In Tarot readings, The Chariot appears as "a sign of encouragement " and is symbolic of "willpower, determination, and strength". In other words, if you've been putting off doing something or taking action, here's your sign to just "GO FOR IT!"
WHAT IF MOTIVATION ISN'T THERE?
We've got a goal or a task in mind but we don't have the drive to carry it out. What's going on here? Some of the common causes of lack of motivation stem from depression, anxiety, fear of how these actions will look in the eyes of our peers and more importantly lack of confidence.
The last one, lack of confidence, strikes close to home for me. I completely understand how lack of confidence relates to lack of motivation because there have been countless times I wanted to do something but didn't trust in my own abilities to get the job done. My inner voices would shoot down any ideas I had before I could get them off the ground, and they were extremely cruel sometimes.
"You plan on going out to a brewery or restaurant all by yourself? Everyone will look at you like you're a loser when they see you're all by yourself!" "Going to shoot the same photos/video as everyone else? That's so boring and you're not nearly as talented as everyone else! You should quit before you get started." "PLAY IT SAFE."
So how do we build confidence in ourselves in order to be motivated to do what we truly want to do?
The first thing is to acknowledge what exactly we are telling ourselves and why. The statements we have told ourselves come from a place of trying to keep us "safe", or more importantly our interpretation of ourselves, our ego, "safe".
Our Ego is made up of life experiences as well as our interpretation and selective application of societal norms as we see fit, based on this limited knowledge. We have no idea what lies beyond these interpretations, these limits, because this is unknown and anything unknown must either be unsafe or dangerous according to the ego.
Since we have no other facts to dispute what we tell ourselves we then accept them as truth and believe we don't have the talents or skills, or that people will see us as "losers" if we show up alone (but part of confidence is realizing the only opinion that matters is our own)
Enter the power and beauty of self-love
SELF-LOVE AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO CONFIDENCE.
It seems on the surface that keeping us safe from harm may be an act of self-love, but what harm are we keeping ourselves from here? Other people's thought and opinions? The truth that we are more skilled than we give ourselves credit for? What if we could show ourselves the compassion we reserve for others and instead of filling our heads with doubts and negative talk, we give ourselves praise and positive affirmations acknowledging and reminding us that we have what it takes to handle any situation put in front of us.
Walt Disney has been quoted as saying:
The Way To Get Started Is To Quit Talking And Begin Doing
And this is fantastic advice! Problem is, what if we don't feel like it? Can we fake it till we make it? I feel this will work short term but inevitably the inner voices will rear up and start claiming we are frauds and we're back to square one.
We've already taken the big first step in acknowledging that our inner voice and limiting beliefs are protecting our ego based on limited knowledge, so the next thing to do is to test those limits with positive self re-affirmations and small steps in the direction of what we want to do.
Taking these small steps does two things: proves the stories we've been telling ourselves are not true and also builds our confidence, increasing how much love we are showing ourselves. These little steps will build on each other and help establish momentum in doing more and more things that we want to do or accomplish and then contribute to motivation of doing more. See how self-love contributes to motivation?
For the longest time I would not want to go to bars or restaurants unless I was accompanied by a friend or family member for fear I would be looked on as "a loser" by others. If no one was available, I wouldn't go out even if there was a band playing that I wanted to see or a dish/drink I wanted to try. The limiting belief and story I told myself paralyzed myself so much I wouldn't take action.
So what happened? I asked myself if I had proof people would look at me like I was a "loser". "They hardly know you", I told myself. "If anything, you're doing something they are probably not comfortable doing and that carries some respect." "Your opinion of yourself matters more than the opinions of others. Who cares what others think? How does that affect you? Does it do you bodily harm? No."
I started going to micro-breweries for take out at first, and then progressed into enjoying the ambience and atmosphere of these places. Eventually I discovered I enjoyed going to these places to meet and discover new people and had more intimate conversations because our attentions were focused only on each other.
It all started with self-love and then small steps in reducing the limiting beliefs and fears/negative self talk behind them.
So if you've been wanting to do something but let your negative self-talk and limiting beliefs hold you back and have been waiting for a sign to go for it...here it is: GO FOR IT! The cards have spoken. Love yourself and join me in taking the small steps into a greater world. You'll feel more alive, more motivated, and more loved by the person that's most important in your life: yourself.
If this helped in anyway please leave a comment and let me know what you'd like to see in the future. Thanks and see you on our ongoing journey in creating a life worth living!
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