You may wonder why it is so important to believe in yourself. Is this just a bunch of personal development hype, or what? No, it’s absolutely not just a bunch of hype, and the simple answer is that if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. Period.

But according to a scientific study on the biochemistry of belief: 

“Beliefs are like ‘Internal commands’ to the brain as to how to represent what is happening, when we congruently believe something to be true. In the absence of beliefs or inability to tap into them, people feel disempowered. … We have the power to choose our beliefs. Our beliefs become our reality.”

So this thing is really quite serious! You may be greatly loved and cherished by those closest to you, but belief is an entirely different idea. Your spouse and close family may believe in you to a certain extent. However, when times get tough, family support might wane. It’s not that they don’t love and care about you. It’s just they stopped believing in you. Hard to swallow, but true anyhow. 

While this doesn’t always happen, it happens often enough to cause conflict and a change in your self-perception. An example is when a spouse or parents initially give you support on a new venture. When the venture doesn’t work out as they believe it should, they start to question whether you should continue with it. If your belief starts to weaken, you may give in to their way of thinking. This is very dangerous. If you see this start to happen, you need to do something about it. There may not be anything you can do to gain their belief, but, there is most definitely something ng you can do to rescue your own belief in yourself. At the end of the day, that’s your only real responsibility.

The reason their belief in you starts to weaken in the first place is probably due to a fear of the unknown. When you start a new venture, everyone is excited for you and will tell you to give it your best shot. However, when the prospects of the business or project become murkier, that excitement turns to fear. Excitement is a temporary emotion that feeds on outside evidence to stay alive.

The problem is the path towards success for these ventures is not a straight line upward. Having some bumps in the road is normal. In fact, this is what defines the success of the enterprise, and the people who are taking risks. How well do they handle the bumps and keep going? This process should be embraced and not feared. Why, because the journey, most times is just as an important part of the process, then the end result. When you persist in the face of many obstacles, you become a greater version of yourself. You begin to grow into the person who can more easily handle the pressure of success. Since inward growth is oftentimes elusive to the human eye, it requires an even stronger belief in yourself to stay the course.

How Fear Can Be a Threat to Your Self Belief

Let’s take a deeper look at our example above. If you continually listen to the naysayers, the fear of the unknown may start to creep into your psyche. It will become easier and easier to listen to your family and friends that tell you to dissolve your venture because it is failing. They will continue down this negative path until you finally decide to stop. If you do choose to give up on your business, they will tell you that it wasn’t meant to be and that starting a business is difficult. 

This is precisely the moment that you shouldn’t stop. You’ll never overcome obstacles and get ahead by quitting on a dream that was given to YOU. When you strengthen your belief in yourself, you will have developed the necessary conviction to see it through. You will find the appropriate guidance to give you the strength and strategy to surge ahead. A firm belief in yourself will give you the courage to stand up to those who may have lost the faith necessary to see the invisible. 

Whatever venture you decide to pursue, know that only by having a strong belief in yourself will you see it through and make it work. 

Keeping Self Belief Strong By Setting Goals

Self-belief is a muscle. When you continue to use it, it grows stronger and stronger. When you practice believing in yourself, there is little to stop you in whatever you want to accomplish. Self belief gives you the power to push forward and to defy the odds. You will be able to handle those roadblocks that come your way. You will continue to brush off the naysayers. It gives you peace of mind and empowers your spirit when you stick to your self-belief.

To keep that self-belief strong, you need to define your goals. You wouldn’t expect a general to fight a war without a map. You too need a map to guide you on how to proceed. Too many people skip this step and wonder why they aren’t getting anywhere.

Goals are your guidance, but carrying through with them is only done when you believe that it’s possible. The belief is the energy you need to take action. It helps you to focus on getting your tasks completed and accomplishing your goals.

Self Belief Builds Confidence

You will also build confidence when you maintain self-belief. It’s a powerful tool and others will be attracted to that confidence. They will follow your lead, and you will help show them what is possible with continued self belief. When you run into any stumbling blocks (and you will), that confidence will help you see them through. You will know how to take alternative action when necessary. The people following you will respect that as well and may begin to do likewise.

When you endeavor to build something, several forces will try to beat you down. You may even find yourself letting it happen. You need to get re-centered on why you started your journey in the first place. Use affirmations to reinforce your message of self-belief. Be consistent with your affirmations because they too will help you stay the course and cause you to become even more confident.

Joining Like Minded Groups Can Increase Your Self Belief

Unfortunately, many of the negative, discouraging voices, are going to be from your closest family and friends. They will see it as helping you avoid mistakes. Some will succumb to this negative pressure and give up. But not you. One way to overcome this is to join groups of like-minded individuals. It can be related to your business, or it can be groups that focus on self-development. These organizations exist to try and purge out the negative forces and keep you focused on your goal. It’s great to go to meetings and get encouragement from these support groups. These like minded people are well equipped to help you on your journey because, they too have had to fight the good fight of believing in themselves. Also, they may be more understanding because they know exactly what it takes to create something from nothing. 

Attending these groups can sometimes lead to lifetime friendships. You will most definitely end up encouraging each other. You may even form joint ventures and business partnerships from these friendships. It’s good to know that you can find support outside of your family and friends circle. They may understand you when everyone else around you doesn’t. Your self-belief will strengthen considerably from this arrangement.

Having a strong sense of self doesn’t mean that you resist feedback from others. Quite the contrary, having a strong self belief can set you up to receive the feedback that is necessary to become a better and more productive person. It’s those that have a strong sense of self that see feedback as an essential ingredient for personal growth. The power of self belief is an essential tool that we must learn to continually harness, protect, and cultivate as we grow.

So keep believing….no matter what!

Be well + prosper,

Elaine