What you see when you look in the mirror is not the real you. It’s just a reflection of your physical being.
While your physical body and appearance are important, it’s the self-image that’s locked in your subconscious mind that really counts. For this is the image that determines your success or failure in life.
While, the real you is perfect, boundless, and is always looking for ways to expand, the self-image in your mind is based on false and limited information that sets the boundaries for every area of your life.
So if you see yourself as shy, not good enough, or unlovable, you will feel and act accordingly. And that will create results in your outer world that reflect the image you have in your mind.
Even if you promise yourself that you’re going to do something different, you will not deviate from that pattern. At least not for long because your self-image is like…
The automatic pilot in an airplane
Airplanes contain something called a cybernetic mechanism.
Cybernetics is the science of control and communication in animals and some machines. A cybernetic mechanism measures deviation from a set goal then sends the information to an instrument that will correct the output and get it back on track so it is moving toward the goal.
Here’s how it works:
Before an airplane takes off, the pilot programs a flight pattern into the plane’s computer system. When the plane goes off course during the flight, the cybernetic system measures the deviation from the destination (the set goal) and corrects the flight pattern.
Well, you have the same kind of cybernetic or self-correcting mechanism inside you. It’s called self-image.
Stepping outside your self-image “box”
Here’s a common example of how this self-correcting mechanism might work in your life.
Let’s suppose that your self-image is that you are overweight. It might not be something that you ever talk about, but inside you feel you are overweight.
One day, you get tired of feeling that way, and you decide to do something about it. You declare, “I’m going on a diet.” And you instantly move into action.
You become very strict about what you eat. You cut way back on your food portions, and you stop eating the things you like because you think they make you fat. And, of course, you quickly start to lose weight.
But here’s what you need to understand…
You’re not overweight because of the foods you’re eating. You’re overweight because of the image you are holding in your subconscious mind. That image causes you to hold on to extra pounds.
If you had a “skinny” self-image, you could eat all the foods you like, including things like chocolate. Then, whenever you overeat, you’d simply pass off the extra food—what’s not needed to manifest the image that’s in your mind.
Here’s the point:
When an overweight person goes on a diet without altering their self-image, any weight loss will be temporary. The self-image, which is a cybernetic mechanism, measures the deviation and immediately corrects the course and any weight lost will be found.
If the person is going to keep the weight off, they will have to change their self-image.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Of what use to make heroic vows of amendment, if the same old lawbreaker is to keep them.”
He was right.
Until we change on the inside (create a new self-image), we will continue to be stuck in the same situations.
We will put weight on, take it off, and then put it back on.
We will get into a loving relationship, sabotage it, end the relationship, and then do it all over again.
We’ll start earning more money, then stop doing the new thing we are doing, and go back to earning the amount we’ve always earned.
Why do people live this way?
We live that way because we don’t know any different. We think it’s normal to stay in our lane and blend in with the crowd.
And that’s rather sad because we should live the way we really want to live. But to do that, we have got to understand this concept of self-image and cybernetics.
We must learn to keep our mind on a higher image rather than a lower concern. I realize that is not always an easy thing to do, but it sure pays great dividends for the person who develops the mental strength to do it.
When you change how you see yourself in your conscious mind and plant the idea in your subconscious mind, it changes your vibration. Then, the condition and circumstances in your life automatically change.
Build the image you really want now and develop the mental strength to hold it.
Just discipline yourself to do it. This is your life. Make it a phenomenal experience.
To more and better,
Sandy Gallagher
Need help in changing your self-image? Get “7 Steps to Improve Your Self-Image” below:
