Today's episode is a principles episode. We're talking about how you can be more truthful with yourself. How can you identify what you believe about yourself, and redirect the lies we tell ourselves.
In today's episode is a principles episode. We're talking about how you can be more truthful with yourself. After this episode you should be able to identify what you believe about yourself, and redirect any lies we tell ourselves.
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What lies are you telling yourself now? This is a hard question to ask, but I want you to consider it. I want you to consider what lies you are telling yourself now. And some of these are going to be easy to identify. Hopefully you've listened to previous episodes of Developer Tea, where we talk about things like imposter syndrome. So hopefully you know some of those lies that you tend to tell yourself. There are other lies that you may be telling yourself right now as well. And in today's episode, we're going to talk about how you can be more truthful with yourself. And a better way of looking at it is, how can you identify these things that you believe? These are beliefs. These are beliefs that you have that are wrong. And hopefully you start to shift those. Shift those beliefs about yourself. And really, this is a principles episode. We've talked about doing principles, practices, and purpose on this show. And if you're feeling like your purpose is uncertain, then it may be because you have this particular principle out of whack. My name is Jonathan Cottrell. This is Developer Tea. If you haven't subscribed to the show yet and you enjoyed this episode, then I want you to prepare to subscribe to the show. That'll be kind of our contract. If you like this episode, then subscribe and check out the next couple of episodes. We do three episodes a week on this show. And there's new people that are picking up the show all the time because the topics we cover on the show are pretty broad in nature. We talk about all kinds of things. We talk about business. We talk about technology. But we, most of the time, are talking about figuring yourself out. We're talking about introspection and understanding your own motivations and understanding your own purpose, your own plan as a developer. And this is really where everything starts. It starts with you. And it starts with understanding the way that your own mind is working. So this isn't just about developers. This isn't just for developers. This show is crafted for developers. This show is made for developers in mind. But it certainly is applicable to others. And that's why we have new people coming to the show all the time. So if you're one of those new people, then I highly suggest that if you like this episode, that you subscribe. Because we do have new episodes coming out all the time. Okay, so what are some of the lies that you may be telling yourself? I'm going to go through a list of lies that you may be telling yourself right now. Number one. I will never be good enough to be. A good developer. I will never be skilled enough to be. A great developer. That is a lie that a lot of developers tell themselves. And one that I've told myself as well. Something terrible is destined to happen. Something terrible is destined to happen. This is a much more common thought. Not just limited to developers. It's something that a lot of people deal with this underlying anxiety of something terrible that is destined to happen. And we have this sense that we may have a premonition. Or we may be able to predict. Or we are going to be the statistic. Or there's a whole list of things that gives us this feeling that something terrible may happen. And then we reinforce that belief with the emotions that come along with it. So this is another lie that we often tell ourselves. And I'm not a psychologist. And I certainly suggest. That if you are dealing with something like this. Specifically if you're dealing with anxiety or depression or another mental health issue. That you seek professional help. Specifically talk with a qualified expert. I'm not a qualified expert. But one thing that has helped me when I have these kinds of thoughts. Is to recognize that the power of my imagination is incredibly strong. And so we weave these stories. About a situation. Because terrible things are possible. These horrible situations are possible. And so we tell ourselves this lie. That the horrible situation. Because it is possible. That it's unavoidable. And if anything bad will happen. Or if anything bad can happen. Then it will. And so we envision this terrible thing happening. And then we create all of the detail in our imagination. Because it's possible. And so we envision this terrible thing happening. And then we create all of the detail in our imagination. Because it becomes stronger than reality. So we'll talk about a way that you may be able to start combating that. In just a moment. What's another lie that we tell ourselves? Another lie that we tell ourselves is that. Everything will always stay the same as it is today. This is an unfortunate lie. Because it seems to be a reasonable thing to believe. On its face. We shouldn't expect things to change drastically. From the way that they are right now. And unfortunately that's just not the case. Sometimes things change drastically. And those changes are difficult to avoid. From time to time we experience change in the marketplace. What people are demanding. Out of web developers. Or out of software developers. Or front end developers. We experience change within our workplace. We experience change within our own lives. And so change is a constant thing. And this is a lie that we often tell ourselves. Or something that we want to cling to. The idea that change is not occurring around us. The last lie that I want to outline today. Is the idea that I am guilty. For every bad thing that happens. I am guilty for every bad thing that happens. I'm guilty for the bug that's in the code. I'm guilty for a mistake that I made in the past. Or a bad behavior. That I had in the past. I'm guilty for this litany of things. That have occurred. Whether they were a direct result of my action or not. That I actually am guilty for them. And this is an unhealthy. And unfortunately persistent lie. That we tell ourselves. And we like to think about ourselves. In this static perspective. That our mindset now. Is what we have had. What we've been armed with. