Alice declares this quote in the movie, Alice in Wonderland. Like Alice, I think we have all found ourselves not following our own advice.
I can guarantee you that I have written advice on this very blog and have failed to follow my own words of wisdom. Why is that?
I think it’s fair to say that when we are dealing with our own problems, our judgment can be clouded by our emotional attachment to the situation. But because we have less of an emotional investment in other people, it is easier for us to be able to take a step back and impart, rational, logical advice.
There are two major reasons why we struggle with taking our own advice, when we know we should.
We Believe in Our Own Limitations
I’ve talked at length about the power of what we believe. Our experience, the people around us and what we are taught growing up helps shape our beliefs.
By the age of 3, we are relying on what we have been told by others to help us make sense of the world. We depend on adults to tell us what is best for us and what we should do, because we simply don’t know any better at such a young age. For better or worse, this is the beginning of our childhood programming that becomes the foundation of what we believe as adults.
New experiences can change those beliefs. But we tend to adhere to the beliefs we have, no matter no how limited or short-lived the experiences that shaped them were. So if we have limiting beliefs about ourselves and opportunity, we have to always be challenging that thinking.
It is Easier to Believe in Others
The reason why it is easier for us to believe in others more than ourselves, is because we know ourselves more intimately. We know all about our own insecurities, quirks, and fears. And as well as we know someone else, we can’t possibly know them better than we know ourselves. As a result, we tend to forget that other people have the same feelings about themselves as we do about ourselves.
If you find yourself believing in someone else’s ability to achieve something more than your own, ask yourself why not you? Why aren’t you just as capable as your friend? You presumptively hang around people who are like-minded. If they can do it, so can you!
