You've always been told, and felt, that you had a definite weakness in your personality. You are never ruthless enough in business, never able to say “no” in friendships and you even let the kids walk all over you. Outwardly you appear to be coping, you often appear over-assertive to the point of aggression. “This will show everyone who's boss”, your thoughts scream. Underneath you're really a total wimp and feelings of inadequacy cannot help but creep in. “Am I up to the job?”, “Am I good enough...?” always lingers in your mind. “My boss always reacts perfectly to every situation, if only I was more like that…”
The perfect reaction pressure on yourself to is often the most dangerous one. Thecontinue reacting perfectly is immense. Outwardly, everything and every reaction appears perfect. But can you keep it up? Surely you'll crack under the strain eventually? How are you going to cope? Particularly now, in modern life the stress caused by keeping up appearances becomes greater all the time. “You have to keep this job to pay the mortgage”, “Living expenses are increasing each year”, “Life's cracking at the edges but I'll wait it out until things get better”. No wonder so many feel inadequate at times.
You might still be carrying your feelings of self-doubt around from your childhood. Your parents first said them, and school reinforced them. If your parents questioned your self-worth, how can they possibly be wrong? After all, as a child you felt they had all the answers to life. But did they?