Being joy filled does not mean that your life is perfect. It means that you emphatically trust God and believe he has great plans for your life, regardless of what is happening right now.

Did you know that joy is an outward sign of inward faith in the promises of God?

Self-worth is authentic self-esteem rooted in your uniqueness as a child of God. Your self-worth demonstrates how spiritually fit and ready to do God’s work you are. It also reveals how receptive you are to God’s blessings and favor.

Do you recognize that you are a special, unrepeatable miracle, “fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14, NIV)?

The Imposter is an inner voice that tries to persuade you that, despite the evidence to the contrary, you are “playing over your head.” You really don’t have the skills to handle the situation you are in; if you accomplish something good, it is due to luck. The truth is that at your peak moments, when you appear to be playing over your head, you are actually experiencing a glimpse of your full potential.

What would happen if you tried attributing your worst moments to the Imposter instead of your best?

Because your self-image is wired to your short-term emotional appetite, you will hardly ever feel like acting in a manner inconsistent with this self-image set point. However, there is a solution: You can override past negative programming by deliberately choosing new behaviors that line up with your God-given potential, whether or not you feel like it.

What can you do to override your negative programming today?

Your self-image is the subconscious mechanism responsible for guiding your behavior. Your self-image is critical because we almost act consistently with the image we have of ourselves. In fact, you cannot expect to behave different from your self-image any more than you could expect to put chocolate cake batter in the oven and an hour later take out an apple pie.

Is your self-image directing you in a way consistent with your self-ideal?

Your Self-Ideal is the future picture you have of yourself. It is the best-case scenario of the person you can become. Like a personal GPS device, your self-ideal prompts you unconsciously to “turn here, turn there” as you navigate your way to your future destination. Most people have not consciously created their self-ideal, and therefore, it has developed haphazardly. If your self ideal is unclear then your brain will not work to make it happen.

Has your self-ideal been developed by design or by default?

In many ways, your brain works like a computer. When you receive a positive or negative input about yourself, you store it in your subconscious mind and later express those messages in your feelings or behaviors. The way you perceive and organize those inputs exerts a strong influence on how you interact with others. Unless you are taught to reject the negative messages, you will tend to accept them as truth. Accepting these thoughts at face value leads to behavior that is rooted in error.

Do you question the validity of your self-concept, or do you simply behave as if it is true?

Imagine a spark from a campfire flying onto your sweater. As long as you quickly brush it away, it will do no harm. It is the same way with negative thoughts. Train yourself to become aware of them, and then sweep them away without much fanfare.

In what ways could you pay more attention to your own thinking?

When you bring your thinking into the domain of your conscious, creative control, you will rapidly discover what an enormous advantage you have in sculpting the conditions of your life.

Over the last 24 hours, what conditions have you been sculpting with your thought life?

Remember that dwelling on your problems doesn’t fix them; it just makes you an expert on them.

What is the difference in dwelling on a solution and dwelling on the problem itself?