Believe in Yourself

“First thing every morning before you get out of bed say out loud, I believe.”                                                 

                                                           -Norman Vincent Peale

Believing in yourself is an attitude you develop, and the attitude you develop is a result of your thought habits. A thought becomes a belief when you work on it repeatedly and it is already a well-known fact that whatever one repeats to oneself, either true or false, one will eventually believe. If it is a lie it will be accepted as the truth. Everyone is what they are because of the dominating thoughts which occupy their mind. 

The question is do you believe you have what it takes to succeed? Do you believe you have what it takes to become what you want? Do you believe you have what it takes to do what you want? Do you believe you have what it takes to get what you want? Do you believe you have what it takes to achieve what you want? To be a victorious person, you have to decide that you are capable of doing anything you want, and start working on it now.

The problem is you may be allowing limiting thoughts and beliefs, or what other people say about you to hold you back from what you want to achieve. The limitations you choose to set for yourself will always hold you back. For example, do you remember at school, thinking "How can I do that" whenever you were instructed to learn a new skill? Yet each time, after pushing yourself, you "discovered" you had the ability— you even enjoyed it. This is because our conditioned beliefs have provided our own limitations to the prosperity available to all of us. If we feel inadequate in a particular area it is because we have imposed limitations on ourselves— no one can impede our progress as surely and impeccably as we can.

         Self-trust is the first secret of success.

                                                       - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Moreover, we all have voices in our minds and some of our inner voices are helpful, but some are negative, demanding, and overcritical. Often they are internalized voices of our parents, teachers or others who were important when we were growing up. Some of these voices become part of our self-image. If we believe them they can severely limit and rob us of our true potential and success. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between the critic within, which must be silenced, and the guide within which must be developed. 

In addition, because of self-doubt created by questioning your abilities it is easier to believe that things are not all possible. If no one told you any different you would believe you could. Also, you may begin to doubt you and your abilities because your personality has been shaped by a daily exposure to fear, doubt, and worry. If you have been conditioned by your environment for many years to think that you cannot achieve anything spectacular because you lack the education, connections, looks, etc it soon becomes very easy to look down on you as an average person whereas you are exceptional—you are a genius at something and you have to find it.

To solve this problem, all you have to understand is how you can be and have been conditioned to think, feel, or act and through such understanding realize that you can use the same methods to reverse the trend. Also, develop an "I will" attitude and "I can" awareness. There is nothing better to enhance your self-respect and improve your self-image. Remember it is starting a task that requires more effort than continuing once the task is underway, and developing an "I can" and "I will" state of mind builds the self-confidence to be able to start it.

Gerard L. Ndzebir