Believing in Myself

I can’t lie- I’m my own worst critic.

To be fair though, I’m certain that I’m not alone in this. A lot of people experience times where they’re unable to believe in themselves. But for me, it’s been something that I’ve struggled with more than I want to admit.

When I try to think of reasons as to why I haven’t believed in myself, it’s usually because others haven’t believed in me. Whether it has to do with my health, my work, or something else entirely- I’ve doubted myself on more than one occasion. I would feel so small, anxious with worry that I would never succeed. Not believing in myself wrecked havoc on me in a number of ways- physically, mentally, and emotionally.

It didn’t just affect me, though; my colleagues, friends, and family also noticed. They saw that I didn’t believe myself, nor hold myself in high regard. I was self-deprecating about everything, which only brought down those closest to me. So many people continued to believe in me, yet I couldn’t believe in myself. How horrible is that?

Last month, I decided that something needed to change. I couldn’t continue to be so negative, or keep thinking that I brought nothing to the table. I needed to start believing in myself- not just for my sake, but for the sake of those closest to me.

Some of the things I’ve done to try and change my mind include:

• Practicing yoga every day. It allows me to relax and calm my mind in the morning before work.
• Read more. It’s made my brain sharper, and I’m working on one of my yearly/monthly goals in the process.
• Working out five days a week. It’s helping me lose weight, which puts me in a better mood.
• Eating healthy six days a week. Again, it’s helping me on my weight loss journey. I also pick one day that week (typically Saturday) to eat whatever, if only for my mental health.
• Not reading too much into what people say about me. I’m focusing more on work as a result, meaning that I’m getting more stuff done in a day.

Doing these things have slowly built my confidence and self-esteem, thus making me believe in myself a little more each day. I’m not saying that everything’s 100 percent okay; that’s not true in the slightest. But I can confidently say that I’m in a much better place since implementing these changes.

Believing in yourself is a hard thing to do because there’s always going to be someone and/or something doubting you. If you allow that or just you alone to not believe in yourself, then how the hell can you become the best version of yourself? You can’t.

So take a deep breath, and figure out the best ways for you to start believing in yourself. Because when that begins to happen, you’ll realize that you can do a lot of great things.

xo,

Elizabeth