My observation that no one knows you better than you do doesn’t come from years of scientific study. It comes from more than a decade of working one on one with clients and helping them build self-awareness. When I ask my clients, “Who knows you best?” what do you think they say? It is always, always, the same answer: “I do.”
Ego and inner critic stories create what leadership coaches commonly call “limiting beliefs.”
A limiting belief is a story that you tell yourself, whether true or false, that does not help you.
The stories that your ego and inner critic tell you about yourself may help you temporarily navigate a challenging situation or maintain your self-esteem, and this is a good thing. However, the stories you tell yourself can also lead you to incorrect conclusions and have a negative domino effect on subsequent decisions.
You may not realize it, but you tell yourself hundreds of stories every day. I don’t mean stories that you share with others about what happened to you when you were a toddler, in college, or at the mall last week. I’m referring to the dozens of stories that you tell yourself every day to explain why something bad happened or why another person is behaving poorly. These stories come from your ego and inner critic.