Einstein's Definition of Insanity

The famous scientist Albert Einsten is reported to have defined insanity as consisting of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

If this is so, then maybe most of us are insane, because I for one would have to admit that at times I have repeated behaviour in a similar situation for no particularly good reason but with the hope that maybe this time things will be different.

The point though is a good one from a life coaching perspective: If you find that you keep on doing something in one way and it is not bringing the results that you want then why not try to do something different?

Of course, it makes sense to assess the risks of doing something different first and if these seem too high then maybe moderate your change or try it out in a small way first to test the water without running too much risk if that is possible. Ask yourself 'What have I got to lose?' - If the answer is not much then why not try out the new approach and see if it works? If it doesn't you can try something else.

This brings me in mind of another reported quote from Einstein.

He is supposed to have said that a person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.

That is a quote I like!

Blog Post Written by Life Coach David
For Information about David's Telephone Coaching visit: Life Coaching

Self Criticism

Negative self criticsm is often an aspect of low self esteem. If you find you are often too critical of yourself then try going through the checklist of questions below to help give some balance to your thinking:

1. Ask yourself: 'If I were talking to a friend who was in my situation and they were expressing those self critical thoughts, what would I say to them?' The response might include suggestions like:

‘Don’t be so hard on yourself’ OR ‘No one else noticed so it didn’t really matter’

2. Alternatively, imagine a reasonable and supportive friend is talking to you about your self critical perception of yourself. What might they say to you? This might include similar things to the above, or other points specifically related to the situation or to your qualities, such as:

‘Maybe this is not your strong point but you’ve got other more important qualities, like being a good friend’ OR ‘You made a mistake, that’s all. We all do it from time to time.’

3. Ask yourself if your self critical assessment is accurate or is it exaggerated? - If your self critical statement includes the words ‘never’ or ‘always’ you may be able to soften it by recognising that sometimes you make the mistake or act in the way you feel bad about, but on other occasions you do act in the positive way that you would like.

4. Often people remember mistakes and failures but not successes, so ask yourself if there any similar occasions when you have acted positively – Acknowledge that on this occasion you perhaps didn’t act as you would have liked, but remind yourself that on other occasions you have done so, to put the situation into context.

5. Even if your self critical thought is true, ask yourself how much it really matters? Is it a matter of life and death or just something that in an ideal world you might have done differently?

6. Give yourself permission to make mistakes. No one is perfect.

This checklist is taken from my low cost eBook on dealing with Low Self Esteem and Negative Self Criticism. To find out more about the eBook, visit the link below:

Low Self Esteem & Negative Self Criticism eBook