The inner jerk is the anti-conscience of your thought process. It is the tiny voice inside your brain that says, “you’re not good enough. You’re not pretty enough. No, you can’t do that. You’re a loser. You’ll never amount to anything.”
We all have an inner jerk that feeds us negative thoughts about us, but we don’t have to listen to its nasty comments. There is a way to defeat it and quash the negative thoughts it feeds us.
1. Establish a Goal
Set your sites on a goal, something you want to accomplish in your life. Envision yourself achieving this goal and enjoying the rewards of your success. This will inspire you to work towards meeting that goal and it will also give you hope.
At the same time, be open- minded and be realistic about things. The path to success is a rocky path and you need to be prepared and fully equipped for the trip. There will be times when you will stumble and fall. But, don’t look at your falls as failures. Learn from the mistakes you made and establish a guideline on what you plan to do differently in the future.
You learn and grow from your failures and you become a stronger person in the process. Most importantly, always keep your eye on the prize. When you are focused and committed to the pursuit of your goal, you give your inner jerk no chance to hurl insults at you.
2. Get Involved
Sign up for a fitness class, volunteer at a school or get involved in any other leisurely activity you enjoy doing when you’re not working. When you get involved in any activity, you give yourself the chance to develop a new skill and meet like-minded people. That is how lasting friendships form. Also, your confidence builds up when you learn a new skill.
3. Surround Yourself With a Network of Supportive Friends
Choose your friends wisely. Surround yourself with people who are trustworthy, positive, encouraging, and open-minded. Avoid people who are pessimistic, overly competitive, jealous, superficial, and self-centered. It’s much easier said than done of course, because you don’t know a person until you get to know a person. And let’s face it, we all deal with toxic relationships at some point in our lives. It’s just a fact of living.
That said; you absolutely don’t have to remain in a toxic relationship. Listen to your gut when it tells you that something is wrong because your gut instinct will never lie to you.
The wrong people will only bring you down, not build you up.
So, how do you find those friends who will nurture your growth? Simply by being yourself and pursuing your goals regardless of what the world thinks.
4. Establish Healthy Boundaries
In a world where negativity prevails, you must have a good intuition. Know when to say NO to people who try to take advantage of your kindness and know when to give in to those who genuinely need a helping hand.
5. Believe in the Power of Prayer
At some point in our lives we all face obstacles that seem insurmountable and instinctively, we know that we can’t overcome them alone. Perhaps you have to deal with a very self-centered, domineering co-worker, a lover who has decided to break up with you, or you’ve lost your job. In hard situations like these, it’s easy to become confused and depressed because they are beyond your control.
While you can’t control every aspect of your life, you can seek out guidance to steer you in the right direction. You don’t have to be a Christian to pray. There is a loving God who knows you and the situation you are in and He only wants the best for you. If you seek Him, He will provide guidance. With His help, you can overcome hardship and negativity and lead a happier life.
With strength from above, you will be strong enough to repel the voice inside of your head that tries to put you down.
6. Believe in Yourself
Have faith but also believe in yourself. The world won’t hesitate to tear you down, so don’t cave in and convince yourself that you’re not good enough. Believe that you are talented, qualified, and able to succeed at anything you put your mind to.
If you start believing in yourself and start telling yourself you can, you will find that things will turn in your favor and new doors to new opportunities you’ve never known even existed will open up.
A Takeaway
These six steps will help you become a more well-grounded, happy person. How? You will get to know yourself as an individual, what you want in life, where you belong in this world, and you will have a purpose. So, if your inner jerk decides to tell you otherwise, you can tell it in a strong voice to go away and never return.