Believing in yourself is a journey, not a destination. There will be times when you doubt yourself, but that’s okay. The important thing is to keep going and to never give up on yourself. If you can do that, you will achieve your goals.
Starting something new is scary. Learning to believe in yourself can be a critical precursor to starting a new initiative. Why is it so important to learn to believe in yourself? How can someone work on gaining these skills? In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, authors, writers, coaches, medical professionals, teachers, to share empowering insights about “How To Learn To Believe In Yourself.” As a part of this series we had the pleasure of interviewing Cherise Beasley.
Cherise Beasley, also known as “Cherise B.”, has over three decades of experience in hair, beauty, and image entrepreneurship. As a mentor and coach, she assists aspiring professionals in transforming from ordinary beauty specialists to accomplished CEOs. In addition, Cherise is also an innovative ecosystem creator and energy healer, coaching high-performance leaders and individuals to overcome limiting thoughts and beliefs through her transformative book, “Feeling Good As H.E.L.L. (Healing, Evolving, Loving, Living) Formula.” Her unique strategies enable swift mental paradigm shifts, or quantum leaps, propelling them towards a life of triumph. At the core of her pursuit lies the principles of building Community, fostering Evolution, and crafting Opportunities — the true embodiment of a CEO.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
Growing up, I was surrounded by a family of talented beauticians who ran their own salon. I was captivated by the transformative exchange that took place when they made a woman look and feel her best, and then were paid in return. I knew then that I absolutely wanted that type of exchange in my life.
From then on, I made it my duty to assure that everyone in my vicinity was looking and feeling good to the best of my ability. Even as an athlete, I was concerned about my teammates looking good when we left the locker room or the track. I felt like we were representing the team, our school, and ourselves as individuals. I understood the assignment as young as I was, not realizing we were building our personal brands, even then.
However, it wasn’t without challenges. I personally struggled with self-image as a lighter-skinned individual within my immediate family. My mom, brother, and sister were rich brown tones, my grandparents on my mom’s side, and my dad and uncles predominantly consisted of darker skin tones, which I adored. Then, there were my beautiful aunts and cousins who were a mix of all kinds of skin tones. I think it confused me a little. Not that I understood or could articulate why at the time. I just knew I wanted to be of a darker tone. I think it was because of how beautiful I thought my mother was. Tragically, colorism, which is deeply rooted in racism, affects many Black Americans — instilling feelings of unworthiness based on the shades of our skin. Despite these adversities, I persevered through it all, motivated by the desire to change minds and reshape society’s perceptions.
This enchanting fusion of beauty, fashion, emotions, and confidence inspired me to create my “Feeling Good As H.E.L.L. Movement,” a platform aimed at helping people embrace their extraordinary unique beauty and feel empowered, regardless of their skin tone, flaws and all.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
LOL!! Yes, funny, of course now I call them funny lessons, not mistakes. When I first started out, I made a silly mistake that I can look back on now and laugh about. In my early days as a brick and mortar owner, my business partner and I decided to lease a building that was beyond our means. We thought we could make it work, but it was a struggle for the first few years. We had to cut back on our expenses and work really hard, but we eventually made it work. It was a long and difficult road, but it taught me a lot about myself and about business. I learned that it’s important to be realistic about your finances and to plan ahead. I also learned that it’s important to be patient and persistent. If you’re willing to work hard and never give up, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I’m excited to announce my inaugural Feeling Good As H.E.L.L. Summit, happening later this year! The pandemic was a wake-up call for me, pushing me to be louder, bolder, and more consistent in my life, business, and brand. The sudden slowdown was a shock for those of us with brick-and-mortar businesses, but it also allowed me to reprogram my limiting beliefs and mindset. I finished writing my book, which I had procrastinated on for years. And as someone who loves networking and meeting new people, this is one of the first major events I’ve been able to host in two years.
I’m looking forward to sharing my community, rituals, and success systems with my audience and in my book, The Feeling Good As H.E.L.L. Formula. I believe that everyone deserves to feel good about themselves, regardless of their skin tone, flaws, or anything else. This summit is a celebration of our unique beauty and a reminder that we are all capable of achieving our dreams.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to believe in yourself? Can you share a story or give some examples?
Belief in oneself is undoubtedly a crucial element in achieving success and happiness. It forms the foundation of our thoughts and actions, determining the overall outcome of our lives.
