Your life is not a coincidence: It’s a reflection of you! If you’d like to know who’s responsible for the majority of your troubles, just take a moment to look in the mirror. The truth is, we are often our own biggest obstacle. It’s time to stop getting in our own way and start rising above ourselves.
The real competition in life isn’t with other people — it’s with who you were yesterday. Your mission is to outgrow yourself, to beat your own records, to put more energy, focus, and excellence into what you do today than you did before.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “It is impossible for man to be cheated by anyone but himself.” And Frank Crane observed, “Our best friends and our worst enemies are the thoughts we have about ourselves.” The book of Proverbs reminds us, “As a man thinks within himself, so he is.” Norman Vincent Peale cautioned, “Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.”
Stop focusing only on where you are — and start envisioning where you could be. Be mindful of your thoughts, because your actions will always follow them.
No one can truly defeat you — unless you first defeat yourself. Your self-image defines your limits. Believe small, and you’ll live small. Believe strong, and you’ll rise above every challenge.
Charles Caleb Colton put it perfectly: “We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with ourselves; it is civil war.”
When you doubt yourself, remember what Alexandre Dumas said: “A person who doubts himself is like a man who enlists in the ranks of his enemy and bears arms against himself.” Don’t commit treason against your own purpose. Don’t fight against your own potential.
You carry your world within you. Every thought shapes the life you live. And when you dream big, your mind might try to scare you — not because you can’t do it, but because you’re stepping into greatness.
James Allen said it best: “You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place.”
So, stop fighting yourself. Believe in your possibilities. Step aside, and let your greatness come through.