My very first introduction to self-development began when I was 15, when I wanted to become a professional horse rider. At the time, I was also an avid reader and used to devour books. As I did so, I came across this American woman, Jane Savoie, who wrote a book about ‘That Winning Feeling’. Like many Olympic athletes, she had overcome incredible odds and had beaten the best at their game.
On one occasion, she was hospital-bound in the weeks leading up to an international event and she needed to ensure, that somehow, she could get herself and her horse, up to par. Normally, event preparation involves a fine-tuning of all the miniscule movements. This is highly important as it ensures that the horse responds at the exact time that it is required to. Since she could not be in the saddle at the time, she instead relied on vivid visualisation techniques, where she generated the feelings of fluidity, balance and poise. The result was, that these techniques worked, and despite the setback, she and her horse were successful.
While I never became a successful competitor, I was intrigued and decided to look into this mindset concept a little further. As I discovered, this wasn’t her original idea, and that the concept actually came from a plastic surgeon named Maxwell Maltz (author of Psycho Cybernetics). Maltz observed interesting reactions by people who had come to him for plastic surgery and found that:
It was at this point that I realised that the way we feel is a choice, irrespective of the external circumstances. In this world, there are people who choose to fix their imperfections and still find other issues to resolve, while others that acknowledge that they aren't perfect.
Now (over 15 years later), I've also realised that gratitude and acceptance of where we are at, is more important than fixing, seeking to tweak, or conceal any perceived physical, mental or emotional imperfections we may have.
Sure, we could all be a little fitter, more accepting, more patient, more focused or more relaxed, but what would happen if we cut ourselves a little bit of slack, and just let ourselves be human and imperfect?
Being accepting of ourselves at this moment, gives us a much greater chance of accepting ourselves in the next moment, irrespective of what kind of day, week, or a decade we have. It keeps us even-keeled when we soar to great heights and when things go spectacularly well. And it also keeps us grounded and stable when things go pear shaped.
One of the key components of my 6-week online course Crisis to Connection is acceptance, and I can show you how to be kinder to yourself, irrespective of your circumstances.
This week, I'm really excited to also launch a second version of my course, which is
designed specifically for former emergency service employees. All the details can be found here:
On one occasion, she was hospital-bound in the weeks leading up to an international event and she needed to ensure, that somehow, she could get herself and her horse, up to par. Normally, event preparation involves a fine-tuning of all the miniscule movements. This is highly important as it ensures that the horse responds at the exact time that it is required to. Since she could not be in the saddle at the time, she instead relied on vivid visualisation techniques, where she generated the feelings of fluidity, balance and poise. The result was, that these techniques worked, and despite the setback, she and her horse were successful.
While I never became a successful competitor, I was intrigued and decided to look into this mindset concept a little further. As I discovered, this wasn’t her original idea, and that the concept actually came from a plastic surgeon named Maxwell Maltz (author of Psycho Cybernetics). Maltz observed interesting reactions by people who had come to him for plastic surgery and found that:
- Sometimes people felt better after 'fixing' their imperfections, i.e their self-image was restored after the problem was removed; but
- Others did not feel better after 'fixing' their imperfections. They continued to see themselves as imperfect based on that body part or found other issues and anomalies which required attention.
It was at this point that I realised that the way we feel is a choice, irrespective of the external circumstances. In this world, there are people who choose to fix their imperfections and still find other issues to resolve, while others that acknowledge that they aren't perfect.
Now (over 15 years later), I've also realised that gratitude and acceptance of where we are at, is more important than fixing, seeking to tweak, or conceal any perceived physical, mental or emotional imperfections we may have.
Sure, we could all be a little fitter, more accepting, more patient, more focused or more relaxed, but what would happen if we cut ourselves a little bit of slack, and just let ourselves be human and imperfect?
Being accepting of ourselves at this moment, gives us a much greater chance of accepting ourselves in the next moment, irrespective of what kind of day, week, or a decade we have. It keeps us even-keeled when we soar to great heights and when things go spectacularly well. And it also keeps us grounded and stable when things go pear shaped.
One of the key components of my 6-week online course Crisis to Connection is acceptance, and I can show you how to be kinder to yourself, irrespective of your circumstances.
This week, I'm really excited to also launch a second version of my course, which is
designed specifically for former emergency service employees. All the details can be found here:
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