How to Unlock the Version of You that You’ve Been Running From

How many times have you found yourself hesitating before making a decision? How many times have you questioned yourself while making a decision? Or how often have you backtracked on a decision even though you were certain you were making the right one? 

Are you guilty of shrinking to please others? Or overcompensating with dramatics, or guilty of second-guessing yourself? Needing affirmation from others before trusting your own decisions? 

If you answered yes to more than one of these, you’re likely struggling with self-doubt. This sneaky little fruit of insecurity has a way of making your perception of self decline along the way. It has an ability to make life harder as it creeps up into everyday little and big moments, slowly eating away at your sense of self. Whether you see it or not, that voice of insecurity pricks away at the version of you, you really want to become. In some cases, you may have even allowed it to cause you to run from yourself. 

In my own words, running from yourself looks like: 

• An opportunity that you skipped out on because you couldn’t see yourself as qualified 

• A step you should've taken but didn’t because you were too afraid to 

• A skill you should've developed, but didn’t because you couldn’t put yourself out there

• Denying yourself of a connection because you’re afraid of the opinions of others 

I wouldn’t say the list ends here, but this is a pretty good start. Realizing how often we sell ourselves short is a bitter pill to swallow, but one worth taking because it brings awareness that can lead to change.

So how do you emerge? You squash the insecurities by facing them. You have to step into the very thing that the negative voice of self-sabotage tells you not to. 

How do I know if it’s that negative voice rather than a positive one? You measure it against the truth. Does it reflect who you are looking to become? Does it take you in a direction that brings you closer to your purpose or further? Can you see God in it? 

You can ask yourself these questions when doubt creeps in. But that’s only part of the equation. Before opportunity arrives, you should be doing the work to increase your self-confidence and improve your sense of self. 

I can tell you it's as easy as being honest with yourself about who you are. Who do you think people say you are? And who do you want to be? And what is the distance of each of these points from who you’re becoming? 

Listen, you can answer these questions, but you have work to do. Nothing we want comes about without action. Even if it’s a miracle that makes a way, there’s still an action that must occur. As you measure the distance of your present self to your future self, you should list the actions you need to take to begin to not just see but actually experience a confidence-shifted mindset. 

To unlock the version of you that you’ve been running from, you’re going to have to put in the work. So, how do you unlock her? You get real with yourself, and you begin to rewire your thinking and realign your approach to becoming with action. 

Simplifying everything we’ve gone through above, let’s try this: ask yourself: 

1. Who am I? 

2. Who do I want to become? 

3. What makes me doubt or experience insecurity? 

4. When I feel confident/assured, what’s the circumstance? 

5. What does God say about these questions? (Here’s my list:)

   1. For you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) 

   2. You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) 

   3. We might see ourselves as grasshoppers, but the Lord says that we should be of good courage, we shouldn’t be afraid because the Lord is with us. (Num 13-14)

   4. I’ve been sent, reminded that the Spirit of the Lord God is on me, and I know He has sent me to spread the gospel, so I keep my eye on what he’s placed before me (Isaiah 61) 

As a response to your responses, the word of God becomes an anchor of sustenance and endurance. A response to the negative and an affirmation to the positive, because the word is truth and doesn’t return to God void. The word is alive, and as your future self beckons you, be confident that God has already given you everything you need to become her.