If you view yourself as a brave person, you are more likely to do brave things. If you view yourself as kind, you are more inclined towards kind things. If you view yourself as a disciplined individual, you are more likely to work hard than if you viewed yourself as undisciplined. This is called one’s “self-perception” and controlling it can be a superpower.

How you view yourself is of extreme importance. You need to view yourself as a good person, as a brave and strong person. You have to view yourself as the person you want to become. The basic idea here is that if you can view yourself as something then you are more likely to behave in that way.

I’ll give an example. I sometimes struggle to focus on things, but it wouldn’t be beneficial to view myself as someone who is easily distracted. That’s because this would take the power away from me and outsource it to something I cannot control, to some sort of unchangeable characteristic. Instead, I view myself as someone who can focus, and I think that that gives me the best possible chance of being able to focus. Even if I have a tendency to not be able to focus, even if this self-perception seems faulty, believing it is like a mind hack, I can convince myself that I am capable. And I was this whole time, wasn’t I? I just needed to change how I viewed myself.

How do you view yourself? Do you view yourself as exceptional? It’s important that you do. Let’s say you’re writing an essay. If you view yourself as an average or poor writer, you’re going to write out an average essay, look it over, and think “This is what I’m capable of.” If you view yourself as an exceptional writer, you’re going to put more effort into your work. You’re going to look it over and think “I can improve this a little,” and you’re going to work on it until it’s as good as you can possibly make it. Even if it’s still not peak writing, it’s better than how it would have been if you viewed yourself as less than. It’s in this way that you can use your self-perception to change your reality and achieve your maximum potential.

Similarly, if you view yourself as a kind or brave person, you are more likely to do kind or brave things. If you view yourself as someone who is generous, you’re more likely to share with other people. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you’ll become a better person for it. I wrestle. If I view myself as a brave individual, I have a better chance of winning my matches because I am more confident, I’m not afraid of my opponent, and I’m willing to take risks and put myself out there. It’s a superpower.

You can be anything you want to be. You just have to start viewing yourself as that person, starting today, starting right now, and eventually, you will become that. Your perception is your reality.