Strive for Excellence, Not Perfection...When was the last time you felt AMAZING about yourself? When was the last time you felt undeniable confidence that you could achieve anything you set your mind to do? Are you feeling that now?
You are probably aware that our confidence and self-esteem are influenced by the way we choose to see ourselves. They are also influenced by our past experiences and how we view the outcome of those experiences.
What you might not be aware of is how this happens.
You see, when your mind has an image of who and what you think you "should be", it associates happy emotions with that picture. That is your image of “perfection”. The mind then does a comparison between the image of “perfection” and how you see yourself currently. That comparison results in harsh self-judgment – and thereby self rejection – for not meeting the image of perfection. This self rejection results in feeling unworthy and of low self esteem.
While the image of perfection appears to be a way for us to feel good about ourselves, it is actually causing us to reject ourselves, which creates feelings of "not being good enough." Then we repeatedly dwell on this feeling and it eventually becomes our realty. We lose confidence in ourselves, and we believe it to be true.
If you were to dissolve the belief that you should fit into the image of “perfection”, you would eliminate the self rejection and feelings of unworthiness that result, and begin to achieve more of what you’re seeking.

But how?

You may not be aware of this, but true confidence and self-esteem is based in emotion, not a self image. To build self confidence and overcome low self esteem requires us to change how we feel emotionally about ourselves. 
Changing our emotion requires changing two different beliefs about self image. The first is obvious… It is the belief that we are "not good enough" (worthiness). It may have a more specific association to how we look, how smart we are, money, lack of confidence sexually, etc. 
The second belief to change is the image of “perfection” that we feel we should be. Changing this belief is not always easy because we have heard that we should strive for perfection for our entire lives. This has always created an inner-struggle because we have also heard that “no one is perfect”, or “we are only human”… yet somehow, we still expect it from ourselves and we believe others expect it from us too.
Many times people achieve their goals only to find themselves still unfulfilled. Your emotional state may briefly change in the euphoria of the immediate achievement; but the core belief of “not being good enough” and your long term habit of self rejection haven’t been altered at your core. The critical voice in our head is more likely to still look for things that you could have done better, instead of just accepting the achievement.

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It is far easier to find self confidence if you strive for “excellence” rather than perfection. Excellence is attainable. You can see it, hear it, and feel it around you all the time. When you strive for excellence, rather than perfection, you can begin to realize that it’s okay to have high goals, but you don’t have to make your self-love and self acceptance dependent on them.
Changing the “not good enough” image is much easier once you have broken your belief in the image of perfection. Without the image of perfection you no longer have the comparison reinforcing the unworthy "self” image. 
I could tell you that real change in how you feel emotionally begins with becoming aware of the beliefs and thoughts in the mind… but you’re aware of that already. The second step is to change those core beliefs.  Life Coaching can provide focused exercises to identify and change core beliefs, and hypnosis can speak directly to your subconscious mind and change how you feel about yourself. 
I’m wondering how soon you’ll discover how amazing it feels to make those changes?

Believe to Achieve!


Joe Vulgamore is a Certified NLP Practitioner, Life Coach, and Hypnotherapist. He works with people who are struggling with limited beliefs to regain their edge, perform at optimum levels, and achieve excellence. He has a proven track record of helping thousands of people from over 14 countries, across 5 continents, to make life-transformations through one-to-one coaching and workshops.