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. Our whole lives. This is simply not true. Our mindset is changing. In fact. Hopefully by listening to this show. Your mindset will change. And it will change for the better. So these are a variety of lies. That we have told ourselves. That we may be telling ourselves now. Whether we're telling those on purpose. Or if it's a belief that we have. That we're trying to fight against. These lies that we have. That make up our experience. And we're going to take a quick break. And then we're going to talk about. Ways that we can hopefully combat these lies. On a day-to-day basis. Today's episode is sponsored by WooCommerce. WooCommerce is certainly something that you've used. Perhaps without knowing it. As long as you are shopping online. And you've shopped at more than three stores. Then you've probably used WooCommerce. Nearly 30% of all online stores on the web. Are powered by WooCommerce. WooCommerce is equal to WooCommerce. WooCommerce is built on top of WordPress. It's totally customizable. You can build your own store. To suit your own specific business needs. You have full control and flexibility. And you can integrate things. With the API. As a developer you can write code. That means that if an integration doesn't exist. WooCommerce allows you to create that integration. So it's totally flexible. For future situations. That aren't necessarily covered. If you have a really specific business. If you have a specific pay vendor. For example. You can integrate that with WooCommerce. There's over 140 extensions available. On the official WooCommerce.com marketplace. So it's likely. That whatever thing you already are using. Can already integrate with WooCommerce. So go and check that out. WooCommerce.com With WooCommerce you can sell physical products. Digital downloads. Subscriptions. Memberships. Services. And tickets. It also offers flexible ways to pay. Including. Apple Pay. And Bitcoin. Both of those are powered by Stripe. So pretty much every e-commerce situation. You can imagine having. You can cover with WooCommerce. With WooCommerce you own your data. Forever. This is really important. Because if you decide that you want. For whatever reason. You want to move away from WooCommerce. Maybe you want to analyze the data. There's a number of reasons. That you may want to use this data. WooCommerce doesn't hold on to that data. You own it forever. So go and check it out. WooCommerce is going to give you. 20% off. 20% off. For using the code. Developer T. Whenever you check out. Head over to. WooCommerce.com Slash. Developer T. And this. This promo. Lasts until the end of March. Of this year. Of 2018. So make sure you use the code. Developer T. And you'll get 20% off. WooCommerce. Thank you again to WooCommerce. For sponsoring today's episode. Of Developer T. So we're talking. About the lies. That we tell ourselves today. And this is probably. Uncomfortable. Probably uncomfortable. For a lot of people. Because. These are things that. Really dig up. A lot of difficult. Realities. For us. Some of the realities are. That we're better. Off. Than we think we are. And some of the realities are. Quite the opposite. For example. If you tell yourself. The lie that. If only you had an app. In the app store. That you would finally be. A successful developer. Well this isn't. Accurate. It's not a rational way. To believe. So how can we combat. Some of these lies. That we tell ourself. Well first we need to recognize. That our thoughts. Are not something that happens. To us. Our thoughts are. Generated by our brains. They're generated somewhere. Inside of our minds. And. They are not. Observations. Of. Of. Reality around us. Our minds are generating thoughts. That. May be a conglomeration. Of information. Some of it may be. A reflection of reality around us. But some of it may not be. At all. And a lot of it is going to be. Due to our own experiences. And our own personality. And things. That certainly we can't cover. On this podcast. Because. I'm not a neuroscientist. I'm not a psychiatrist. And the way the mind works. Is still. Largely difficult. To understand. But we do know. That. Our mind is not. Transparently. Representing to us. A reality that we see in the world. We are filtering things. And generating new things. And imposing them on the world. So we create our own lenses. Essentially. The second piece of this. Is that we've created beliefs. For ourself. We've created beliefs. For ourself. That. We often use. To. Decipher. Our thoughts. So in this way. We're taking the thoughts. From our mind. And we're using our. Kind of set up. Rules. Our associative rules. In our mind. To understand those thoughts. To see what they mean. An example of this. May be. That you have a belief. That is instilled by. Maybe you met. A really good programmer. One time. Or maybe you watched a movie. That depicted. A great programmer. And they were able. To. Write. In 20 different. Programming languages. And. They were able to understand. A code