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Daily Leadership Thought #185 – Have Faith In Yourself

August 2, 2011

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Have faith in yourself and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you can accomplish and overcome in life.

Self-doubt is like a cancer that slowly spreads and eventually incapacitates your ability to act.  This doesn’t mean you become foolhardy or act with too much hubris, but it does mean you have to trust in your own abilities and forge ahead.  Many obstacles will be strewn in your path including the words and actions of people close to you.  However, don’t get distracted or sidetracked by others who consciously or subconsciously want to hold you back and/or define you in ways you don’t want to be defined.

Sadly, many people regularly talk themselves out of success and happiness.  They produce multiple reasons why chasing their dreams or pursuing their passions is too difficult.  As a result, they end up living lives of “quiet desperation” and slowly fade into the shadows of discontent and mediocrity.   I know quite a few people who no longer explore what makes them genuinely happy and taps into their passions and unique abilities.  It’s as if they’ve given up on living a vital life and are simply marking the passage of time.

Wouldn’t it be better to take the risks and fail rather than not try at all?  Most of the joy in life is in the journey not the destination.  If you are in pursuit of something important to you then it emboldens your character and makes life worth living.  You wake up invigorated and ready to face any challenge and/or leverage any opportunity.  The world looks different when you have faith in yourself (and those around you).  Instead of boxing yourself in, push back on self-imposed boundaries.

All human life is valuable.  Everyone has something special about them that makes them exceptionally different from everyone else.  Each of us is blessed with unique gifts and talents.  We also all have hopes, dreams, and inspirations.  This doesn’t mean that everyone starts from the same place or that some people won’t have an easier time of it than others.  Life isn’t fair.  The good news is there are countless examples of people who have overcome significant obstacles and accomplished wonderful things because they believed in themselves, were in pursuit of a meaningful purpose and possessed the mental and physical fortitude to push forward regardless of the roadblocks along the way.   Believe in yourself and good things will eventually follow!