I got into a fair bit of trouble when I was a kid. One of the things that seems funny now is when I did something that my parents did not like and I said, “but I thought…,” my step-father would respond, “That’s what you get for thinking.”

Not sure exactly what he was trying to teach me there. Luckily the lesson was lost on me and did not prevent me from continuing to think about things.

One of my sisters had it worse. Somehow my parents thought it was ok to tell her she was “a day late and a dollar short.” I don’t remember how this started, but I cannot imagine it helped her confidence. Nonetheless, she had a great career and is now transitioning to a second career in which I am sure she will be successful. I do wonder though whether those negative messages from our childhood made things harder for us.

When you think about the messages you heard when you were growing up, are they helping you? If not, it is up to you to change your story (the story you tell yourself).