Understanding your worth or understanding yourself?

Which should come first, someone else's belief in you or your own? The answer is that it needs to come from within first. Now, it is nice when someone shows faith and says that you are capable or have the potential to be more than you may be showing. As Derek Jeter said, "If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else believe in you?" and "We can be our own best friends or our own worst enemies."

These words highlight the crucial role of self-belief in our journey of personal growth, empowering us to take control and reach our full potential.

But why does it need to come from within? How can you achieve anything if you can't see the potential from within? But what is potential? The dictionary definition is "having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future."

This, to me, leaves some questions that need to be thought over and answered: -

Where does your belief come from?

How do you know it's correct for you?

If we don't champion ourselves, why should anyone else?

What is stopping you from believing someone else's opinion of you?

How do you prove you are capable without getting an opportunity?

Is some self-doubt helpful?

While I don't have all the answers to these questions, I am writing them down to aid self-reflection. Over time, more could be added, answered, or figured out.

I am not trying to answer all these questions now; I want them here for some reflection, as I am sure more can be added. Over time, these questions can be answered or figured out. Regular practice of self-reflection can be a powerful tool for personal growth and self-improvement. 

Imagine someone asking you, 'What unique qualities do you bring to the table?' How would you respond? Could you confidently list your strengths, or would you hesitate? Would you know or be apprehensive about how you react? Keeping your thoughts inside you. This is where keeping a reflective journal could help, keeping your thoughts in one place and a first step towards understanding your worth and potential.

Consider this quote from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: "If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough. The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough." I try to use this to inspire myself to embrace my fears and chase after my dreams that seem to be out of reach 

This may be a big generalisation, or I might be talking about myself. Most of us are shaped by the limitations we impose upon ourselves—the defensive walls we put up to ensure we don't get hurt and protect ourselves. We often hinder our progress due to fear or self-doubt. But remember, you have the power to break through these. All we must do is embrace our fears and let go of self-doubt. 

I'm more capable than I allow myself to believe. But those capabilities are only starting to happen and get to be shown because of situations I have gone through, comfortable and uncomfortable. I can sit here now and speak with some clarity about what I bring to a role or situation, and that is due in no small part to personal and professional circumstances that I have been through the past few years, understandings from my MSc in Sport Coaching degree at Leeds Beckett which has made me face and scale some of walls that I had put up and also my time on the Elite Head of Coaches Course (EHOC) which has got me to take a look at myself and how I am as well as getting others to give their opinions. 

This is now turning into a waffle, but the point of view I now look from is that you need clarity of what you bring and who you are. Stand tall, walk confidently, and speak with the utmost belief in your words.  If others can't see that (or don't want to), you can't do anything about it. But by recognising and embracing what you bring, you are putting your best foot forward. It might just not be the right time for that situation. But it doesn't diminish your worth; it is all part of the journey and might even be something that will develop you more!

I will leave with these two quotes: If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing, then you are a writer. Rainer Maria Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet." You must believe without a doubt in yourself!

Arsene Wenger – "Don't be scared to be ambitious. It's not a humiliation to have a high target and to fail. For me, the real humiliation is to have a target and not to give everything to reach it".

You are the driver of your own destiny. Face challenges head-on, enjoy your reflection in the mirror, and see what you can accomplish. Don't be scared to put your head above everybody else.