you to glue said things to your self-concept.

These are the beliefs that act as the underlying decay in your lives.

They end up driving your entire life. Your entire way of being.

But how does this make sense?

Just because someone else said it about you doesn't mean it's true.

Therefore, it is beyond crucial to start (regularly) engaging in a process of introspection.

Make a commitment with yourself to set time aside specifically for this.

Add it to your calendar to help keep you accountable.

Some folks engage in this process on the daily.

Others do it 3 times a day!

I invite you to start by at least doing it once a week.

Then, build up from there.

This will allow you to identify these unproductive false beliefs.

It's exactly like noticing and removing old, worn-out blocks in a pavement or in a building to make way for new, stronger ones.

Once you commit yourself to doing this practice — The Shedding Process has officially begun.

Only from then, can The Building Process begin.

Start today, my friends.

Because the sooner you start, the sooner & the more you will be able to shed.

My client, Diana, saw this process as being in a house of mirrors.

In that, when we look at ourselves from different angles, we can see the various facets of our false beliefs and understand how they distort our self-perception.

You're intentionally & consciously changing the frame of your situation.

That's how you gain clarity.

Keep shifting. Keep moving. Keep re-framing.

How do we shed the old while simultaneously building the new?

That's exactly what we'll be talking about in this Saturday's upcoming letter.

Stay tuned for that.

But, if you want to get access to it sooner — reply directly back to this email with the word "NEW" & I'll send it to you before it's released to the public.

Thanks for reading!

Much love,

Julian

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