I spent years trying to gain accreditation. Learning more skills. Getting additional skills to finally learn that the talent and skill within me needed to be shared rather than perfected. Alan Sugar once said that he was more interested in the way a person comes across than their paper CV. Of course, a person needs some kind of academic back up but it’s sad when many people live limited lives because they don’t feel worthy.
I especially love the movie: The King’s Speech.Geoffrey Rush plays the part of Lionel Logue -an obscure self taught speech therapist. He was not formally trained yet managed to cure the king of a speech impediment. He obviously believed in himself and got the job done despite being looked down upon by the established speech therapists.
You may not succeed each and every time but you will most definitely enjoy life more and achieve your potential by believing in yourself. When we don’t possess self belief, we fill our minds with impossibilities. We limit ourselves and cut off opportunities. If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you realistically expect others to?
If I had listened to the ‘nay sayers’ I would never have achieved anything. I listened to what others had to say but I still ultimately made up my own mind and found out for myself. More often that not, my experience was different in many ways to what others experienced. This is down to the fact that I have a different attitude to life. I try as much as possible to ignore any preconceived ideas about life and others and approach new experiences with a child like wonder.
You can increase your self belief. Here’s how:
1) Don’t automatically believe what others tell you. Take heed and adjust where necessary but don’t let others stop you if it is important.
2)Believe in the impossible. Try it out. See life as an adventure.
3) Never ever talk down to yourself. It’s okay to say things like “I may not be the best but I will still try with all my might”. This is much more powerful talk than something like “I will probably be useless so there’s no point in trying” or “I will just make a fool of myself and fail”. Failing is fine – at least it shows you are trying. Someone who tries and fails is ten times better than those that never try and take pleasure in other people’s misfortune. Never mind though – most of these pessimists end up bitter, twisted and miserable anyhow!
4) Care less what other think. Other people’s opinions can be a major handbrake in getting ahead in life. There are those that feel threatened as they don’t have the guts to try and when they see someone else trying, it threatens them. What if you did succeed at something that they have spent their lives believing is impossible?
5) Stop dreaming and start doing. Small baby steps. Write your goals down on paper and list small steps towards creating this goal. Do something small every day. This helps bring meaning to your life too which automatically raises positive feelings/emotions.
Mandy X
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
