Blog #59 – BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
If you want to be successful, you need to believe in yourself. The process toward believing in yourself begins by gathering information on any task you pursue. Knowing that you have gathered information to make informed decisions is very important in trusting that you will make the right one. The information that is required might be obtained from various sources. It might come from materials you read from various media. The information might come from things that you see. A lot of the information we gather will also come from other people. The better informed we are, the more confidence we will have in what we do and say.
Another thing that contributes to believing in yourself is validation from those around you. Listening to others’ opinions is important, but you need to be cautious about what they say about you. Always filter what people say about you. You need to make informed decisions on the opinions of others. Whether what you are told is positive or negative feedback, determine if what they say is valid. If it is positive feedback, determine if you are accepting it as valid because it is what you want to hear. If it is something that is negative, try and determine if it is construction criticism. Validation is more likely if it comes from people that are informed about the topic you are talking about or the task you are performing.
With age comes experience. Your willingness to constantly improve yourself contributes immensely to self-confidence. Trust your instincts. Be aware that as your base of knowledge expands and as your experience in the things you do is augmented, you will more likely have a better understanding of your ability to be successful. With success comes a greater belief in your abilities to do things. Believing in yourself is at the core of others believing in you. Others will trust your opinions or actions if you show them that you believe in yourself. If you are willing to self-analyze your words and actions on a regular basis, you will reinforce the idea that you do believe in yourself.