Step Into Your Circle Of Excellence
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just turn into a superhero whenever you’re facing a difficult situation?
Instead of struggling through those situations that always seem to trip you up, what if you could just put on your cape and flashy outfit and become the Super You.
Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound.
Able to be at a party without even thinking about having a drink.
Able to come face to face with chocolate cake and walk away victorious and in complete control.
Sound impossible?
It isn’t.
All you need to do is put on your superhero outfit.
Don’t worry if your’s is at the cleaners.
I’ll show you how to create one with your thoughts, so you have it any time you need it.
The superhero outfit I’m talking about is made up of your thoughts and feelings.
Think of it as the internal state you’re in when faced with a challenging situation.
Most of the time, when we’re faced with a challenge, the thoughts we choose are the same ones that haven’t led to success in the past.
We keep bringing these same ineffective thoughts with us and then wonder why our foe defeated us yet again.
Well, you can’t expect your actions and results to change if the thoughts and the feelings that create them stay the same.
But when you choose new thoughts on purpose and in advance of the challenge, you become the superhero you, and you win the battle before it’s ever fought.
I’m a visual learner.
So it helps me to use a visual context to assist me with taking on a new or different mental state and the thoughts and feelings that go with it.
I like to think of my new superhero internal state as stepping into my circle of excellence.
When I’m in my circle of excellence, I assume the qualities and characteristics I know will lead to success.
So let me give you an example of how I use this concept and how you can too.
One of the things I am working to improve is being less critical and judgmental.
So the circle of excellence I want to step into involves me being more loving, accepting, and compassionate.
The first step is to recall an experience from my past in which I fully experienced this loving state.
Then I imagine a circle on the ground in front of me or some other shape like a heart.
Photo by Luís Eusébio on Unsplash
You can add other visual cues like a color or a sound that you want to associate with your target state.
Then I step forward into my circle or heart of excellence, and I relive the experience I had in the past when I felt loving, accepting, and compassionate.
I relive that experience fully.
I remember and feel every detail I can think of associated with that experience.
I remember all the sensations, the emotions, and what I saw and heard.
When you do this, try to remember and relive both the obvious and subtle details.
Focus your attention internally and notice all your thoughts and feelings about yourself.
Do your best to really feel the emotions in your body.
Stay in those emotions for a few minutes, and then shift your attention to the world outside of you.
See yourself relating to the world outside as this new version of yourself.
See yourself handling challenges with ease again and again.
Feel how wonderful it is to be confident and self-assured.
Feel the pride that comes with being in control.
Notice how being this version of yourself is effortless as if it’s always been a part of you.
After you’ve spent some time in your circle of excellence, step back and shake it off.
See how fast you can access that internal state again by testing yourself and stepping right back into it your circle.
Step in and out several times until you can achieve easy access to your desired state on demand.
Then take a few minutes to think about the situations you want to use your circle of excellence.
Imagine yourself there in that situation.
See yourself seamlessly stepping into your circle of excellence.
See yourself at a party stepping into your circle of excellence and not even wanting to or even thinking about drinking.
Feel how effortless and easy it is to be sober and healthy and how proud you are.
See other people complimenting you on the new person you’ve become and feel how wonderful that is.
See yourself telling them it’s easy and they can do it too.
See yourself at a restaurant when the waiter brings the dessert cart to your table, and you feel no interest or desire for anything at all.
Feel how easy and effortless it is to make healthy choices and how proud you are for allowing yourself to be the real you.
Hear your spouse compliment you on being in control and feel the emotion of hearing that compliment.
And hear yourself tell them it’s simple and effortless.
Being a superhero is easier than you think.
Step into your circle of excellence and let the real you show up.