Have you ever heard the saying: “If you don’t believe in yourself, why should I believe in you?”?
I’ve heard people use that quote multiple times now…
I can’t help but feel that there’s an element that this quote gets wrong.
The first time I heard that I felt ashamed that I didn’t believe in myself.
But here’s the truth. You DON’T necessarily have to 100% believe to actually experience success. Let me explain…
Even with self-doubt, it IS possible to achieve incredible things.
I only know because I didn’t whole-heartedly KNOW that I was going to be a success when I started. I hoped. And I really dreamed! But, I couldn’t know!
So how do you find the gumption to just go for it when you don’t necessarily believe?
And the best way to do this is to tap into people who DO believe in you.
When I first started working in the ads business, I joined a group and met a genuinely kind friend.
And when I was about to pitch to my first client (ever!), I was full of self-doubt.
I said to my friend, “I’m not sure how I’m going to do this. I have absolutely no confidence.”.
But he believed in me and he knew what was possible. He told me to go for it and actually told me to pitch an amount that I surely thought the client would say no to. But she didn’t. When she said yes, I nearly fell to the floor in surprise.
At that moment, I realized how right he was!
That there was absolutely nothing to lose by calling, listening, and chatting over the phone.
I went for it and got the client, thanks to his belief in me!
And through that experience, slowly but surely my belief in myself crept higher and higher and higher. And then I got belief through doing and through just showing up, day after day. That’s how it’s done 🙂
Sarah, xo
