In the 1993 movie Cool Runnings, Derice asks his coach why he cheated. And his coach (played by the late great John Candy) replies that he made winning his whole life and when you do that, you have to keep on winning no matter what. Derice tells him that he doesn’t understand because he “had it all”, including two gold metals. His coach shakes his head and says, “A gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.”
We all have big dreams and goals. We imagine the house, the spouse, the car and the adventures we want to take someday. But often times, people believe that they won’t be good enough until they achieve those things. And if that’s how you view yourself now, winning won’t change that. You will still look to the next milestone, believing where you are at now isn’t good enough. That YOU are not good enough. But the truth is, you are good enough right now, just as you are.
People will sacrifice everything to achieve their goals, including friends, family, and happiness. But there is a balance when it comes to winning and losing. Winning is great, but you have to enjoy the journey to success.
If you want success and the wins to be euphoric, you need to be able to accept yourself and love yourself as you exist now. You are more than enough as you stand here today. You will only continue to become better and better. That is the mindset you need to adopt in order to feel accomplished when you reach your next milestone.
You hear the saying, “Money can’t buy happiness.” If you aren’t happy without the money, I promise you, you won’t be happy when you have it. At first you might feel happy, but those feelings will fade away.
If your dreams are big and you feel like you aren’t good enough now, it’s time work on how you feel about your worth.
Here are five ways you can start loving yourself, while growing into the version of yourself you want to become:
1. Kick fear in the butt. Fear, especially fear of what others think of you, will stand in between you and everything you’ve ever wanted. Be willing to go outside your comfort zone and find new ways to overcome challenges. Reflect on the feedback you receive and continue moving forward.
2. Admit your mistakes. Admitting your mistakes mean that you’re okay with making them. Not recognizing when you’ve made a mistake leads to avoiding learning, shaming yourself in private, and deflecting blame, leading to unhealthy relationships. Remember, we are all human, and mistakes are there to help us learn and grow. Mistakes are experience and our greatest teacher.
3. Applaud yourself. It’s easy to look in the mirror and count all of your flaws and listen to all of your insecurities. But how often do you applaud yourself for your strengths and successes? If you’re going to acknowledge your weaknesses, don’t forget to acknowledge your strengths too.
4. Accept that life is hard. Challenges will always present themselves no matter your age, gender, location, or level of success. It’s a part of life, and the goal is to grow through our challenges instead of shy away from them.
5. Curate your inner circle. They say you are the accumulation of the five people you spend the most time with. Make sure the people you spend the most time with have high self-esteem, are supportive, and have goals just like you do. If you keep negative people around who don’t have goals in life, they will hold you back.
