Many people suffer from a lack of self-confidence; a feeling that spirals into placing ones own self-esteem down a bottomless abyss through the affirmations pulled from any of the following sources: peers, co-workers, family, friends, magazines, TV commercials, and particularly yourself (though the list could be endless…). Without realizing it, in a blink you define yourself by other people’s standards of what they feel you are or you should be, forgetting the notion that your life must be lived on your own terms and not those of others. My company, Living by Design, nails the style of life that should be lived head on…your life, your design.

Shakespeare once said all the worlds a stage and we are merely players acting out our part. But, if we are actors with inherited gifts and traits who can alter the course of our own life at any given moment, why is it we do not chose to do so? Are we destined to live a role we know we were inherently not meant to play?

I love the coined phrase “if you could step into someone else’s shoes…” Haven’t you been told this more than once? I have! Enough times that, as I leafed through the magazines and saw the beautiful faces and bodies of the models displayed on the pages that I thought to myself “what is the difference between them and me”? I mean really? Absolutely none. Looking at myself in the mirror one night I felt that I had been hit by a lightening bolt that actually preempted me to write this article (note the date here please 10/27/05). Self-confidence, or just plain confidence at any rate, and perception was directly linked to ones imagery or role they chose to play. What if the role I chose to play could be changed at any single moment through real imagery? Not just knowing a goal and wanting the goal, by using imagery and directly taking the role I wish to play and immediately applying it to my life as if I was stepping through a mirror into another “stage” of life that I was truly meant to live.

Let me go on to explain. A person would like to lose weight, look great, get in shape, and be on top of their game. They go to the store and buy Self Magazine or Muscle and Fitness Magazine and peer through the pages in a dream-like state of “I wish I could look like that” or “I could never be like that” followed by grabbing some diet pills off the shelf, getting in their car, driving to McDonalds and ordering fries and a hamburger. Self-defeating from point A to point B.

Take that same scene and alter it a bit. Now you have the magazines, but zero in on

To be or not to be, that is the question. To be what you want to be takes being the person you would like to be right then, right there. Consider, for a moment, how a person you would wish to be lives? What food do they eat? What is their lifestyle like? What type of clothes do they where? How do the smile? How do they interact with other people? How to they care for others? What type of home-life do they have? How do they feel about themselves? What do they project to others? What are their beliefs? Now, with all that in mind….imagine and be the person you wish to be. Live this role and don’t apologize for it. McDonalds drive through now becomes a diet coke and a salad…fat free dressing please. After work (drinking two bottles of water to keep the body hydrated) you go to the gym of your choice to sign up and ask for a private instructor for a week or two to decide on the best routine for you. The magazines are now part of your journals…your wealth of knowledge. Once home, you clean the pantry out of all the Little Debbie cakes that are stored up along with all the sugary cereal that is alongside with it. You step into the role…the role you were meant to live.

Imagery is about you and affects every part of your world; family, community, work-life, home-life, educational, religious, intimate relationships ….and range of beliefs and states in areas such as spiritual, financial, physical, and mental. Imagery is not about the past and holds no reference to any past issues or actions. It’s about the here and now and deciding in an instant that you will be the person you wish to be and taking on the role immediately that you are meant to live. No magic tricks here…it’s real, it can happen for you…your life, your stage…play the best role of your life now!

To learn more about imagery and how imagery can work for you, contact Gina Kovacs, owner and director of Living by Design, Life Coaching and Wellness Solutions at 518-373-2815 or 866-205-9917.

Gina Kovacs is a Life Coach, certified through the Coaching Academy of North America, Inc., specializing in the fields of personal, relationship, spiritual, and weight loss coaching. Gina holds a BA in Philosophy from Siena College and is an author and motivational speaker in the field of personal and life coaching. Please logon to http://www.livingalifebydesign.com for more information on how Living by Design can help you.

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