Friday, April 11, 2008

Who is your "Everybody"?


Hello everyone,

I wanted to share another simple, yet effective, tool that can help you to realize who your "everybody" truly is.

Many people will talk in generalizations and one of the most popular generalizations we use from time to time is our "everybody" line. For example, I use to catch myself either saying or internally thinking "oh well everybody I know does this"....or "Everybody will think this way of me".....and the list goes on. Some people have used this line so many times that they don't even realize they are using it. The unfortunate thing about that, is how destructive that can be.

Some people may internally torment themselves for days and even year after an embarrassing event, or unfortunate mistake. For example, some may say to themselves, "I can't believe I did that, everyone laughed at me", or "Everyone thinks I'm an idiot for saying what I said". Then, what is even more unfortunate are those thousands of dreams or wishes that some people have not pursued or were left unfulfilled all because of their fear of "what everybody will think" of them.

Now, if we all took just a little time to actually think about and write down who our "everybody" is....my guess is that, like me, your list will be infinitely small. Please take the time to do the following exercise, preferably on a daily basis. The results over time will help you to free yourself from the internal fear of what "everyone" will do or think of you.


Free from your "Everybody" exercise:

1. Write down who you actually think about when you think or say "everybody".

2. Look the list over again and write down an actual example of a time that each person did say, or do, something that left you feeling hurt or conditional.

3. Make a new list of just those people who actually said, or did, something to you that was hurtful or conditional.

4. Now, think of the millions of people who exist in the world, in your country, in your state, in your town. Realize that your list does not actually include everybody in the world, or even everybody in your town.

5. Repeat this every time you find yourself either thinking or saying "I can't because of what everybody will think".

Best wishes to all and have a safe weekend!




2 comments:

Michele Woodward said...

Excellent blog! EVERYBODY will love it!!

Jamaica Mon said...

Yes, it could even be a defense mechanism to protect you from incriminating the real person you feel would be disappointed, mad, jealous, etc. Everybody is a safe place to lay blame.