Thinking about Being Awesome, and About Doing It

Lately, it's felt like I've lost identity capital, that I haven't done or accomplished much over the past few months. I've actually completed my SuperBetter quests to be more awesome (it was a very small Power Pack) and I don't think I'm any more awesome than I was before I started. Granted, I still haven't done the task to come out of my comfort zone, and that's probably part of the problem. But, that's certainly not the whole story here.

I Think I Need to Revisit My Empowering Beliefs

It's been a long time since I recited my empowering beliefs about money and my empowering beliefs about myself. I think I've lost touch with a lot of things, which is mainly why things have gotten a bit out of control. Yes, one of the things I lost touch with was time, but I think I lost touch with a lot of things over these past few months. To get back into gear, here are my empowering beliefs about myself, of which I need to read more often. At the very least, this establishes more control over my thoughts and self-confidence.

• I, hereby, delete these negative beliefs from my system at the source. Now, I can replace them with empowering beliefs about myself. J
• I am awesome. I am an amazing human rights activist, a phenomenal writer, and an even better person. I am destined to change the world.
• I am agnesamurphy, a budding poker phenom who is constantly improving at everything she does. I am well-liked because I am lots of fun at the table and away from the table.
• I am a great businesswoman running a great business. It’s only a matter of time before it’ll be unthinkable NOT to care about Stirring Media, LLC.
• Someone I don’t even know loves me right now. I do more for this world and for people close to me than I could ever imagine.

I Think I Need to Revisit Identity Capital Too

When that was the theme of this blog, things were going well here and I felt like I had a lot more to say too. I tried to change things up because I didn't like the idea of turning this into a personal diary, but in trying to change I haven't actually changed the scope all that much. I might go back to that topic, as there is something valuable there for people and something that I can discuss and chronicle in a way that's helpful and engaging. The idea of building identity capital is one more thing that I can add to my life to bring it back together and to go back to setting goals, revisiting my marketing plan, measuring what I'm doing, and improving my skills. I could also use a coaching session with my business coach for good measure, or even just a good lunch.

Building identity capital, one day at a time, isn't a bad idea right now for this blog (and my life).

5 Natural Strengths I Have

As one of today's SuperBetter quests, I am to write down five natural strengths, or five things that I am good at, and then relate those strengths to my goal of eating healthier and losing a few pounds. So, that's what I'm doing. Here are five things that I'm good at, and how each one could possibly help toward my SuperBetter goals:

Writing

Writing, like I do here, helps because I can chronicle my journey as well as use my blog posts as a way to hold myself accountable (it's why I'm doing so well on my summer reading list). If I write in a blog post that I am going to do something, then I feel extra compelled to do it because people will see and will know that I said I was going to do something. I don't want people to see that I've gone back on my word. I also don't want people to see me fail, or to have to say that I failed, so that's extra motivation as well to get this done.

Self-Motivation

As for how this strength will help me eat healthier and lose weight, I think it speaks for itself. As long as I want to eat healthier and lose weight, and set goals for myself, then I can do it and it will be done.

Thinking Outside the Box

I think differently. My mother and father will tell you. They'll also say that the world needs people that think differently. I think this strength can help me in finding ways to keep myself motivated, productive, and making progress. For example, I have my inferno of productivity game, which is really awesome and I've been getting lots and lots of points in recent weeks. I am on track to be have enough points to get my file cabinet at the end of next week. Exciting! Anyway, if you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten. Thinking outside the box will prevent that from happening. The results from my Fascination Advantage test would call this, "a fresh interpretation of the details."

Planning and Organizing

I love making lists (as the photo on the left explains). I also like thinking about the future, and planning for the future, and seeing everything come together when it needs to. This skill makes it easier to think about what it takes to reach my goals and to make those necessary steps. It also comes in handy when I plan meals for the week, go grocery shopping, plan for the next day, and organize myself and my thoughts for important moments and meetings. This skill also helps make the goal more manageable. Instead of it being one big, lofty idea, planning and organizing can make it a little bit easier to attain.

