3 Mindset Shifts for a Positive IMAGE

Shift your beliefs about yourself and others and the nature of your relationships.

Believe You Can Express Your Best IMAGE

If you don’t believe you can be the person you imagine in your vision of a life you would love, then you will never be that person. Shift your beliefs, so you can express your best IMAGE. In my previous blog, 5 Values that Empower Your Relationships, I discussed the 5 values you can embrace to express your best IMAGE: Integrity, Mutuality, Acceptance, Generosity, Expression. This blog focuses on three mindset shifts to help you embrace these values. 

Here are 3 mindset shifts for a positive IMAGE:

• Integrity

• Knowing Oneness

• Evolving Expression

Empower your relationships with yourself, others and all LIFE by shifting your mindset toward a high level of self esteem, toward oneness instead of separation and isolation, and toward your natural expression of yourself in the world.

Integrity

The first shift is about respecting yourself enough to always think, feel and act with integrity. The simple understanding of integrity is doing the right thing even when nobody’s watching, but that negates the fact that you always affect your own self-esteem and self-respect by which choice you make. The tenant “first do no harm” applies to how you treat yourself; do not harm your self-esteem and self-respect.

Question your beliefs about yourself, others and all LIFE, which are causing fear while trying to move forward with integrity. Shift those beliefs to support yourself as being confident and competent. Integrity is being honest and consistent in your thoughts, emotions, words and behavior in accordance with your vision and values, so make sure your belief system is aligned with your vision and values. So modify your beliefs where necessary, then think, feel, speak and act with integrity.

Responsibility and Accountability

No one can make you think, feel, speak or act a certain way, except for you. So take responsibility for how you respond to yourself and others, knowing that your response is generated internally, and you are truly reacting to your comparison with similar events from your past or what you have projected into your future. You are making meaning out of the current situation which may have nothing to do with it. Choose to respond positively or in a way that moves the situation in a more positive direction.

We hold ourselves accountable to make a shift from limiting beliefs to empowering beliefs. We can also ask each other to hold us accountable and to provide support during the process. Honest communication can help improve any situation. Admit that you are being triggered and need to process what is happening without making it anyone’s fault. Deflate the emotional attachment to the trigger with some physical activity before continuing the discussion if you can. Interact with others from a centered state of being. It’s much easier to choose the right words and actions when you’ve started with the right thoughts and emotions.

Respect for Self and Others

Treat others in the best way you want to be treated or, even better, the best way they want to be treated, if you know what that is. Treat them with respect. Expect the same for yourself. Expect others to treat you in the best way you want to be treated. You deserve their respect. Avoid giving people who do not treat you with respect any of your time or energy. 

When you do choose to give your time and energy to mutually respectful relationships, be sure to do so without sacrificing your own needs. Schedule your highest priority needs first, so you know how much you have to give, then give generously to your mutually beneficial relationships.

Knowing Oneness

The next shift is about your beliefs surrounding your sense of belonging with others. Do your beliefs about yourself and others separate you from others and isolate you or bring you closer together in recognizing your interdependence and knowing oneness with everyone?

Awareness of Beliefs About Other

Do you have beliefs about being less than others because you compare yourself with them and fall short in your perceived level of fame or money? What else do you tell yourself when you compare yourself to others? Do you react toward others in typical situations in fear, a sense of lack, or not feeling good enough? Take some time to expand your awareness of your beliefs about your relationships with others.

Equally Important

Every human being is equally important in the body of the Universe (or all creation). Each of us has an important role. I often use the story A Matter of Importance to demonstrate how we are equally important no matter what type or level of skill set we hold. The brain, heart and gut are equally important parts of the human body; you will not survive without any one of them. Being different does not mean being less than. People often create class systems whereby some people are treated as less than, which is not true, but people in the system usually share those cultural beliefs. Challenge them! Let’s create new systems based on our interdependence. We co-create our life experience.

Radical Acceptance of All

Radically accept everyone and everything in every situation. Do not allow negative aspects of a situation to have any power over your thoughts, feelings or behaviors. Likewise, do not allow positive aspects tempt you to create comparisons of other situations as being negative by comparison. 

When toddlers learn to walk, they don’t berate themselves for falling down, they get back up and try again. When they are competent walkers, they don’t tell stories about how bad they were when they could only crawl. 

We are all at various levels of a variety of skills, each with our own unique combination. You are exactly where you are on your life journey because of the sum total of your experience to date. Accept where you are, exactly as you are. Be grateful that you have been successful enough to still be alive and experiencing a new day! 

Others are also where they are on their journeys because of their experience. Accept them where they are, exactly as they are. They will continue to learn and grow at their unique pace, just as you will.

Knowing that you cannot change any situation, because it is not in your control, choose to accept everything that happens exactly as it happens. Once you have acceptance, you can more easily assess any lessons and the next steps that you need to take. Putting energy into resisting things that have already happened does nothing but deplete your time and energy, which could be better spent on moving in the right direction.

Evolving Expression

The final shift is about your beliefs about your connection with LIFE Itself. Do you believe you deserve to receive an abundant life? Do you feel like life will never let you be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise? Or do you believe you can have a good life, but only if you are constantly working hard and making lots of sacrifices.

You deserve to live an abundant life - to be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise - by the very fact of your existence. The universe is always co-creating with you and the rest of the world to provide everything needed. However, you have to express your needs positively. If you set an intention to “not get sick”, your attention will be on all the ways you could get sick, and the universe will supply plenty of ways. If you set an intention to “be vibrantly healthy”, your attention will be on all the ways you could be vibrantly healthy, and the universe will supply plenty of ways. So place your intention and attention on what you would truly like in your life. 

Uplevel Expertise

You’re always learning, growing and changing. Choose to be proactive with your growth. What would you like to learn? What skill would you like to develop? What would help you move forward toward your vision of a life you would love? Take a step to learn and grow; uplevel your expertise. 

Networking and Community Building

You’ve already considered your interdependence with other people and all LIFE. Your network includes people from all areas of your lives – family, friends, neighborhood, work, other organizations, geo-political demographics, etc. Which relationships should you nurture and build your activities around? Shift from any level of competitive win/lose scenarios to win/win choices. Then go to the next step of all win by being sure that your win/win scenario doesn’t negatively impact others outside of the win/win relationship or harm the environment, which affects us all. Build your community activities around your vision and values for your good and the good of all.

More Empowering Relationship Explorations

In the next couple of blog posts, I will continue to discuss the values that empower your relationships in more depth. 

• 3 Ways to Create Harmonious Relationships

• Connect energetically and intentionally for mutually beneficial relationships.

• 3 Keys to Conscious Collaborative Creation

• Combine wisdom, compassion and gratitude to create a wonderful life.