In addition to the incredible bonds and face-numbing laughter, one of the things I love most about hosting retreats is witnessing as women push past their perceived limits and achieve more than they believed they were capable of. I had this honor again last week at our retreat in Colorado.
One lady in particular (You know who you are. I am so proud of you!) doubted her abilities on a more technical part of the trail we were hiking. She stopped here and there to catch her breath, voicing her doubts as to whether she could continue. But once she pushed through the doubt in her mind, she CRUSHED it.
I knew she had it in her, but SHE needed to believe it in order to achieve it.
And sometimes that means going for it IN SPITE of self-doubt.
It’s the same way with almost any “limitation.” Whether it's hiking up a mountain, starting a blog, changing careers, or any other challenge or goal before us, the vast majority of our limitations are simply various forms of self-doubt.
And when we doubt ourselves, that self-doubt can paralyze us.
We all feel it in various situations and to varying degrees, stemming from messages we’ve taken in over the years.
But something magical happens the moment we realize that self-doubt exists ONLY in our minds; that it’s not a tangible “thing;” that it’s nothing more than a THOUGHT. In that one magical moment of realization, we are able, even if only momentarily, to push past the self-doubt and go for it!
And once we take the leap, we realize that the self-doubt was NOT ONLY just a thought; it was a lie.
I say this a lot, because it’s so powerful – Once we understand at our core, that WE control our thoughts; that WE get to choose which thoughts to hold on to, and which to replace with more helpful thoughts, then we become intimately aware of our true power and strength and grit.
And each time we push through those thoughts of self-doubt, we fill our storehouse with more and more evidence of our strength and abilities. The things we once thought were impossible for us become a breeze, and we tackle even greater challenges, pushing through thoughts of self-doubt at each step.
Up and up we go, until at some point, as we continue on this journey of self-doubt giving way to achievement after achievement, we finally FEEL in our bones that we can achieve anything we believe we can.
It’s like the steep climb on our Flatirons hike in Boulder last week – each step, even steps taken with thoughts of doubt still whispering, takes us a little higher, and a little higher, until we realize that each of those small steps, pushing through doubt after doubt, has led us to a view more incredible than we ever dreamed we would see.
Not only the gorgeous view around us, but the view of the magnificent strength and power that have been inside us all along.
Go get it, my friend.
Xx Jen
As always, if you know someone who needs this message today, please share this with her.
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