Beware!! Self-Perception is a Killer!

Have you seen the trailer for the latest Meryl Streep's movie? It's called Florence Foster Jenkins. As soon as you see it, you'll know what's this movie all about. I'm not going to spoil your fun of seeing the movie for the first time by saying that this is a true story about a lady who just couldn't accept the fact of being a terrible singer. Yes, she made a joke out of herself (I didn't want to use some other word). The audience loved her spectacles because she was totally unaware of her performance. Maybe, she was, but she didn't care. Her self-perception of a successful opera singer was so overwhelming that she couldn't possibly escape it. So, what is the catch? Why is self-perception important not only for the IM but for the business and all other activities in general?

Well, let me put it this way. I'm overweight and I lost almost all of my hair. Yet, I consider myself to be an extremely beautiful person. That's my personal perception and there's nothing you can do about it. I couldn't possibly care less what you think about my self-perception regarding the way I look and the clothes I wear. However, when it comes to my writing activities and freelance results, I do care what people think. I care a lot because I'm supposed to get some money in return and pay the bills with it. In addition, I do care about other warriors and what they think about me, my threads, my comments, my ideas, and similar. So, what's my first conclusion?

There are things and situations where you can allow yourself a luxury for your self-perception to go wild. Yet, there are also some scenarios where you have to control your personal perception. Otherwise, you are going to become someone's joke. What's even worse you will certainly fail to achieve your goals, you previously invested a lot of your emotions in. As you can see, sometimes self-perception can be your best friend, but very often your worst enemy.

If you allow yourself to be delusional about your skills, potentials, and goals, then you are in trouble, without even realizing it. Yet, there's a catch. If I'm uncritical regarding my self-perception, but I eventually succeed, then people will say that I'm a genius. A little bit eccentric, but still a very successful marketer. On the other side, if I fail, then people will say that I was a fool. That's the trouble with self-perception. If you don't get the right dosage or you use the right form of it, you are going to hit the rock solid wall called the reality sooner or later.

I guess, it all comes down to your willingness to be honest with yourself. If you want to see how it looks when the bad judgment and negative self-perception shows its ugly side, then I recommend you to pay a visit to your local gym. Or forums for writers, marketers, poets, music star fans, and similar. I do my best to find enough time for at least one or two basketball games during a week. Yet, it is almost impossible to grab a game without at least one or two self-proclaimed NBA stars. I also noticed that there are quite a few competitions that shamelessly feed on people's vanity and an inability to accept the reality.

For quite some time, I have tried to publish my SF stories. It's not working. I'm going to give up. Some of the critics were simply merciless. My self-perception of a successful SF writer, who's waiting for the right moment to see how one of his books becomes the next blockbuster, is simply not strong enough. So, I will try something else. I'm working on my first eBook. My self-perception gives me energy and strength to endure, but if the reception is poor on Amazon, then I know what to do. I will not allow my self-perception to take over, that's for sure. There's a point when you simply have to look your self-perception straight into the eye and say, look thank you for all of your help, but this isn't working, I have to say goodbye.

What's your situation? Can you hold your self-perception horses? I have to admit that I admire all those great guys who were so successful, and yet so surprisingly modest about themselves. You know what I'm talking about. You ask a successful actor or a rich entrepreneur what is the catch and you get a surprising answer. They simply don't think high of themselves. They still believe there are so many things to be done in order to reach their own personal criteria of success. I remember one gorgeous super-model being ridiculously critical about her appearance and beauty. Guess, this is what happens when you overreact with the self-perception in the opposite negative way. Share your self-perception secrets with other warriors, and let's find a way to manage it in order to achieve positive results. And, yes Meryl Streep's latest character should always be a painful reminder of self-perception went terribly wrong.