One of my favorite Broadway songs is “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” which Carol Channing introduced in the 1953 original Broadway production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Every diamond is a miracle of time. And like you, no two diamonds are the same. The formation of a natural diamond takes one to 3.3 billion years to form under the Earth’s crust, and the word diamond comes from the Greek word “Adamas,” meaning indestructible. Brilliance is defined as excellent brightness, radiance, excellence, or exceptional talent. Reflect upon this definition as you discover your prowess, skills, and genius. Building your brilliance is like developing a natural diamond; it takes time and is a life-long process. Personal brilliance allows you to be resilient and capable of accessing your strengths and assets while managing stress. Likewise, self-confidence helps you become strong and indestructible when faced with challenges, daily hassles, and life-altering events.
- Recognize and accept that change is a constant in life. Daily, you will face opportunities to make a change, alter your mindset, and embrace new perspectives. Often change is met with resistance yet exploring different options and viewpoints can provide a variety of positive alternatives and choices. This creates opportunities for improvement and personal growth. Most of life’s significant lessons are learned through change. Allow change to empower you by viewing it as freedom, not fear. The change will force you out of your comfort zone, providing opportunities to expand your thinking and priorities. When you make a positive lifestyle change, you become more vital and brilliant.
- Be accountable for your actions. With every thought and action, there are consequences. Stop blaming others for your poor choices; nobody wins at the blame game. Learning to accept the results of your behavior builds confidence, esteem, and personal brilliance. The development of self-efficacy creates brilliance and is a strong predictor of happiness. Self-efficacy is displaying the confidence to embrace and implement effective life change.
- Make time to live well and be physically and mentally healthy. Manage stress by eating healthy foods, exercising, and getting enough sleep. You will perform better at daily tasks if you are healthy. Put minor stressors into perspective, focus on the positive aspects of your life, self-monitor your behavior regarding exercise and healthy eating habits, and improve your sleep routine.
- Building your brilliance requires a frequent appraisal of personal perceptions of yourself and the world around you. Perceptions are the cognitive interpretations of people, things, and events in your world. Choose to focus on the positives rather than the negatives and be your own best friend. Please recognize that you control more in your life than you think, and it is best not to spend your time micro-managing others; this wastes time and energy. Instead, strike a balance by recognizing that you cannot control everyone and everything around you.
- Engage in an internal locus of control. The locus of power is a concept of personality psychology that Julian Rotter first described in 1954. It is the degree of control individuals believe they have over events in their lives. For example, when you attribute life successes to your effort and abilities, you exhibit an internal locus of control by recognizing that you have some jurisdiction over your life. Conversely, an external locus of power is the belief that life events are controlled by external factors like fate, luck, or the behaviors of others. Engaging in an internal locus of control acknowledges that personal thoughts and actions are critical to determining specific life outcomes.
Creating positive personal change begins by recognizing that thoughts are powerful, and you are what you think. Negative self-talk decreases self-confidence and personal worth. Changing negative thoughts to positive concepts can shift your perspective, allowing you to view specific life situations differently. Alter your mindset by engaging in mind-stopping exercises and understand that perfection should never be the goal. Everyone deserves happiness; begin this process by seeing yourself as brilliant and confident!
Written by: Vikki Carrel, CALT
Connect with Vikki at VikkiCarrel@gmail.com
Vikki Carrel is a multi-book author and an academic language therapist. She has spent over three decades empowering kids, teens, and adults of all ages. For several years she conducted seminars across the United States in the public and private sectors. As an academic language therapist, she offers students a specialized and comprehensive approach to rebuilding their learning curriculum step-by-step. Her specialty is working with kids that need support with executive functions.
You can find Vikki’s book “Building Blocks” on Amazon
