Sometimes we are in a position to look into the lives of other people. It could be through a book, or a movie, or a story we hear, or occasionally it could be someone that we meet. Sometimes when this happens, we see qualities that we truly admire, and we think that we would like to have those qualities. Perhaps we just look at the person and think that we would like to be like them. Maybe we hear what they have said and think that we would like to be able to say things like that. It could be that we would like to have what they have, or do what they do.

When this happens, what we are thinking about are our own rejected thoughts. Sometime in the past we have rejected a thought or thoughts, that the person we are admiring has accepted.

When, perhaps when we were very young, we rejected the thought that we could have what we have just been admiring in someone else, we accepted a lesser thought, and allowed that lesser thought to become part of our self image, and therefore part of our definition of ourselves.

Our self image lives in our sub-conscious mind. Because of the way the sub-conscious mind works, we can only have one self image with regard to any particular quality. If we really want to have the qualities we are admiring, and there is no reason why we can't, then we need to change our self image.

The first step is to be prepared to do just that. Think about this for a minute. Are you prepared to let go of what you have learned in the past, that you believe is true about yourself? By that I mean to examine the ideas that you 'know' are true about yourself, and then to take the new idea that you are considering, and to examine that idea, entertain that idea, to see if it will improve your view of yourself. Will accepting that new idea, and rejecting the idea that you currently 'know', result in a happier, healthier or more prosperous life. If the answer is yes, and you are prepared to do it, then you have the possibility to change your self image.

The methods we use to change our self image is outside the scope of this article, but taking the above actions is the first step.

If you are prepared to go through this process of examining what you 'know' about yourself, and deciding to reject what you 'know' and replace it with a more empowering 'fact', when you see a quality in someone else that you admire, why not do it more often?

Rather than merely listening to the messages, questions and statements that flow past you every day, why not think? Ask yourself what could this mean to me, how could I apply this idea in my life. Forget the questions you have asked in the past like 'Is this right?', or 'Is this wrong?' and ask instead 'Could accepting this idea improve my life in any way?'

Tony McGlinn runs personal development programs, writes and is a personal coach and consultant. You can visit him and subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.mypowerfulmind.com