S

elf-deficiency will cause many people to not ascend to their own mountain of prominence. It will cause many people not to deploy their full potential.

Closer than a Friend

Sadly, self-deficiency is an enemy closer than the closest friend we have, because he is always an internal power, at times so subtle we fail to recognize his potency.

That is why it is important for us to find this enemy out, expose him and deal with him ruthlessly, otherwise, we are deemed to struggle big time.

Status Quo

There are several ways to do this and today, I want to discuss one of the methods that can start us off. In simple terms, we have to be rebellious against the status quo. That’s the word right there: Status quo.

Let me ask you a question. Where do we normally get our self-efficacy from? Where do we get our self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth from?

It’s the Culture

I am willing to bet that for the large part, your self-deficiency is created from the culture you have been exposed to. I am not necessarily talking about one culture. I am talking about all the cultures. Where there is self-deficiency, there is culture to blame either for creating it or for fostering it.

Four Places

It is possible to break down your life into four major places of culture.

Family

First, it is your home or family. That is where you spent your formative years. What you saw, the environment you were raised in, what you heard and what you experienced has no doubt contributed to your self-deficiency if you have any. Our identity  is more or less shaped here, gaining its foundation.

School

This goes without saying. We spend a great percentage of our lives in one school or another. In fact, this is so ingrained to such an extent that those who did not have the chance to attend school already are dealt a major blow in Self-Deficiency. Our capacity is supposed to be built here.

Unfortunately, at school, instead of unearthing our greatness from the inside, we spend much time trying to cram information into our heads. The information does not necessarily bring enlightenment. Motivation, inspiration and coaching do. Not lecturing and research…controversial but true.

Work

Finally, we get an opportunity to “do” something! Would you believe it? We wait for something like ten years before we can start doing something constructive for which we can be paid. Someone wrote some imaginary rule that we cannot work if we have not gone to or been through with school and actually passed the examinations with flying colours!

Our purpose is supposed to be deployed here.

Society

Of course, we do life in communities. We spend the rest of our days “working” and existing in a society. Our relationships are formed here. The esteem of our fellow men is sought for here. The opportunity to matter and make a difference is also found here. It is easy to note that a great part of our self-deficiency is manufactured here because tis is where our contribution is supposed to be seen.

The Creation of Self-Deficiency

Self-Deficiency is brought about by what you are exposed to, what you experience, the environment around you and what you hear from people in authority in your life. From the four places where you and I spend life, our self-deficiency or otherwise is manufactured around the following pillars:

• Our Identity
• Our Capacity
• Our Purpose
• Our Contribution

Rebooting Yourself

It, therefore, follows that the most obvious thing to do in order to overturn your self-deficiency if any is to re-write the rules that were written about life in those four pillars. Let’s see what you can do.

1. Reclaim Your Identity

If you were raised up in an environment that messed up your identity, you have an uphill task to reboot yourself. There are very many examples of people who did this. Joyce Meyer was abused by her father. Oprah Winfrey was raped. Albert Einstein was declared uneducable. Walt Disney was declared void of ideas.

Scratch the CD

Imagine if these people would have let that CD play forever at the back of their minds? We wouldn’t be having the blessing they are giving or have given the world today.  We have to stop that CD from playing.

Believe You Are Awesome

Yes, you are! What we ought to do is to know that we are not what we were told we are/were (especially if it was negative). What we experience does not cement who we are. If we can defy these experiences and these words and choose to believe that we are awesome, then we are on the right track.

Install A Different App

I think it is important to have the all needed “self-talk”. If you can deliver the greatest speech ever over and over and over again, you are well on your way to overturning the self deficiency.

In the succeeding articles, we shall be discussing the subject further but let me summarize what else you can do to reclaim your identity and banish your self-deficiency:

2. Build Your Capacity

3. Reconnect To Your Purpose

4. Start Contributing