So what is so powerful about self-belief, and why should you care? That's something we will explore together.
What Is Self-Belief?
Put simply, self-belief is the knowledge that you can do anything you put your mind to. It might be the belief that you can train to run a marathon, or give an amazing presentation at work, or find a partner who is faithful.
When you believe in yourself, you don't just talk out loud or write on Facebook about the things you're going to do. You actually know it, deep in your soul.
Self-Belief Vs Arrogance
Some people think that self-belief is a form of arrogance. But that's simply not true.
Arrogance is about seeing yourself as superior, self-important and with overbearing pride. It also tends to be more about what you have done, instead of about who you are.
Self-belief is much quieter and modest. It's not about boasting or being better than others. Instead, self belief focuses on who you are as a person—it's the little voice in the back of your head that whispers, "You can do this."
When you are arrogant, you will rub people the wrong way, make enemies and generally trip yourself up, because ultimately, when you follow it back to the source, arrogance stems from a fear of not being good enough.
But when you have self-belief, you are able to overcome obstacles, and when things don't go your way, you can understand why it happened. Belief in yourself is essentially a belief in the universe that you can do all the things that you need to do in order to live the life you're meant to have.
Why We Struggle to Believe in Ourselves
Why is self-belief so hard? The truth is, society has made it hard to believe in ourselves.
With all of the focus on competing with each other to be stronger, smarter, skinnier, richer and more famous, we have lost the ability to focus on seeing ourselves without comparison or competition.
We often bring our loved ones down, as well. In fact, our own inferiority makes us want to point out other people's failures, so that we don't feel so bad for feeling like a failure.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to live a life of bringing other people down just to make myself feel better. I'd much rather live in a place of self-belief.
How Self-Belief Can Make Us More Powerful
So, how can self-belief help us to live a better life, and feel like we actually have control of our own lives?
When you have self-belief, you understand that every moment is your choice. You may not be able to choose everything that comes into your life, but you can choose how to react to all of those things.
People who practice self-belief generally lead amazing lives. They travel to exotic locations, work in jobs that others couldn't even dream of, and have fantastic relationships with other inspiring people.
Why? Because they choose to do so. They choose to find ways to bring travel into their life, they choose to create a dream job even if it takes years, and they choose to surround themselves with people that bring out the best in them.
Self-belief is the number one tool you need to create your own dream life, complete with whatever work life, social life and home life you desire.
How to Practice Self-Belief
All of this self-belief theory sounds great, but how on earth are you supposed to make it work in a typical daily life, filled with social media, superior friends and judgmental family members that all seem to have the power to make us feel inferior?
Make A Choice
You can start off very simply with this exercise. The idea is, everything is a choice. Not just the clothes you put on in the morning or the breakfast you eat, but the way that you react to everything.
Maybe you usually get frustrated when the train is delayed, but this is a choice. Try instead to choose to enjoy an extra few minutes before you have to do things.
Or maybe a family member starts criticizing you again. Your normal reaction might be to get teary, or to lash out and start an argument. Instead, try to choose again. Maybe you can thank them for their concern about the topic. Usually this will leave them speechless!
Any time you start to feel like you are not in control of your life, come back to practicing choice. The more you observe your choices, the more secure you will feel.
Visualize
If there is something you want to achieve, visualization is your friend. Athletes, entrepreneurs, actors, they all use visualization to 'see' their goals being reached.
Take a few minutes to sit comfortably with your eyes closed. Then visualize what it is you want to achieve. Get as deep into the vision as you can. What are you wearing? Who is surrounding you? Where are you? What can you hear, see, smell, taste, feel?
Once you've really experienced the vision and can feel yourself getting excited, jot down some notes about all of the ways that you can work towards it over the next few days or weeks. When you can see something happening, it's a lot easier to see how to get there.
Talk To Yourself
Want to learn how to believe in yourself? It's time to watch your words—to yourself, that is.
Many of us repeat slogans in our head when we think we've failed. It might be 'I'm such a loser", 'I'll never get to do this" or 'I'm not good enough."
When you notice a thought like this coming to mind, take a moment to write it down. Then cross it out, and rephrase it to something more supportive—something you might say to your best friend.
'I'm such a loser" might become "I have learned from my failures so I can succeed next time". 'I'll never get to do this" might become "I can keep working towards this'. 'I'm not good enough" might become "I can grow into this opportunity."
Then every time that thought pops back up, repeat your rephrased sentence to yourself. This will physically reprogram your brain to become more positive and likely to find creative solutions to problems.
Want to start working on your own self-belief? Share with us below: What is one thing you believe you can do?
