Stop defaming yourself and start faming yourself.

I was on a teleconference call this morning and the leader of the call kept saying things like, “I can’t do that.” “I’ll never be able to do that.” “I am awful at that.”

Yay! He knows himself. Good for him. He knows what he is NOT capable of. A good thing for all of us to know, so we don’t haul off and start heading in a really bad direction. The problem I had was I never, not once, ever, heard him say anything kind or nice about what he WAS capable of.  It was all defaming himself.

The inside of my head was screaming, “Just STOP it! STOP it right now!”  I just wanted to slap him across the face to wake him up to his behavior and the impact it was having. I was on a video conference call, so I had to hold my demeanor. And I physically couldn’t slap him anyway.

I love when leaders show their humanity and foibles, but when I hear them talk negatively about themselves over and over, I begin to question as to whether or not I want to follow this person. Is this what I want to see in a leader?

This situation made me reflect on how many times I hear others - and myself - be demeaning to ourselves in conversations.

I realized we do this a lot.

So my new keywords are: Fame myself.

If I can’t talk positively about myself, how will others? I don’t want others to walk away knowing what I’m NOT good at versus what I shine at.

So, here’s a Gutsy Challenge for you. Watch your self-talk. When you start to say something negative about yourself, STOP it! Slap yourself. Stop defaming yourself and start faming yourself.

Try a new mantra: “I am faming myself.”

I like it. Sounds like a T-shirt may be in the making.