Believing in ourselves is essential to living our best lives—we hear it all the time.
“Believe in yourself!” we’re told. Then everything will magically work out.
Still, it’s often easier said than done, so I gathered some tips to help you out. If you have more, please share!
1. Do something.
The best way to convince yourself that you can do what your inner voice is compelling you to do is to do it! Often we let self-doubt stop us from even trying. The great thing is that you can take baby steps and it will still work.
If you are a musician, for example, and you feel your purpose in life is to perform, but you lack belief in yourself, take a baby step. Perform for family, friends, or a community gathering. Make it small and as non-threatening as possible. When you pull it off, you’ll feel just a little more confident, which will help you build belief. Then, take another baby step. Do it again.
2. Surround yourself with heroes.
One of the best ways to stimulate your own belief that “you can do it” is to fill your life with good examples. If you want to be a great cardiovascular surgeon, for example, find others that you can admire. Read their books, check out their websites, visit them at the hospital if you can.
Track down stories about other surgeons who have done things you want to do. Even fictional characters can work to get your motivation going. Hang pictures up and rent DVDs about great cardiovascular surgeons. Fill your life with your heroes and they will inspire you to keep trying.
3. Make room in your schedule.
You’ll never believe in yourself if all you do is dream. You can be anything you want in your fantasy life, but if you want to take it to the next level and actually have a chance at fulfilling your purpose in this reality, you’ve got to make room in your life for that to happen.
Think you’re too busy? If you let that stop you, you’re making the decision to keep your life just the way it is. Make room in your schedule, even if it’s only a half hour a day, to start working on your dream.
4. Get healthy!
This may seem a strange one, but if you’re lacking motivation, it could be a physical problem.
I’m always more motivated when I’m feeling good and have lots of energy to put toward those activities that I’m passionate about. When I’m dragging around, everything seems a lot harder and a lot less possible.
Make a point to eat right, exercise at least 30 minutes every day, and get enough sleep most every night. A healthy body will better support you as you try to take risks and step out of your comfort zone.
5. Realize that not believing yourself is a habit—and break it.
Many of us think that belief in oneself is a personality trait that we can’t really change. It’s true that some people naturally have more belief than others, but wherever you are on the scale, realize that you can change it.
There are a lot of successful people who weren’t born believing they could do it. I mentioned some of them in a previous post on self-doubt (including Meryl Streep and Maya Angelou). The difference is they listened to that driving desire inside them—that quiet inner voice—and couldn’t bear to ignore where it would lead.
If you feel that drive inside you, recognize the habits you have that aren’t self-serving. Putting yourself down? Tell yourself to stop. Discouraged over a recent failure? Remind yourself that failure is required to learn and grow. Doubting yourself? Do it anyway. With each little step, your habits will change.
Bottom line: take action toward your goal. Action is the only way to success!
How do you encourage belief in yourself? Please share your tips.
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Great advice! So much of what we accomplish starts with what we believe. I just read a quote today, “I will see it when I believe it.” (Instead of, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”) Those are really helpful tips. #2 especially helps me- when someone else can do something, I tell myself that I can too! My best friend drinks tea without any sweetener. I decided I could retrain my taste buds and do the same- and it worked! Saved me probably 600 calories a day. (I liked a lot of honey in my tea…)
Great quote, Chere! It’s hard to really adapt that sort of thinking, but it works! Nice job on the tea! For me, it was hearing some of my favorite writers read night after night at a week long conference in Florida. It’s like I was absorbing what they knew night after night—my writing took a jump after that, and now I read one of my heroes out loud every day. Thanks so much for your thoughts!