Do you often doubt your abilities amongst a community of diverse peers? Self-doubt is something that most of us face. However, in order to create the life we want we must learn to trust ourselves. Have faith in our abilities to do things that are challenging. We all have a compass that directs our thoughts, and listening to the positive thoughts directed by the compass leads us to a life of interminable satisfaction.
Most people are conditioned to doubt themselves. Why is this so? Self-trust is all about being true to oneself in an environment where we are surrounded by people with various opinions and stipulations. Self-trust is about getting back your self-confidence when things haven’t gone according to plan and seem messed up.
To trust oneself, one has to look inward and learn. Self-trust is not about being self-centered where one pursues one’s own desires and becomes one’s own authority. It is all about pursuing a fulfilling life.
Why Self-Trust is Important?
To trust oneself, one must be true to oneself. It is the essence of safety, where one looks after one’s needs. A person must treat oneself with love and compassion instead of just striving for perfection. Deep within oneself, a person must know that one can overcome difficulties and the knocks of life, not lose faith in oneself and not give up.
Those who do not have self-trust have a feeling of not being good enough. They are hard on themselves when criticized and bear a feeling of shame and guilt. They find it hard to make decisions for fear of making the wrong choice. They depend on others for guidance and accept advice even though it may be detrimental to them. A feeling of being self-conscious dominates their personality.
On the other hand, a person who is self-trusting can express oneself openly and honestly and abides by their personal values and standards. This sort of person is full of confidence and has the ability to get through tough times. They are sure about what they want in life and won’t let anyone stop them.
What Leads to a Lack of Self-Trust?
We are not all perfect and we all carry negative emotions in relation to self-trust. However, as adults, it will be good if we can identify where our problems lie. When we were very young and our parents let us get away without any correction, or maybe kept monitoring us to fix every problem, we may have difficulty dealing with problems as adults. When the situation becomes difficult we may feel helpless.
Also, if we grew up in an environment where we hear our parents complaining about how difficult life is or that success favors other people or they are too poor to afford better things in life, we may feel uncertain in the face of challenges or surrender when the situation is tough.
As a child, if we were routinely chastised for expressing ourselves in the presence of adults, we can develop a sense of guilt, fear, or shame that will be with us for our lifetime.
The family, community, and society may also dictate to us how we should conform to certain norms of how we should behave and portray ourselves. We tend to conform and this may make us unable to express ourselves freely. We suppress our needs and wear a ‘mask’ and put on an act.
How it Affects Our Career & Solutions
Lack of self-trust in life, including in your career can lead to you going in different directions and your actions not matching what you want to achieve in life. There will be a disagreement between how you behave and who you are especially in a diverse workplace. It is important to learn how to trust yourself again. This can be done by building up a positive attitude and living by your principles among diverse professionals. Over time you will be able to learn to trust yourself.
When you constantly make decisions that don’t match your core values you know that you are low on self-trust. You should determine your values so that you can make the right decisions in your life. Only then can you trust your own judgment. Taking a few steps in the right direction will lead you to overcome negative thoughts and will help you feel inclusively diverse.