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Believing in yourself means having the confidence to pursue your goals despite the challenges that come. It means knowing that you can accomplish what your heart wants. When you believe in yourself, you have faith that you can overcome obstacles and build the life of your dreams.
As you overcome adversity, you’ll build that self-confidence knowing and become a more resilient, gracious person along the way. Follow these five guidelines on how to feel confident and believe in yourself.
Be your own cheerleader
When you believe you deserve good things that come from hard work, then you will have the faith and motivation to pursue your dreams. Even if you have trouble believing in yourself now, fake it until you make it. In the meantime, you can use strategies to build self-esteem, like repeating daily affirmations at the start of the day. To build confidence, Psychology Today also suggests setting goals for yourself and breaking them down into smaller steps. You’ll gain confidence as you work toward what you want and achieve results.
Let the hard times be your teacher
When challenges come along, it can feel especially difficult to believe in yourself. Having the right perspective can help navigate stressful situations, so you don’t feel overwhelmed or lose motivation.
In a YouTube interview, spiritual teacher and best-selling author, Eckhart Tolle, explains how challenges are an inevitable part of life. Rather than avoid or deny these obstacles, learn to embrace them. When you accept challenges as they come, you don’t have to become negative when they do.
Furthermore, these intense challenges can mold you into a deeper, more conscious person. You’ve heard the phrase, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. The so-called “bad things” that happen to you can develop you into a more present, resilient, and wise person if you learn to handle them with grace and acceptance.
Focus on what you can control
Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the famous serenity prayer that many people have taken to heart. It teaches you to accept the things you cannot change and focus on the things within your control, according to The Charlotte Observer. These simple, powerful words will give you the strength to navigate life, especially when things don’t go your way. It means taking radical accountability, to have the self-awareness to take ownership for the things within your control; your words, your behaviors, and your actions. At the same time, you learn to surrender, rather than waste your energy stressing over the things outside of your control.
Remember how far you’ve come
Confidence is earned. You develop confidence through experience. You gain it when you overcome challenges and come out on the other side better for it. If you find yourself scared or overwhelmed, look back at how far you’ve come. Remind yourself of the strength you’ve had in the past to overcome adversity. You are resilient! You’ve done it before, and you can do it again.
Let the challenges be your guide
When facing obstacles, it can feel like the universe is working against you. But, what if the universe is working for you? In an episode of the Highest Self Podcast, best-selling author Sahara Rose explains how those blocks in life can serve as guides. You’ve heard the old saying, “When one door closes, another opens.” If things don’t go as planned, think of rejection as protection and redirection; the universe telling you to move in a new, better path for your greater good.
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