I walked into my boss's office the other day and commented on how clean his office was.
Well, we need to impress ourselves, he replied.
His comment really caught me offguard.
I started thinking about my motivations for what I do.
Who am I trying to impress?
When I walk down the street, order a coffee, teach a class... how am I gauging my self worth?
How much of my behavior, my self talk, my "success" is determined by my assumption of what PEOPLE (whoever they are) will think of me?
Will they think I am professional enough? Smart enough? Beautiful enough?
I found that I have been shrinking and trying blend in for fear of being judged negatively.
I was honestly feeling quite sheepish when I realized how often--almost consistently--I am thinking about what others might think of me, how they might judge my appearance or behavior.
It seems ridiculous that I have allowed my behavior to be driven by my fear of being judged or labeled.
But, how often do we make decisions, be it small or large, based on our idea of what people will think?
What is the real consequence of someone having an opinion about you?
Is their approval or disapproval going to have a real effect on your life?
How much would letting go of their approval or disapproval affect your life?
Yes, people will always have opinions about us. For those of us in the working world, some of these opinions do have an effect on our day-to-day lives.
We all have goals and standards that we need to meet. We all want to succeed and be perceived as people who are talented and valuable, but it is impossible to control what others will think of us. That is a futile effort that will leave us frustrated and constantly needing approval and validation from others.
What if we could go about this in a different way?
What if we turned this vicious cycle of people pleasing, this endless appetite for others' approval into working towards our best lives from a place of peace and passion?
What if instead of trying to impress others, we focused on impressing ourselves?
4 Reasons to Focus on Impressing Yourself
1. You are placing value on your relationship with yourself.
You are taking your value and worth out of the precarious position it has been in--the hands of others, and are willing to be responsible for yourself; namely for giving yourself the direction, the self-acceptance, the love, the motivation, and the discipline that you need.
2. You are taking back your power.
You are placing value on your own opinion about yourself. The validation for your efforts is coming from you. You can define who you are and what you want to be.
3.You remove yourself as a victim and become the leader of your own life.
You have the power to make changes in your life. Others are not in control of your life and your happiness.
4. You can produce your best results because you are living up to your own standards.
You are no longer limited by someone else's standards. You can focus on challenging yourself to go the extra mile to be the best that you can be...whether you want to improve your body, expand your business, or learn how to be your authentic self.
By focusing on impressing ourselves, we are on the right track to living our best lives. When we are working on impress ourselves, there is a very good chance others will be impressed as well.
Since we have taken back our power, we are setting our own goals, standards, and limits. We will be more confident, more secure, and have our priorities in the right place because that important person we are trying to impress is US.
