In it’s first 48 hours of release, the kindle version of “Stronger Better Happier” broke the Amazon Self Help Top 50 Chart!  Now the print version is debuting on Amazon and elsewhere, and I have high hopes that it will do even better.

‘Stronger Better Happier ‘is a unique hybrid of inspiration and practical exercises to radically change your mindset, do away with limiting, anxious beliefs and insecurities, and inspire you to reach higher, achieve more and live better. In other words, a very PRACTICAL self-help book.

The print version of “Stronger” is now available on Amazon. Let me know what you think by rating and reviewing Stronger Better Happier! on Amazon.com.

Thanks again for your support!
Jon

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Ever make a mistake? Sure you have. We all make mistakes. We forget things, make bad choices, misjudge people. To err is human.

Errors of judgment are especially common. I’ve made my fair share, and I’ll bet you have too. But I sometimes think the biggest errors of judgment are in how we judge ourselves.

Self image assessment errors are EXTREMELY common. And just so we’re clear, they are common for everyone, no matter how smart, self-aware or educated you may be. We can’t help but lack awareness when it comes to understanding ourselves. It’s like a blind spot. We can’t see the forest for the trees.

Still, it’s human nature to try to understand yourself and your place in the world, so we routinely judge ourselves in all kinds of ways. We evaluate our strength’s, weaknesses, talent, personality, style, character, you-name-it. The only trouble with all this self-judging we’re doing is that we’re just not very good at it. Seriously.

When we attempt to look at ourselves, to evaluate our qualities and traits, we face a huge disadvantage. We have blind spots everywhere and often wind up with a very skewed, inaccurate view of who we are — a view our closest friends and family might not even recognize.

No matter how hard you try, you just can’t “see” yourself like others see you, with an outside, unbiased perspective. Your perspective will always be “inside” and heavily biased.

But if you know you have these blind spots in your self-image — and you certainly do — it can actually work to your advantage, especially if you have confidence problems or are unhappy with some aspect of your personality. Here’s a simple exercise which uses NLP language patterns to undermine negative beliefs you may have about yourself. Those with self-esteem issues are especially encouraged to use this technique.

If you begin to feel bad about some aspect of your personality or “who you are,” think about the trait or characteristic while asking yourself, “what if this isn’t true at all?” Make sure you don’t state that it’s not true — just ask the question. What if?

For example, a friend once told me that she was terrible at math, even though she hadn’t been in a math class in 20 years. I suggested that she began asking herself “what if that isn’t true? What if I’m actually very good at math? What if…?”

Notice I wasn’t encouraging her to lie, but simply ask a few questions. The fact is, it’s entirely possible that she IS good at math. Human beings are terrible at self assessment, and “sensitive” people are probably the worst at this — they often judge themselves MUCH too hard when trying to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

People with self-confidence issues often have huge blind spots too. But many of my clients with confidence issues have created better self-images by simply becoming more skeptical about their self assessment and learning to ask “what if” questions about previously held beliefs.

If you can be humble enough to admit you are human and make mistakes, you can begin to question your negative self-beliefs — and change them. Big positive changes often begin with just two simple words. “What if?”
~Jon
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