Gram’s Wisdom 34 Believing in you
Should you believe in yourself? The plain answer is no one else will. Try accomplishing anything, and guess what? You will have an uphill climb to your goal. Sure, you will get there eventually, but any doubts you have will make it much more difficult than it needs to be.
You can’t do everything yourself. At some point, you are certain to need the help of someone for something. If you don’t believe in yourself, how will you ever convince others that they can or should?
I think I must have been 12 or 13 when my Gram thought I was old enough to absorb this lesson. This was a tough one for me. I honestly didn’t believe in myself. But I had believed in her all my life.
Gram told me if you believe in yourself, there is little that can stop you from doing whatever you want to accomplish. It gives you the ability to push forward and to defy the odds.
You will be able to handle any hurdles that come your way. You will also be able to disregard the pessimists. It gives you peace of mind when you stick to your self-belief.
A firm belief in yourself can work wonders
It’s vital to believe in yourself
Your spouse and your family will believe in you to a certain degree. However, when times get tough, family support tends to wane. It’s not that they don’t love and care about you. It’s just they stopped believing in you or your dream/goal. While this doesn’t always occur, it often occurs enough to cause disagreement.
When a spouse or parents initially give you support for a new enterprise, there is excitement in the air; they tell you to give it your best shot. When the undertaking doesn’t work out as they believe it should, they begin to question whether you should continue with it. If your belief weakens, you may take on their way of reasoning.
That time is exactly the moment that you shouldn’t stop. People don’t get ahead by quitting. Your belief in yourself should equip you with the ability to tell your friends and family to have some faith. A firm belief in yourself would give you the courage to stand up to them.
Maintaining self-belief takes perseverance
The trouble is, the path towards success in these endeavors is not a straight line. Having some bumps in the road is normal. This is what characterizes the success of the enterprise, and the people who take risks. It should be embraced and not feared. Whatever venture you decide to pursue, know that only by continuing will you make it work.
Don’t take the easy way out. Instead, prepare yourself as much as possible for unfamiliar situations. But move forward with a strong belief that you can accomplish what you set out to do.
Self-belief powers your dreams, desires, and goals
To keep that self-belief strong, you need to describe your goals. You wouldn’t expect a contractor to build a house without a blueprint. You, too, need an outline to guide you on how to continue. Too many people skip this step and wonder why they aren’t getting anywhere.
Goals are your direction but moving ahead with them is only done when you believe that it’s possible. The belief is the momentum you need to act. It helps you to concentrate on getting your tasks complete.
Confidence is built on self-belief
You will also build confidence when you have self-belief. It’s an influential tool and others will be attracted to that confidence. They will follow your lead, and you will help show them what is imaginable. When you stumble over obstacles (and you will), that confidence will help you see them through. You will know how to take alternate actions when necessary. The people following you will appreciate that as well.
Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative
Several negative forces will try to knock you down. You may even find yourself allowing it to happen. You need to remain focused on why you began your journey in the first place. Use positive affirmations to support your idea. Be consistent with your affirmations.
Unfortunately, many of the negative forces are going to come from your family and friends. They will see it as helping you prevent blunders. Many people will succumb to this negative pressure and give up.
One way to counteract this is to join groups of like-minded individuals. It can be related to your business, or it can be groups that focus on self-help. These organizations exist to try and drive the negative forces out. It’s a good place to go and receive reassurance from the group.
Attending these groups can sometimes lead to friendships with people where you can extend the encouragement of each other. You may even form business collaborations from these friendships. It’s good to know that you have the support of these people when these relationships form. They understand when everyone else around you don’t. Your self-belief will strengthen considerably from this arrangement.
Find others who can motivate and inspire you
The motivation of others can bolster belief in yourself
Think back to a time when someone inspired you. It could be a conference you attended or saw online. You might have read a profile of someone you admired. Whatever the case, the motivation of others can strengthen how you see yourself.
The internet gives us plenty of opportunities to view the stories of high-profile people. Just search on YouTube, and you will find hundreds (if not thousands) of videos of these people sharing their experiences. You will find books covering the same subject. However, there's usually more detail in books rather than in a video. Therefore, you should take advantage of both.
Don’t mistake motivation and inspiration for necessary action
It’s important to have others who help inspire and motivate you. However, if you place them too high on a pedestal, you may find it difficult to motivate yourself. You begin to suppose these people have an innate ability that you don’t possess. That is counterproductive. You need to recognize they all began the same as you. Some may have had initial advantages, but even people with these advantages don’t always excel. Most people still need to work hard to reach their goals.
Another issue is spending too much time listening or reading about people who motivate you. You must take appropriate action to move ahead with your own goals. It is useful to be motivated by others, but you need to do more than go to seminars or read books. None of that matters unless you put in the effort yourself. Once that happens, others may come to you one day to say how you helped motivate them.
My final thought
Self-belief is one of the most valuable things you can do for your life and yourself. It’s not easy to think positively about yourself when you are besieged on all sides by negativity. But to believe in yourself is certainly worth any effort you make.
For additional information, please read this post by Soul Salt.
I hope you enjoyed this post and will share it with people you love.