Million Dollar Habits

How You See Yourself 
The second part of your self-concept is your 
self-image
. Beginning with the work 
of Dr. Maxwell Maltz, and his book 
Psycho-Cybernetics
, we learn that the way 
you see yourself on the 
inside
largely determines how you perform on the 
outside
. 
If you see yourself as positive, popular, productive and successful on the inside, 
that is exactly how you will act on the outside. The way you behave on the outside 
will largely determine the results that you get. The results that you get will 

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Million Dollar Habits – Page 32 
reinforce your self-concept, in either a positive or negative way, and will set you 
up to repeat the same behaviors in the next similar situation. 
Your self-concept is often called your “inner mirror.” This is the mirror that you 
look into prior to engaging in any performance, or entering into any event of 
importance. If you see yourself as confident and successful prior to meeting a new 
person, applying for a job, or making a presentation, that is how you will perform 
in the actual situation. If you have a poor self-image, if you see yourself as not 
being particularly popular, confident, or attractive, your negative self-image will 
cause you to feel clumsy, awkward and inadequate in subsequent situations. 
One of the most important habits that you develop is the habit of feeding your 
mind with positive pictures and images of yourself performing at your very best 
prior to every situation of importance. Take a few moments, as athletes, politicians 
and performers do, and imagine yourself as if you were outstanding at what you 
were about to do. Hold that picture in your mind for as long as you possibly can. 
Then, relax and let it go. Later, when you find yourself in that situation, your 
subconscious mind will remember the picture and give you the words, actions and 
gestures that correspond exactly to the picture that you created a short time before.