very quickly. And. They were able to build apps. 10 times faster than. The next person. Right. And. In your mind. You've created this rule. That that is what. A great programmer looks like. And a great programmer. Necessarily. Shares those traits. With that. Vision. That belief. Is what you've set up. And now. As you have. A thought. About yourself. You're judging yourself. Based on your own. Abilities. Or skills. Or experience. You take the thought. That. You know. I really barely know. One language. Or. I only know. One language. Very well. Even. Right. Or maybe. I know three languages. But. I'm not very fast. And you take that thought. And you push it through. That belief. You. Apply. The belief. To understand. The thought. If I believe. That. Great programmers. Should. Be able to. Code very quickly. And I have the thought. That. You know. I'm not really a very fast. Programmer. Then. The outcome of that. The. The resulting. Thought. Or the resulting. New. Compounding. Belief. The state of my mind. Is convincing me. That I'm a bad programmer. And I do want to. Take a moment. And recognize. That this can be. Very difficult. To escape. It can be. A very difficult. Thing. To recognize. That your perception. In your reality. Are kind of. Fused. When your perception. In your reality. Are fused. It's extremely. Difficult. For you. To separate. Those two. To recognize. That your mind. Is reimposing. Those things. Onto the world. Around you. Taking those beliefs. And imposing them. On the thoughts. And as you. Attach yourself. To these thoughts. And this belief. Thought. Kind of. Interplay. As you. Attach yourself. To it. And as you. Give it. More. Weight. Over your mental state. Your perception. In your reality. Become even more. Overlapped. They become more. Confused. Or. A better way. Of putting it. Maybe. They become. More one. In the same. That your reality. Your experienced. Reality. Is in line. With whatever. That perception. Was. So. It's very difficult. To. Separate yourself. And say. Oh. Yeah. That was just. My perception. It's not really. You know. What is actually. True. So. One way. To combat this. Is to start. Recognizing. Those thoughts. And those rules. To understand. When you have. A rule. That is constructed. Based off of. You know. Maybe an experience. You had. Our minds. Are constantly. Looking for shortcuts. And they're constantly. Looking to. To protect us. So. If you. For example. You have an anxious thought. Or. If you have. A label. That you've placed. On something. And it's a shortcut. For your understanding. Of that thing. It's important. To recognize those things. So. When you do. Recognize a lie. That you're telling yourself. Start by understanding. What rules. And thoughts. Are actually. Going into. That lie. What rules. And thoughts. Are you using. To come to. A conclusion. Now. If you have. The rules. And thoughts. Outlined. Then you can look. At your rules. And say. What is that rule. Based on. What kind of information. Am I using. To inform. This rule. What kind of. Information. Is that thought. Based on. Where is it coming from. How realistic. Is that thought. These ways. Of looking at your thoughts. And your rules. And the way. That your brain. Is actually. Processing the world. Can start. To. Give you. The option. Of elevating. Above. That. Right. Your thoughts. No longer. Will control. Your behavior. Your thoughts. And your rules. No longer control. Your perception. As much. Now. Are you going. To be able to escape. All of these. Absolutely not. But what you will be able. To do. Over time. Is build an awareness. Of those thoughts. Build an awareness. Of those rules. And start. Replacing them. With better thoughts. And better rules. This is a very heavy. Episode. And I want to open up. To everyone. And let you know. This is. Based off of my own. Experiences. With anxiety. I've dealt. With anxiety. Myself. And. This is. Essentially. An outline. Of. Cognitive. Behavioral. Therapy. CBT. This is something. That's really. Powerful. And even. This basic. Understanding. That's probably. Filled. With a lot of. You know. Kind of broken. Misunderstanding. Understandings. Even this. Can be helpful. To the average person. I highly recommend. If you're dealing. With anxiety. Depression. Any other mental health. Issues. That you contact. A professional. Don't try to take. My advice. And apply it. Right away. First. Go and talk. To your. To a professional. But if you're. An average person. If you aren't. Dealing with. Mental health. Issues. Serious mental health. Issues. Right now. Then these. Ways of thinking. Can actually just. Work to increase. Your mindfulness. It can help you. Become a. More mindful person. And that's. A very important part. Of your experience. As a developer. Is very important. Part of your experience. As a human. Thank you so much. For listening to today's. Episode of developer tea. I know this is a little bit. Of a heavy episode. But I hope it's helpful. For those of you. Who are experiencing. Similar things. And if you. Have experienced. This feeling. Of lying. To yourself. Hopefully. You can. Turn that around. A little bit. With some of these. Behaviors. Thank you so much. For listening. Thank you again. To WooCommerce. For sponsoring. Today's episode. Of developer tea. Such a wonderful thing. To have these. Incredible sponsors. WooCommerce. Is providing. Developer tea. Listeners. With 20%. Off. If they use the code. Developer tea. At checkout. Head over to. WooCommerce.com. Slash. Developer tea. To get started. Today. Thank you again. For listening. And if you like. This episode. Remember. Go ahead. And subscribe. So you don't miss out. On future episodes. Of developer. Tea. Thanks so much. And until next time. Enjoy your tea.