I remember the first time I flew first-class.
I actually wasn’t supposed to. I’d purchased coach.
But when I got to the ticketing counter at the airport, I was upgraded to first-class on the next flight to my destination due to the airline overbooking my original flight.
Notwithstanding having to wait a few extra hours, I was pretty excited for the chance to fly first-class.
It was a thrill to board before everyone else and be treated with a hot towel (which I didn’t know what to do with). It felt great having more space to kick back, relax, and enjoy the long flight in style.
At the time, it didn’t matter that I got there on a fluke. I felt special, important, even worthy. Just being there and the treatment I got made me feel special, even worthy.
But interestingly this experience uncovered a different set of feelings as well. Though on one level I was excited and felt justified for the upgrade, I also felt undeserving of the opportunity.
I felt guilty for taking the place of another person with the means and social status to match the distinction. Who was I to be there anyway? I didn’t even know what to do with the hot towel.
Thoughts like “I clearly don’t belong here” and “I’m not worthy of first-class” easily invaded my mind.
One experience, two very different reactions. How could I go from feeling worthy and justified in one moment to feeling like an unworthy imposter the next?
What made the difference?
Reflecting on the experience, I realized that there was only one thing that made the difference…how I thought about myself.
Nothing about the experience itself caused me to feel worthy or unworthy.
It was simply the beliefs I held about myself. If I believed I was worthy, I felt worthy. If I believed I was unworthy, I felt unworthy.
To modify a popular phrase from Henry Ford, “Whether you think you’re worthy, or you think you’re unworthy–you’re right.”
You don’t need to be chosen by an airline to feel worthy.
You don’t have to wait to be moved to the front of the line at the bank or grocery store. You don’t need the approval of a boss, friend, or loved one.
You just need to believe you are.
I know—simple but not easy. But it can be done. Here’s how:
1. Uncover your beliefs
The first step to believing you’re worthy is to uncover all the hidden beliefs that undermine this core belief.
Get a pen and pad and write down all the limiting thoughts that come to mind in your daily life. You will likely have a set that you unconsciously tell yourself daily.
Some of them may surprise or shock you. Others may shed light on why you cannot make any progress in certain areas of your life no matter how hard you try.
2. Decide what you want to experience next
If you’ve felt like a loser lately, you may think you feel this way because you failed at something or because of what others have told you.
But the truth is that you get to choose how you experience any given moment or circumstance.
Want to feel like a person who wins at life and is worthy of love and respect? Make a decision right now to simply acknowledge this desire. Don’t worry about how it will happen, just decide.
3. Modify your beliefs and accept you are worthy
Once you’ve decided consciously that you want to feel worthy, you will automatically begin to modify the beliefs you wrote down in the first step to match your new reality.
Go down the list of limiting beliefs and modify each of them to match this new reality. The exercise itself will be empowering.
Change your life by changing your beliefs
It’s time to stop questioning your worth based on what others have told you. Your worth is intrinsic and priceless.
All you need to do to realize this is to change your beliefs. Change how you think about yourself and your whole life can change in an instant.
Are you ready to upgrade to first-class?
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