All my life, I’ve heard sayings about how important it is to believe in yourself.

Believing in yourself is the first secret to success…

Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable…

If you believe in yourself, anything is possible…

Don’t stop belieeeeevin’, hold on to the feelin’…🎶

Okay, maybe not so much the last one, but I mean if Journey felt the need to sing about, it must be something important.

It sounds so simple yet it was one of the most difficult things for me to do all my life. I would say it took almost all my 32 years of life before I truly believed in myself. Also, it took some of the most challenging times of my life to get me there.

Now trust me, I know it isn’t something that comes easily to everyone. I just couldn’t figure out how people can just put themselves out there and be so confident. If you struggled like me or are still struggling, firstly don’t beat yourself up too much. We have been conditioned throughout our lives to doubt ourselves. It takes a lot to retrain ourselves to not be fearful.

But BELIEVE me when I tell you – we are all awesome in some way and we have everything we need inside of us. We just need to see it for ourselves.

I once read that if you believe in yourself, you have 100% of the people you need on your side. And boy, that really speaks to me now.

Now, I don’t know how I can get you to believe in yourself today because I know that I have heard all the clichés time and time again and it still look me years to understand. What I can do is share how I got to this point.

1. I was taken out of my comfort zone

If I am truly honest, this process started about two years ago. I was put in a position in my workplace where I had to completely rely on my intellect and intuition, and make decisions. I cannot begin to describe how daunting that was for me…at first. I realized that I used a mentor of mine as a crutch, always doubting that I could make the right call and therefore taking EVERYTHING to her. When she had to leave, I was forced to take up the mantle. I was definitely outside my comfort zone. But that was a significant period of growth for me, because it made me see that hey, I actually am smart, and that it is not the end of the world when you make a mistake. I didn’t get everything right but I always did my best, and I learned and grew.

There’s no such thing as failure, only FEEDBACK…

2. I pushed out a human

Yep, having my baby girl was definitely a turning point for me. I was in awe of what I had done and had a newfound respect for my resilience and my body. After giving birth, I felt like I could do anything. Even as a new mom, I have started doubting and second-guessing myself less, despite the exhaustion, worry and frustration at times.

3. My motivation changed

With my baby girl in my arms, I found that I wanted to be with her as much as possible. I became more anxious as the day to return to work grew closer. This made me think of ways to be home with her, and yet do something I love. I started dreaming again.

4. I rediscovered my gifts

With my new motivation, my mind was open to the world of possibilities I found when I was researching during maternity leave. I started to remember all the things that I loved. For instance, I always loved writing but I was always scared to pursue it. It is said that writing is showbusiness for shy people. While I am not exactly a shy person, I do find I can express myself better and more easily through writing. As Steve Harvey said, “Do not ignore your gift. Your gift is the thing you do the absolute BEST with the LEAST amount of effort.”

I ignored my gifts for far too long. It was time for me to embrace them.

5. I continued (and still continue) to improve my skills

I never want to take my gifts for granted. I want to continue to learn, to improve and to use my gifts in the best way possible. Depending on your gift, you can find tons of free online courses or material that can help. Or simply, find a mentor or teacher who you can learn from.

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to the world. Invest wisely.

6. I took action

Do you know how you have discovered your unique gift? You take risks into the unknown, risks you wouldn’t usually take. But even more so, you know what happens? Opportunities appear out of nowhere and you begin to see signs all around you (Note: if you see actual signs all around you and you are not in a sign store, you should see somebody). But this means nothing if you do not answer the door when opportunity knocks.

Every opportunity that arose, I took, and thus far, they have not let me down.

Your gift will make room for you…

Believing in yourself does not mean that you will never fail but it means that you learn to see each “failure” as a growing moment. Put yourself out there, stop the negative self-talk, trust yourself and the process, just be you and give the world your gift. It is waiting for you. 😉

P.S. There are some side effects of believing in yourself and becoming more confident:

• You feel like spreading the “Believe in yourself” gospel. So I might just show up at your doorstep one morning saying, “Do you have time to talk about how one should believe in oneself?”
• Your inner beeyotch comes out more often – If you know me, you might say that my greatest gift and greatest flaw is being too nice. But these days, I realise that I can’t put up with any *ahem* sugar, honey and iced tea these days. Some may say sassy, I say assertive.

Phew! You made it to the end! Thanks for reading! If you would like more posts from the Mind of Yash that would motivate you or make you laugh, feel free to subscribe!