At the beginning of the week I wrote down a list of blog posts for this week and with respect to today’s category – Self Image & Self Love – I had written: “Man in the Mirror.”

I think there were two prompts that converged when that title came to me.

If I am not mistaken, somewhere in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, is a poem which poignantly ends with that line.

Whether I am recollecting correctly or not, the fact remains that I seem to have somewhere picked up that as a strong prompt.

Then my mind seems to have sought some sort of visual to pair with it and I remember a picture that Bob Proctor’s business partner – Sandy Gallagher – tends to trot during those portions of seminars in which she spoke.

This is the image of a orange cat facing away and toward a ‘looking glass’ in which it is staring at a lion.

Now, with respect to this later image, there are a couple of ways to “view” it.

The first is that the little puddy cat is absolutely delusional and if not having done so already is bound for a psychotic break.

The other view is that in that both the cat are felines, the reflection is the view of the cat’s desire to be, within the feline arena, it’s highest self.

Yes, it’s a stretch of the imagination, but the cat is looking in the mirror and seeing at that moment not what currently is, but that which purportedly could be.

OK, great! So, the take away then is to look in the mirror and see your potential.

No, I don’t think that is the full story either.

Instead, look when we look in the mirror we can see two things: (a) our current physical state; and (b) our imagined, bettered future self.

It is important to be able to see both, and to recognize each for what they are. Don’t conflate these two.

And as far as conflation goes, this works both ways.

Just as you don’t want to look in the mirror and only see one’s current self and believe there is no chance of achieving a better future self and as a result give up and thus ensuring that reality, don’t look into the mirror and fail to notice the areas which need improvement.

Also, I should add that while it’s good to check out the man in the mirror and see both his present and future self, there comes a point – quite swiftly I will add as well – when its time to stop looking in the mirror with one’s lamentations or possibly narcissism and to get to work.

I don’t know much about the later, but with respect to lamentations, I can tell you as a foremost expert that nothing good comes from constant and continued self beratement.

No, the point here is to notice what needs to be changed and then to go and get into action changing it. And what’s so cool when we are speaking strictly about the physical plane is that those changes can be achieved and perceived in fairly quick order provided one exerts the proper persistence.

As to the other aspect of life, I think that is bit harder from taking a look in the mirror.

Yet interestingly enough, in conducting my slight research for this post I discovered some literature which is exactly on point.

In 1989, Patrick Morley wrote the book Man in the Mirror: Solving the 24 Problems Men Face.

In that there have been over 3 million copies of this award winning book sold, I think this is a book worth reading.

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It’s Friday! Finish of the work week strong and get ready to have spectacular weekends. Cheers!