Believe In Yourself

I was recently in a conversation with someone and the topic of beliefs came up. The person leading the conversation was inquiring about what they believed about themselves and how that impacted the way they showed up in the world. It got me thinking about what I believe about myself and how these views also influence how I interact with others, my decision making and overall mood.

In the conversation about beliefs, the theme that kept coming up was how our beliefs in ourselves shape the way we interact with others. I’m naturally an outgoing person, often referred to as an extrovert, and I love meeting new people and learning their stories. I’ve realized I enjoy these interactions because it allows me an opportunity to open up my viewpoint and perspective. I’m typically one who knows where I stand on things, but I’m always listening to see if I hear new ideas or thoughts that resonate with me.

In our daily lives, decision making comes with the territory. Whether it's a small decision like what you’re going to eat to a heavier decision about who you want as your life partner - your beliefs often play a huge role whether you realize it or not. One real-time example of this, is that over the past several years, I’ve become more intentional about eating healthier. My beliefs have guided this journey for me because I believe our health is our wealth. Because what we put into our body is a significant factor in a healthy lifestyle, I’ve made modifications to my diet such as cooking with olive oil instead of canola and vegetable oil that are higher in saturated fats.

Another way our beliefs show up in our daily lives is within our mood. When you are happier, peaceful, confident, and optimistic you tend to have a much different outlook on life than someone that is stressed, anxious, bitter and unhappy. There are studies that have shown your mood directly aligns with what you feel about yourself and the long term effects on both your physical and mental health. Naturally, we all have varying moods that are circumstantial. If you are someone that finds yourself dealing with sadness, depression or other moodiness regularly and it’s affecting your views about yourself, finding help through counseling, therapy or other options may be a good remedy.

It’s important to evaluate your beliefs; specifically those you have about yourself. Because our beliefs shape our way of dealing with others, our decision making and even our mood, doing self reflection often may be just the tune-up needed to course-correct or make other modifications. I truly believe to live is to learn and as long as we’re doing this, opportunities for growth are abundant.