“You have to believe in yourself. You have to be strong.” – Emma Stone
The quote from Emma Stone is an important reminder for all of us. We need to keep believing in ourselves and stay strong no matter what others say. We can’t let other people’s negativity affect our self-worth or how we see the world around us. In this blog post, I hope you’ll find ways to help you believe in yourself even when others don’t!
Let Go of The Past
People will try and tell you “who you are,” judging by how they “knew you” in the past.
It’s important to understand this, though:
When we focus on the past, it’s easy to believe that all hope is lost. It can be hard to believe in yourself when you’re thinking about how things used to be or what others have done to hurt you.
Let it go. Easier said than done, I realize that… but this is as good of information as you’ll ever need if you develop this skill. Just let it go. Meditation is the best way I know of to bring you to the present.
But if you keep focusing on what has happened in your life (the bad things), then there will never be anything good that happens in your life (the good things). If you believe that bad is all there is, it will be.
Prove Yourself Right
Here are some examples of how to do that:
- Write down a simple goal for the day and do it. This could be as simple as “eat an apple,” as long as it’s not already in your daily routine… this shows you that you can go out of your way to get something done when you really need to.
- Look at previous accomplishments. This will help you remember and understand the type of person you had to become to achieve those things.
- Repetition is the best way to believe in yourself and your abilities. The more you’ve done anything, the better you feel about it. Continue proving and reminding yourself that you can stick through anything.
You’re the only person who you have to show and convince. Other people’s opinions don’t matter when it really comes down to it; everyone is focused on themselves anyway.
You can be the absolute best at what you do, and it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t believe in yourself.
Face Your Fears, 1 Step at a Time
We all have fears; it’s natural. What makes us different is how we deal with them and if we let them control our lives.
Start by identifying your fears. This can be anything from public speaking to spiders. Once you know what they are, start thinking about why they scare you and what the worst-case scenario could be.
Start coming up with a plan on how to face your fears. This could be anything from taking baby steps (like reading one chapter of a book instead of the whole thing) to imagining the worst-case scenario and then proving yourself wrong.
The most important part is to take action and not just talk about it. It’s easy to say, “I’m going to face my fears” and much more difficult to actually go do it.
Take baby steps, one at a time! Don’t try too hard, or you’ll end up putting pressure on yourself that will lead nowhere… take small actions so your brain can register them as being possible.
I suggest checking out NHSinform.scot for a great and very practical article on facing your fears, there’s a lot of great information in there.
You can do this; believe in yourself!
Focus on the Present Moment
If you’re thinking about the past, it’s easy to feel down and jaded.
Focusing on what others are doing can make you doubt yourself even more (why don’t I do X like Y?). But if instead of focusing on what has happened or how things could be different from reality, we pay attention to the present moment, we start feeling better.
Think about it like this: when you look up into a starry night sky, do you think, “I wish I had a telescope so I could see even more stars”? No, you accept the number of stars and enjoy the moment. You’re happy with seeing a few hundred, or even thousands!
Imagine your life as a never-ending journey. There will always be new things to discover and learn about, so don’t focus on the past or others! Embrace every moment for what it is, and you’ll find that your happiness starts increasing!
Don’t Question Your Decisions
When you question your decisions, it’s easy to doubt yourself and what you’re doing. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “maybe they were right.”
However
If you believe in yourself and your decisions with everything you’ve got, that belief will help carry you through anything—negative relatives, negative “friends,” negative colleagues, etc.
Believe in the person you are at this point and focus on whatever it is that solely you find important, and run with it. This post from The Everygirl is a great source for understanding why we doubt ourselves in the first place.
Closing
Even when others don’t, believing in yourself is certainly a hard task to accomplish at first. Support is amazing to have in your life, and it’s rough when you don’t have much. HOWEVER, it is certainly not necessary. You can achieve anything and everything; you’re the only person who decides where you want your life to take you. Make sure you make it enjoyable for you.
Love you,
Mason