Give this sixty-second video a quick watch and tell me . . .

Do you think this could possibly be the world’s strangest pick-up line?

I’m quite certain that if someone had asked me the question my friend had been asked, I would not have assumed I was being hit on! I would have taken it personally because I was teased about my weight when I was a kid.

In his book, Free to Change: Escape from the Forces that Keep You the Same, Matthew J. Taylor writes:

“Young children are in learning mode where everything they see, hear, and feel is about them and immediately accepted as fact. With each experience they ask, ‘What does this mean about me?’

What happens then, when a young child tells himself that he is not good enough for affection? Or that he is only good enough if he works hard and does what he is told? As adults, the exact recollection of each experience may be long gone, but [our] interpretation lingers as a hidden memory that is at work within us. In essence, we are grownups living out the stories of our childhood.”

When you feel hurt by something someone has said (or hasn’t said), realize that you don’t have to accept it as a fact – as you did when you were a child – instead, you can try using it to your advantage!

1. Use it as an indicator.

Pay attention to the emotion that was triggered, it has shown you where to look within yourself for unresolved issues. Uncovering unresolved issues can be a crucial step to adjusting your negative self-talk and reducing self-doubt. After all, you can only climb as high as you believe you can!

2. Challenge it.

Ask yourself, “Is the thought I’m believing about myself a fact or an opinion?” Remember that most of the negative things you believe to be true about yourself are only opinions. You do not have to allow other people’s negative opinions become your reality. This is actually one of your superpowers.

3. Rewrite the story.

Your past experiences do not define you. Whatever stories have been wired into your thinking about who you are, can be wired right back out. It’s time to tell yourself better stories about who you are and what you’re capable of achieving. Start today!

Who knew there were so many lessons to be learned by the “world’s strangest pick-up line”?!

All my best, Denise Marek