In my journey, like everyone else’s, I have faced many challenges, and like everyone else, I have tried to deal with these challenges by trying different things. I tried to read motivational stories to get inspired, I tried to talk to myself to overcome my fear, I tried to learn the art of patience by controlling my thoughts and have made other such efforts to become my best self. But it has not always worked. While I know that these are important qualities, there is something even more basic and yet very impactful.
What I discovered
When I started thinking about the source of all my fears and problems, I realised that I was lacking one very important thing- Self-belief. It is so obvious and cliched but still most of us don’t pay enough attention towards building it up.
If you think about it, what is the cause of the boundaries that you set for yourself? Well, you never believe that you are good enough to achieve things that lie beyond those boundaries and what starts with a doubt, never goes too far.
Do you think Steve Jobs could have created Apple without believing that he could? And what kind of a guy goes after building electric cars and space rockets? Do you think that Elon Musk is the only talented engineer and entrepreneur who could have achieved something like this? What I think is that he is the only one who believed that he could build something like this.
The more I started analysing lives of the people who had made a difference in the world, however small, I started to see a pattern. These are the people who relentlessly believed in their vision, thoughts and abilities. That’s when I realised that my goals were set so low because I didn’t believe in my own self.
What it actually means
Self-belief doesn’t mean that you will just achieve it because you think that you can do it. What it does mean is that you have self-confidence to do everything that it takes to achieve what you want, and you won’t give up until you have it. What it also means is that you no longer need external affirmation for your thoughts. You do not need other people to tell you that you are good or bad at something. All you know is what you want and that you are going to achieve it. Self-belief is the bridge between wishful thinking and doing things to make those wishes would come true.
Self-belief is not just a motivational thought, it is real. You want to know why? Because, mind is very powerful and knows no boundaries. If it believes that it can, then it will find ways to accomplish it. It’s not like you would instantly become successful or find happiness or whatever it is that you are looking for, but you will surely start working on a way to reach the ultimate goal.
How to get there?
#1 You deserve it
Unless you really believe that you deserve the best, you are not going to try hard enough to get there. Believing that you deserve to live a better life is the first step towards believing in yourself.
#2 Picture yourself with what you want to achieve
Make it a regular practice to picture yourself with what you are trying to accomplish. It could be a college degree or a promotion or a healthy relationship or your own start-up. The good feeling that you get when you see yourself living a life that you desire pushes you want to make it happen.
#3 Celebrate
You have to give yourself credit for small successes that come your way. Don’t be shy of giving a pat on your own back when you achieve something, big or small. It will make you believe that you are capable of reaching where you belong.
#4 Look inside, not outside
There is a treasure that lies within you, so tap into it. Your thoughts and will can defeat anything that comes your way. Just, stop relying on external appreciation to define your self- worth. You worth is as high or as low as you believe it to be.
#5 Kill negativity
There will always be enough people to pull you down and tell you that you are not good enough. Just don’t let them do that! Ignore them or even better, over-power them with your self-belief and positivity.
We all can live the life we wish to live and accomplish things which seem impossible to us, all it takes is to believe in ourselves.