CONQUERING SELF-BELIEF: 3 PRACTICAL TIPS BASED ON VEDANTA

Simple tasks such as riding a bike, running, making new friends are all connected to the faith that you have in yourself. You all have it in a dormant state. At least to some degree.

Taking important decisions, starting a new venture, addressing a huge crowd, confronting a difficult situation or people, are a few scenarios in which we see our faith as a sham. Why is it hard to practice self-belief while working on higher goals? 

An answer to this question can give us a huge leap in our quest for developing self-belief.

Let’s find out…

Possibly the trust in our abilities may not be strong enough to handle a situation with a higher amount of stress. It is not the absence of self-belief but sometimes it's the lack of its implementation that stops us from achieving greatness. The good news is that our conviction in ourselves can be made stronger. How? 

The answer is by working on its development. It is like a muscle that can be worked out to make it stronger.

Let’s first understand what Self – Belief is?

The Online Psychology Dictionary provides a very relevant definition of Self-Belief:

1. Our self-assurance in trusting our abilities, capacities, and judgments.

2. The belief that we can meet the demands of a task. To be confident about what I have done is okay.

The definition sounds apt. Believing in ourselves is simply having faith in our abilities to do a task or achieve a self-defined goal.

Hold that thought here. 

If you can read between the lines, you will easily find a catch in the definition. Self–belief is not an element but a compound of several other components. It can be called a combination of our experiences, learning, decision-making skills, and willpower. Our entire thought process is a framework of self-belief.

“Believe what is in the line of your needs, for only by such belief is the need fulfilled… Have faith that you can successfully make it, and your feet are nerved to its accomplishment”.

– William James

A very renowned psychologist -William James has advocated “believing in oneself “ as a key to personal success. Many people never fulfill their dreams, not because of a lack of opportunity but a lack of self-belief.

 In an article published in Forbes, the author Margie Warrell has very sensibly put that it is not based on your actual ability to succeed at a task but your belief in your ability to succeed.

Most of us think of self-belief as an inborn quality that someone inherits.

Make no mistakes.

It is not something that you are born with. You can train your brain and rewire your thoughts to develop a very strong self-belief that can give you the courage to lead from the front and take challenges as they come. Having a strong faith or self-belief is not something achieved by chance. It is a choice that you have to make.

Why does it matter at all? 

An interesting paper by Princeton University delineates three important reasons that can help you  understand why having positive image of your self is important:

• Consumption Value- It is said that success may not make you happy but odds are very high that being happy can lead you towards success. Thinking of oneself favorably makes a person happier and creates a snowball effect. 

• Signalling Value- To lie most convincingly one must believe one’s own lies. Believing oneself to be of high ability makes it easier to gain the confidence of others.

• Motivation Value-It boosts motivation and increases morale. Self-belief improves your motivation to undertake new challenges. High morale is a key for individuals and teams alike for winning in sports, writing a great book, setting up a business, losing weight, and so forth. 

How to develop self-belief to stand tall amidst a storm? 

A strong self-belief is not something that you can just inculcate in yourself rather it has to be practiced consciously. My take on developing a strong, mountain-moving self-belief is to have a very deep spiritual understanding. The more spiritually inclined you are, the more likely you will have faith in the all mighty, people, destiny, and above all belief in yourself. Below are three strategies based on talks of Swami Mahamedhananda (a monk of The Ramakrishna Order) that you can apply to establish a firm foundation of having self-belief: – 

Faith in your strength

Swami Vivekananda had very strongly said that a person is an atheist who does not believe in himself. As per Vedanta philosophy, we all are a part of the divine. The conscious mind is connected to the superconscious. It is important to believe in our strengths before practicing our faith in god. We are a composite of:-

• Physical Strength
• Intellectual Strength
• Spiritual Strength

Physical & intellectual strengths are temporary and relative. They both are governed by Spiritual powers that we possess. Self-development based on spiritual dimensions helps us to grow faith in ourselves. If you are willing to develop a strong spiritual quotient, you can start with making small changes:

1. Reading positive literature daily.
2. Being aware of your thoughts.
3. Practicing mindfulness. 
4. Helping & serving others.
5. Praying & meditating regularly.

Faith in Destiny

“You are what your deepest desire is.
As is your desire, so is your intention.
As is your intention, so is your will.
As is your will, so is your deed.
As is your deed, so is your destiny.” 
-Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

A difficult circumstance arises in everyone’s life. A time comes when we have to face challenging situations. This can be a natural calamity, professional downturn, or personal upheaval. 

Not giving in to such challenges and having a positive attitude is the way forward for achieving success. It is important to believe in your destiny. Have faith that whatever will happen will happen for your good. At least having a strong determination that you will sooner or later overcome any difficult situation will help you to glide through the toughest wind. It’s the very foundation of positive thinking. This will give you a positive frame of thought and you will be able to face any situation with an open mind. 

To practice this it is important to keep the right desires. It develops pure intention. We make our choices based on our intentions. Our choices determine our actions. And action is what takes us to our destiny.

Faith in fellow human beings

Trusting people around you is as important as trusting yourself. Being skeptical about others somehow also lowers self-confidence. This is why it becomes more important to be associated with the right people.

But easier said than done.

Our past experiences of being deceived by others keep daunting us and believing fellow beings become very difficult as we grow older in life. We must keep good company. This is a kinder garden lesson that we fail to remember. Attracting the right people is a choice. We should make every conscious effort to choose people that have a true soul. A person is right for you if he:

1. Motivates you.
2. Share common interests.
3. Helps you to improve upon your weakness.
4. Have selfless and noble life goals to achieve.

Having a good self-reputation of yourself is indeed a healthy thought process. However, keeping a false belief may be equally harmful. You should perform your due diligence of analyzing yourself. The classic SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threats) can help you to work on your weaknesses and improve the areas that are your strengths. 

There is no set formula for developing a Self-Belief and requires constant effort and experimentation to keep it on an optimum level.