What Would Be Possible If You Trusted Yourself?

See inside for this week's reflective question to help you build the #1 life skill of self-awareness.

Photo by SURZet on Depositphotos

Hi and welcome to another free post from ‘Something More’. I’m Caroline Ferguson, mindset trainer, speaker, therapist and your companion on this wander through mindset, self-leadership and what ‘a life that matters’ might look like.

Greetings from the Scottish Highlands

I’m writing this post from my cosy little room at the start of at a five-day writing retreat in the wilds of northern Scotland. I’m looking forward to resuming work on editing a novel, which I had to put down when things got very busy last year.

I drove down this afternoon from the far north-west coast of the Scottish mainland, where I’ve just spent a memorable few days in a friend’s cottage. My companion and I had the fantastic luck to see dolphins, seals, an otter and herons fishing for their breakfast at the end of the sea loch, just 150 yards from our kitchen window. At one point we saw at least 11 dolphins in an animated row, pushing the fish towards the bank only yards from the end of the loch.

This was our view – doesn’t it do your heart good just looking at it? The water was closer than the photo makes it appear:

Photo by Caroline Ferguson

The view from my window at the retreat this evening is also stunning. I see wild meadows, hills and a little thatched hay-bale house that we can use for writing, yoga or anything we choose. I can’t wait to explore tomorrow.

I couldn’t have picked a trickier time to go away, though.

My parents and I are moving house four days after I get back next weekend. With so much going on, why didn’t I cancel the trip? Well, this retreat is part of a deliberate self-care strategy. I booked it last year and have already had to postpone it once, due to stuff outside my control. I’ve spent the last few weeks making sure my family is as ready for the move as possible, so that I can make the most of this break.

As I mentioned in last week’s post for paying members, for the next few weeks each of my ‘Something More’ articles will focus on a different reflective question. The purpose of this is two-fold:

1. To provide you with prompts to help deepen your self-awareness in a gentle way, without overloading you during the summer holiday period.

2. To take some of the pressure off me during this intense time, while still allowing me to connect with you and bring you value.

Suggestion on how to approach the questions

Each week I’ll repeat this section so that you have all the guidance you need to hand. I suggest you grab pen and paper, or a journal, and set aside 15 minutes to approach the reflection in an intentional, focused way.

1️⃣ Instruct your inner critic to stand down and invite your inner champion to take its place.

2️⃣ Picture a control desk in your mind and visualise yourself cranking the ‘Dreams and Wishes’ lever up to maximum. Take your foot off the brake and give your imagination and desires permission to play and expand into possibilities you may not even have considered yet.

3️⃣ Take a few minutes to read the question slowly, several times, letting it land with you. You may find some quick responses bubbling up – write down what emerges.

4️⃣ After those initial quick responses, say to yourself, out loud if possible, ‘I’m sending a deliberate request to my unconscious mind to reflect on the question more deeply and alert me as suggestions arise.’

5️⃣Answers could start to arrive straight away, or come in over the next few hours or days. Read the question again each day as a refresher. Make a note of thoughts, feelings, desires and fears come up in response to the question and be compassionately curious about them. Remember, curiosity is the opposite of judgement.

6️⃣ After three or four days, review your notes. What jumps out at you? What delights you? What feels big and makes you nervous? What surprises you? What is your most compelling capture?

7️⃣ What actions could you take as a result of the information your mind has provided? Give yourself full permission to commit to at least one of those actions.

This week’s reflective question is:

If I fully trusted myself, what would I do next?

Read the question several times to let it sink in:

• How does the question make you feel and what thoughts immediately come to mind?

• Allow yourself to picture the version of you who has total trust in yourself.

• Imagine you’re sliding effortlessly into that version of you. How does it feel to have complete confidence in your abilities and judgement? Or, if you can’t imagine it, what’s getting in the way of you being able to imagine yourself like that? What is your inner critic saying?

• Now spend a little time imagining what ‘Self-Trusting You’ feels like doing next:

  • What desires and wishes do they have?

  • What are they excited about?

  • What direction is their energy leading them in?

  • What’s important to them?

  • What fulfils them?

  • What will they no longer put up with?

  • How do they want to make a difference?

• Finally, thank ‘Self-Trusting You’ for the inspiration. Imagine their energy as a gorgeous, glowing colour and inhale it into ‘Current You’ with each in-breath. Then allow yourself to come back to now, with the glow of ‘Self-Trusting You’ still swirling within you.

• Review your notes and find the ‘what I would do next’ suggestion that resonates most strongly. What could you do to bring that suggestion closer to being a reality? What knowledge, resources and circumstances would you need? How could you make those available to you?

That’s all for today.

Next week’s article will be for paying subscribers only and I’ll be back with another question to deepen your self-awareness and open up your mind to what you’re capable of. If you’d like to take part, you can upgrade your subscription:

In the meantime, you’ll find me appreciating this beautiful landscape, making heaps of process with editing my novel, forging new friendships and dreaming of glistening silver dolphins with white bellies.

Until next time, take care,