Fearlessness About Failure

I don't let a fear of failure, or the possibility of failure get in the way. I've never been one to do projects that I knew I could get an A on, where I took on something where I was sure to be successful. I just do what I want to do. I realize that not everything works, and that failure is inevitable at times. I suppose I'm not worried about failing at eating healthy or about losing weight because there's no way I can fail now. I still have kept off the weight I loss when I went vegan about eight months ago. The only way to go is up, you know?

Empowering Beliefs about Myself

Using the empowering beliefs about money as a springboard, I have created my empowering beliefs about myself as a way to have more confidence and to delete those negative thoughts and emotions. It takes abut 66 days to turn something into a habit, and I haven't quite had these beliefs written down for 66 days quiet yet. Even if I have, I don't think I've written them down 66 times yet, since I don't write them everyday. So, well, here they are. I think it's a great way to end this post as I focus on my strengths and have them at the top of my mind.

• I, hereby, delete these negative beliefs from my system at the source. Now, I can replace them with empowering beliefs about myself. J
• I am awesome. I am an amazing human rights activist, a phenomenal writer, and an even better person. I am destined to change the world.
• I am Pocket Aces Agnes, a budding poker phenom who is constantly improving at everything she does. I am well-liked because I am lots of fun at the table and away from the table.
• I am a great businesswoman running a great business. It’s only a matter of time before it’ll be unthinkable NOT to care about Stirring Media, LLC.
• Someone I don’t even know loves me right now. I do more for this world and for people close to me than I could ever imagine.

My Empowering Beliefs About Money

"You say it long enough and it starts to be a part of you." - Rita Pierson It's not that I thought this idea was "a bunch of hooey", it's just that I've never seen it in action. I've never seen it, or heard about it taking place, or experienced it taking place. I just wasn't sure about the viability of simply saying something out loud Until now.

Below is the speech where the line came from, in case you were curious. It's actually a great speech that's worth watching.

[ted id=1728]

The Challenge

During one of our sessions, my business coach asked me about the energy of money. I still don't quite understand the "energy of money", but what she wanted me to do was to examined what I believed about money and where I stood with money. She wanted me to create a value system for money, something that outlined what it meant to me personally, what value money had in my life, and why I want money.

My ultimate homework was to come up with my empowering beliefs about money and to say them daily. I took the time to create that value system. I wrote them down and repeated them daily, although instead of saying it out loud I wrote them down. I learn better through reading and writing. I really wasn't sure if this would work, or how, but my business coach said to do it so I did it. I knew she was going to ask about it in our next session, and I didn't want to lie to her. I also figured that this couldn't possibly hurt or ruin my life, so there wasn't any harm in trying it.

My Empowering Beliefs about Money

This is what I've been writing down and repeating for almost three months now (new research shows that it takes 66 days to form a new habit, more than twice as long as the 21 days in conventional thinking). The smiley faces are the most crucial part of the whole thing.

• I, hereby, delete these negative beliefs from my system at the source. Now, I can replace them with empowering beliefs about money. :)
• As long as I am in a positive state of mind and am grateful for what I have, there will always be enough money and there will always be sources of money.
• I buy things that I enjoy and I am confident in the things that I purchase.
• I respect and value my money and I spend and invest it wisely! :)
• My money, and how I earn it, will merit respect. It will be used to accomplish good things, to tell the truth, and to inspire others to tell the truth.
• I like money. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make me very happy.

Empowering Beliefs about Myself

My empowering beliefs about money are very much a part of me. Those thoughts go me through the past few months when money was tight, when my business wasn't making as much and I needed to make some changes. Even though my coach doesn't ask about them anymore, I still do them because I think they are important to do and to reinforce. Now, I think the next step is to come up with some empowering beliefs about myself. I remember the process for coming up for the money beliefs, so doing these beliefs shouldn't be much of a problem.

I suppose the only hiccup is that nearly everyone else has come up with these "empowering beliefs", or those "victory declarations" or those inspirational sayings about what to think when others are being haters and stuff. I suppose the big difference is cementing your own empowering beliefs about yourself and doing more than just applying someone else's to yourself or borrowing someone else's. It's certainly much easier to agree or to find something that supports your own beliefs. But, what makes this exercise really cool is that you're starting from scratch with yourself.