{"id":2547,"date":"2012-11-15T16:49:19","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T21:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/?p=2547"},"modified":"2012-11-15T21:01:06","modified_gmt":"2012-11-16T02:01:06","slug":"am-i-a-lemon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/?p=2547","title":{"rendered":"Am I a Lemon?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m beginning to think that there\u2019s something wrong with me.\u00a0 Things that come easily to those around me are hard for me, and every time I try the latest and greatest thing that a friend swears by, I\u2019m frustrated and disappointed because it doesn\u2019t work for me.\u00a0 This happens anywhere from money and career to the latest self-help craze or dieting and I\u2019m beginning to think I\u2019m a \u201clemon.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019m generally optimistic, I have a positive attitude and an open mind – is there something I\u2019m just not getting here??\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Becky, Vancouver<\/em><\/p>\n

Hi Becky,<\/p>\n

No, you are most certainly not a lemon, and there is nothing wrong with you.\u00a0 It’s easy to watch another person do something and find success and assume that we will, too, only to find ourselves frustrated and wondering, “what am I doing wrong?\u201d \u00a0For instance, one person may start a new diet program and lose 20 lbs. on it.\u00a0 Another person sees this and tries the program herself, and doesn’t lose a thing.\u00a0 What’s the problem here?\u00a0 The answer is something you probably already know on some level – the answer is that each one of us is a unique individual, and we all work differently.<\/p>\n

Seems like common sense, right?\u00a0 Yet how many times do we find ourselves forcing ourselves to fit into different constructs anyway, just because it works for someone else, all the while knowing this answer?\u00a0 We do this because we are taught to.\u00a0 We are taught to fit in, be a part of the norm, conform, etc., and the ironic part is that we’re taught this because it’s supposed to be easier, when, in fact, it makes life much more difficult if these “norms” are not your true nature.\u00a0 We end up fighting ourselves, going against our natural “grain,” and life feels just plain hard sometimes.<\/p>\n

But what if we made a conscious choice to embrace the unique things about ourselves, and the unique way in which we work?\u00a0 What if you made a conscious effort to work<\/em> with<\/em> yourself<\/em> instead?\u00a0 Oh, the possibilities…<\/p>\n

And here are a few ways to get you started:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Pay attention to what works for you and doesn’t work for you.\u00a0 How do you know?\u00a0 Things that feel good, come easily to you, and you look forward to work for you.\u00a0 Things that bring a lot of resistance, anxiety, struggle, and even fear probably don’t work for you.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Avoid the things that don’t work for you and embrace the things that do.\u00a0 It’s as simple as that, but it takes some focus and listening to yourself.\u00a0 Try writing things down as you notice them, and referring back to your lists as reminders when making decisions.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0 Get into the habit of centering yourself.\u00a0 When you are closely and strongly connected to your Self, everything naturally becomes clearer, and you’ll find yourself making choices based on what you’re naturally drawn to versus what you think you “should” do.\u00a0 So do whatever works for you, meditate, journal, go for walks, paint, etc.; whatever brings you that calm inner peace and clarity.<\/p>\n

Start there, and it will be amazing at how much easier and more enjoyable your life becomes, not to mention how much more fun it is to be YOU.\u00a0 And remember to celebrate the things that make you different \u2013 if we were all the same, the world wouldn\u2019t be nearly as interesting.<\/p>\n

(Nova Wightman is a CWG Life Coach, as well as the owner and operator of Go Within Life Coaching, www.gowithincoaching.com, specializing in helping individuals blend their spirituality with their humanity in a way that makes life more enjoyable, easy, and fulfilling.\u00a0 She can be reached at Nova@TheGlobalConversation.com<\/span><\/a><\/span>. )<\/em><\/p>\n

(If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to: Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com<\/a>, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m beginning to think that there\u2019s something wrong with me.\u00a0 Things that come easily to those around me are hard for me, and every time I try the latest and greatest thing that a friend swears by, I\u2019m frustrated and disappointed because it doesn\u2019t work for me.\u00a0 This happens anywhere from money and career to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[573,571,572],"class_list":["post-2547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","tag-embrace-your-differences","tag-individual","tag-unique"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2547"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2556,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547\/revisions\/2556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}