Session 31 - What Is It That's Holding You Back?

What is it that's holding you back? I'm Irish living in Ireland, with a strong cultural upbringing. Oftentimes the neighbours were conferred with an importance that in hindsight was illogical. I'm not referring to the normal and natural respect that one gives to ones neighbours and usually it is reciprocated. Whats I am referring to is a sort of, "keeping with with the Joneses", type of deference conferred upon them. The truth is, what the neighbours think has very little to do with me! Just think about that!

"Oh, what will the neighbours think?", was often an utterance.

Methinks, it can be difficult to shake off that weight, that illogical and irrational concern about what the neighbours think.

As I grew older I eventually divested myself of that weight that I carried for many years. When one invokes logical thinking and rationalisation the weight of worrying about what the neighbours think is slowly dissolved. The reality is that you just become the topic of conversation for one day and then they move onto to someone else.

Anyway, one could do a jig or a reel in the street and it wouldn't change peoples minds about you. They will think what they want to think.

Why am I rabbiting on about all of this 'neighbour stuff'?

What we think other people think about us can be destroying. As I mention above, what other people think about me has very little to do with me. They are free agents, free to ponder what they will. Free to make up their own mind in any way they choose.

Human nature is such that we are meaning making beings, we apply meaning to everything, it's how we live and operate in and on this world we call earth. However, just be careful of the meanings you apply to happenchance and or happenstance events.

Have you heard of the law of thirds? Perhaps it's called something else? I know it as the law of thirds. Maybe I created that terminology. Doubt it, though 🙂 .

One third of people will despise you and some will even hate you (very strong I know). Another third will be indifferent to you, a neither here nor there attitude towards you. Innocuous. Another third will absolutely adore you, they will be life long fans and would probably defend you if necessary. They will sing your praises, they just love you.

So get out there and just be yourself, do what you want to do, providing it is lawful, of course. What have you to lose or more importantly what have you to gain? Yes, it's all about being positive. The man or woman who never made a mistake, they never made anything. In NLP there is a pre-supposition and it goes as follows - there is no such thing as failure, there is only feedback. So, if something doesn't work out the way you had planned. What have you learned from that? What's the feedback?

Probably you have learned not to do the same thing in the same way in the same context, again. Hopefully you have. Do something different and you will get something different. It's a sign of tomfoolery to keep on doing what previous didn't work. Oh and by the way, I apply all of what I have said here, I apply it to myself

So, go on, get out there. Do something different and you'll get something different. You only have the world to gain.