subject: Designing and Building a Life v/s Survival Mode [print this page] Designing and Building a Life v/s Survival Mode
The position that we are presently holding in life matters little. What is really important is how we feel about it. A person who has the right attitude but only has a penny left in his name is in better position than the man who is desperate because he only has a million dollars left. It may be hard to believe but it's the truth.
Attitude is everything. It's not what happens to us that really matter. What does make all the difference in the world is how we interpret what is happening to us. Each and every one of us looks at the world through different lens. Those lenses are defined by the self-image.
Whether a person believes to be designing and building his life or is in survival mode depends exclusively on how that person sees himself. The survivor and winner will always be in a growth mode and the victim of circumstances will always be in survival mode, no matter what.
We see life and we interpret reality in a way that conforms to the views that we have about ourselves. Nelson Mandela was leading his country from the confines of a jail cell. In his mind he was a leader and a force for justice. That was his self-image and it also was his reality.
On the other hand, we have the sad story of a man who was a legend in his lifetime, Elvis Presley. Elvis was almost universally adulated. He had fame, fortune and the world was his oyster. In spite of all that, he literally destroyed himself.
Two legends, two self-visions, two vastly different outcomes. Outside circumstances matter little. Perceived identity means everything. We behave, respond, evaluate and perceive in ways that conform to the image that we have of ourselves.
Yet, for all its importance, that self-image is only an amalgamate of beliefs. Beliefs that were mostly passed down to us by parents, friends, teachers, peers, societal influences and a few from personal observations.
At one point, we need to sit down and take a good hard look at how we see ourselves, how we perceive ourselves to be. We need to re-evaluate the beliefs that we have about ourselves. How much of those beliefs are genuine and how much of them are fiction.
All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs. What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.
The first thing that needs to be done by anyone serious about changing his life's scenarios from survival mode to designing and building a life of choice is to sit down a write a brief description of his perceived identity. That description should focus on what the person could be if he gave his all and was determined to use his full potential.
This written self-description could be the most important document that a person possesses. It contains a clear view of what is possible. It sets the boundaries and scope of one's possibilities. It sets the scenario that will guide the main protagonist (ourselves) in the story of our life.
We were all born winners; we were all given the talents necessary to take our rightful place in the grand scheme of the Universe. Our mission is to find and exploit our full potential. That mission starts with a search for self-discovery and once that this is done, everything else just falls naturally into place.