There are several reasons why it is essential to believe in yourself:
1. Belief empowers you: Have you ever noticed how you feel when you believe in yourself? You feel more confident, more capable, and more likely to take action towards your goals. When you believe in yourself, it’s like you have a superpower. You can do anything you set your mind to.
2. Belief nurtures resilience: Have you ever noticed how some people seem to be able to bounce back from anything? They get knocked down, but they always get back up. They never give up on themselves or their dreams.
What’s their secret? It’s their core belief in themselves. They know that they are capable of anything they set their minds to. They know that they can overcome any obstacle.
When you believe in yourself, you are more resilient. You are able to bounce back from setbacks and challenges. You are able to learn from your mistakes and grow stronger.
3. Belief affects perception: Have you ever noticed how some people seem to always see the glass as half full, while others always see it as half empty? It’s not just about their attitude, it’s also about their beliefs.
Your belief system shapes how you perceive the world around you. If you believe that you are capable and that you can achieve your goals, you will be more likely to see opportunities and potential for success. On the other hand, if you believe that you are not capable and that you will never achieve your goals, you will be more likely to see obstacles and reasons to give up.
What exactly does it mean to believe in yourself? Can I believe that I can be a great artist even though I’m not very talented? Can I believe I can be a gold medal Olympic even if I’m not athletic? Can you please explain what you mean?
The things you believe about yourself can have a big impact on your life. If you believe you’re capable of achieving your goals, you’re more likely to put in the effort to make them happen. But if you have unrealistic expectations, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
So, it’s important to make sure your beliefs align with who you are at your core. If you’re not very talented as a musician or artist, for example, it’s probably not realistic to expect to become famous or profitable. But if you’re passionate about music or art, you can still find ways to pursue your dreams and achieve success.
Belief to me, also means that I can create something out of nothing. I may not be able to create the big seemingly unrealistic goal or dream, but I can reevaluate based on where I am in life, my skills and resources and from there I can reimagine , redefine and recreate what I want. Sometimes we just get stuck in the old limiting thoughts and beliefs and don’t realize that we can create what we want.
The key is to focus on the things you can control, like your actions, your attitude, and your mindset. If you can do that, you’ll be much more likely to achieve your goals.
Was there a time when you did not believe in yourself? How did this impact your choices?
There was indeed a time when I did not believe in myself. It was during this period that I noticed a significant impact on the choices that I made.
When my self-confidence was low, I often avoided taking risks or pursuing opportunities that could have led to personal growth or advancement. Rather than stepping out of my comfort zone, I settled for what felt safe and familiar. This, in turn, limited my experiences and made it difficult for me to reach my full potential.
Looking back, it’s clear that having faith in myself is crucial for making positive choices and achieving success. Once I began to rebuild my confidence and believe in my abilities, I noticed a shift in my decisions, which eventually helped me grow professionally and personally in quantum leaps.
At what point did you realize that in order to get to the next level, it would be necessary to build up your belief in yourself? Can you share the story with us?
There was a point in my life where everything seemed to be falling apart. My marriage was deteriorating, my business was struggling, and my overall self-confidence had reached an all-time low. It felt like I was stuck in a downward spiral with no way of breaking free.
It was at this moment that I realized the power of belief in oneself. Instead of dwelling on my failures and the negative aspects of my life, I decided to change my mindset and focus on what I could control — my thoughts and actions. I began reading books on self-improvement, attending seminars, and actively working to rebuild myself and create positive change with mainly my consistent morning and nighttime rituals
As I repetitively talked to myself more about who I was and less about who and what I wasn’t I strengthened my belief in myself, I noticed significant shifts in my personal and professional life. My relationships improved as I performed my business. Reflecting back now, it’s clear that the key to turning things around was developing a strong conviction in my abilities and potential.
I hope sharing this story serves as a valuable reminder of the transformative power of believing in ourselves. A steadfast belief can truly help us overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.
What are your top 5 strategies that will help someone learn to believe in themselves? Please share a story or example for each.
Believing in yourself is essential for success in any area of life. When you believe in yourself, you are more likely to take risks, try new things, and achieve your goals. However, if you don’t believe in yourself, it can be difficult to overcome challenges and achieve your dreams.
