building trust in yourself

I have a hard time jumping. Physically, my brain doesn’t let my body jump. But, I can jump rope. Weird, huh?

Most of the time, when we have a hard time doing something, it’s not because our body is physically incapable. It’s usually because our brain can’t comprehend how we can do it, so, the brain says “I can’t!” and the body believes it.

So, what can you do when you have a hard time trusting your body?

• First, start small. What is it you want to do? Pick one thing. One small thing.
  For me, jumping, like a hop, with both feet leaving the ground at the same time.

• Once you’re clear on that, get your brain clear on what that thing looks like.
  For me, I imagine myself hopping up and down, with both feet at the same time. I imagine that it is done easily, safely, without pain and without twisting my ankles or falling over.
  I picture myself in my mind’s eye doing this. What I’m wearing, where I am in my house practicing these hops. I spend time doing this. Not a lot of time. But I do it several times a day.

• Once you’re clear and comfortable with that mental picture, then you can start practicing it.
  For me, does that mean I’m going to start jumping up and down for 5 minutes every day?
  No. It means I’m going to try jumping maybe 5 times. Just enough so I have the physical proof that I can actually do the thing I’ve been envisioning. And then tomorrow, I’m going to do it again. This is called building positive evidence to support your theory.

There are things I have accomplished by doing this (or some version of this) that I wasn't exactly sure I was capable of doing.

Things like:

Living in Italy

Finding a perfect place to live in the Netherlands (where housing is in short supply and notoriously expensive)

Consistently sleeping well

Exploring alone

Living alone

Building my second thriving business

Our brains are capable of amazing fantasy.

Don’t forget that the fantasy can become your reality.

It did for me. I know it can for you.