I like to flip through my beloved first journal every now and then. It was a gift from one of my previous students and, as you can probably see from the picture, has been drenched in coffee and used as a chew toy. (Bless its little heart.) But I love it. It’s like the nostalgia of visiting an old friend. To see how I was feeling during the time I used to write in it is a prime example of bittersweetness. My life was going fine– outwardly. However, I was still fighting to overcome my lingering depression. It had just seemed like I couldn’t shake the longing I felt for a new life, for peace, for clarity. As I was fumbling through these familiar pages, a particular list that I had made two years ago caught my eye. I had written down two lists on the page. One was a list of “self-sabotaging statements.” These were the statements that were “true” to me at the time. For my second list, I had turned each of those into positive statements that I desperately wanted to believe. These were the truths that I desired for myself. Below are the two lists found in my journal. It’s mindblowing to look back and see that so many of my “positive truths” have manifested into my reality over what has seemed like such a short amount of time.{Granted, I am still working on the concept of punctuality… always a work in progress ;)}

We are constantly telling ourselves: I can’t do this… I can’t do that… My dream isn’t practical… If only I were younger then I could do it... If I were him/her, I could do it… This is just who I am… It’s out of my control… It would take too much time… It’s too late… I’m not good enough… I’m not smart enough… I’ve been through too much… I don’t have the means… I am underqualified… These are all toxic thoughts that will sabotage your life! It is NEVER too late for you to change, to be better, to follow your dreams. I never in a MILLION years imagined that I would be able to travel abroad, give up my career, or be sitting on my couch with my coffee and my dogs at 9:00am on a Tuesday, writing on my very own Blog that probably gets 5 readers on a good day, and truly feeling happy. But here I am. You can be exactly where and who you want to be if you take the steps toward change!

The first step is to identify the thoughts and beliefs that are wreaking havoc on your life. What are your self-sabotaging statements? What are you constantly allowing yourself to believe? Make a list. Then, turn each of those damaging statements around into your own “positive truths.” What do you WANT to believe about yourself? What do you WANT your truth to be? Read those truths out loud. Say them every day if you have to. Speak them into existence. You can and will have the life you have been dreaming of. 

I encourage you to leave one or two of your self-sabotaging statements in the comments so that others can see that we ALL have our weaknesses and insecurities. We all have beliefs that have been holding us back for far too long. Then, please leave some of your Positive Truths, as well. Show the world that you are out here, taking the first step toward transforming your detrimental beliefs into your ultimate reality.