If you’re struggling to believe in yourself, here are five strategies that can help:
- Learn the 12 universal laws of the universe. The 12 Laws of the universe describe the way things operate in this time-space reality. These universal laws are always working whether you are aware of them or not, so not understanding them puts you at a disadvantage in life.
- To feel more confident, set goals and track progress. For example, if you want to get to an ideal weight, set a goal to exercise for 30 minutes a day and track progress each week by recording how many days you meet your goal.
- The success you achieve deserves to be celebrated! It will instantly boost your confidence and remind you of your capability to achieve your goals. Spend some time with the ones that bring joy to your life or indulge in something that you love. Finally, reflect on your progress and how far you have come.
- Choose the people you spend time with wisely. The people you surround yourself with have a big impact on your self-belief. If you surround yourself with positive people who believe in you, it will be much easier to believe in yourself.
- Challenge your negative thoughts. Everyone has negative thoughts, but if you don’t challenge them, they can start to affect your self-esteem. Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. For example, if you have the thought “I’m not good enough,” you could challenge that thought by saying to yourself “ I am good enough.” Or, if you think, “I’m going to fail,” you could challenge that thought by saying to yourself, “ I am not a failure, I will keep at this until I WIN.”
Believing in yourself is a journey, not a destination. There will be times when you doubt yourself, but that’s okay. The important thing is to keep going and to never give up on yourself. If you can do that, you will achieve your goals.
Conversely, how can one stop the negative stream of self-criticism that often accompanies us as we try to grow?
If you want to stop negative self-talk and start believing in yourself, stop in your tracks and OWN your ISH!!! You need to immediately face yourself, and take accountability — full stop for where you are in life. You need to challenge any limiting beliefs you have about yourself that may cause you to feel like a victim in any way. Do the work to discover and acknowledge your own worth.
I believe when you change how you see yourself, feel about yourself and how you value yourself is the secret to belief in yourself. It dictates your thinking and when you truly believe in YOU, you’re more likely to take risks and try new things. You’re also more likely to set goals and achieve them.
When you change how you see, feel, and value yourself, you will be more likely to believe in yourself and take the necessary risks to achieve your goals. So don’t give up. Keep challenging your negative thoughts and believing in yourself. You can do it!
Are there any misconceptions about self-confidence and believing in oneself that you would like to dispel?
Let’s talk about self-confidence. It’s something that everyone wants, but only some know how to get it. Some people think that it’s something you’re either born with or not. But I’m here to tell you that that’s not true. Self-confidence is something you can develop, and it’s not as hard as you might think.
The first step is to believe in yourself. You have to believe that you are capable of achieving your goals. You have to believe that you are good enough. And you have to believe that you deserve to be happy.
Once you believe in yourself, you need to take action. You need to set goals and work towards them. You need to put yourself out there and take risks. And you need to learn from your mistakes.
Building self-confidence takes time and effort. But it’s worth it. When you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. So don’t give up on yourself. Keep working on yourself, and you will eventually reach your goals.
What advice would you give to someone who is struggling with imposter syndrome?
If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome, I advise you to challenge those negative thoughts immediately. When you have a thought that makes you feel like you’re not good enough, try to counteract it by focusing on your accomplishments, talents, and abilities. Remind yourself of all the things you’ve done well and all the things you’re good at. This practice will help you build a stronger foundation of self-belief and help you overcome the overwhelming feelings of inadequacy that come with imposter syndrome.
Remember that imposter syndrome is not uncommon as you continue to challenge those negative thoughts. Many successful people have experienced it at some point in their lives. Be kind to yourself and practice self-compassion. You will become resilient despite those self-doubting thoughts with time and consistent effort.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
If I could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, it would definitely be centered around my FEELING GOOD as H.E.L.L. Formula. This movement would encourage people of all races, nationalities, cultures, and mindsets to come together as one, to embrace oneness, and to heal, evolve, love, and live life to our fullest potential as a co-creating collective.
I truly believe that if we can learn to work together and focus on positivity, we have the power to bring about great change and make the world a better place for everyone.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
If given the chance, I would love to have a meal with Eckhart Tolle and Maya Angelou.
Eckhart Tolle’s teachings on mindfulness and spirituality have immensely impacted my life, reminding me to stay present in the moment and find joy in everyday experiences. Similarly, Maya Angelou’s wise words and inspiring poetry have been a source of motivation to never give up in the face of adversity.
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.