Confidence

The Importance of Believing in Yourself

I never quite comprehended the importance of self-esteem until I was at the lowest point in my life. Before I met my husband, I went through some experiences that made me look at life differently and question the way in which I saw myself.

I began to believe that I wasn’t worth anything, without the respect that I deserved; then my attitude suddenly took a 180 degree turn. I realised that if I wanted to get anywhere in life, then I would have to believe that I COULD get there.

I went from struggling with my high school studies to topping the class with my test scores, doing excellent in subjects I was failing previously; and the success that came with it felt so rewarding.

And truth is, I’ve never seen myself as a particularly academic person. My hard-working ability and perseverance has been what has gotten me through in life, not so much my intelligence. And I think when it comes down to it, THAT is more important than anything. When you believe in yourself and have the motivation to see it through, you can do just about ANYTHING.

I don’t think people realise though, how it also can work both ways. For instance, if a person has a low self-esteem, no amount of positive reassurance would be enough for them to believe otherwise. Similarly, if someone has the ability to believe in themselves and exhibits a high self-esteem then nothing anyone said, no matter how negative, could change that. And I think that reflects how the way you feel about yourself is so much important than the way others see you.

“But what about constructive criticism?”, you may ask. Although constructive criticism can be useful for challenging yourself and for self-growth, negativity is not so useful. If you believe you can do something, when others don’t believe you can, PROVE THEM WRONG. Don’t let their negativity bring you down, let it drive you to succeed. They say that success is the best revenge and I think that is so true. You can be whoever you want to be, the only thing stopping you from becoming it is the belief that you can.

And when I see people in the public eye who started from the bottom and worked their way to the top, I don’t think: “I wish that were me”, I think: “WHY can’t that be me?” These were ordinary people leading ordinary lives, who had the courage to believe in themselves and believe that they could make a difference. And by believing in yourself, YOU can be one of them.

Thuy Le (formerly known as Thuy Yau) is a freelance writer and Youth Work graduate living in Perth, Australia. She loves to share her own personal experiences about overcoming adversity, as she believes that human beings are more capable than they realise. She writes to make a positive difference in the world and to inspire others to learn from themselves and their own experiences. Her writing has been discussed on radio, won writing contests, appeared on The Huffington Post UK and major Australian sites such as news.com.au, SMH, Kidspot and Essential Kids. She has just completed her first book – a memoir - and is on the search for a publisher.

3 thoughts on “The Importance of Believing in Yourself

  1. Good post Thuy! So true.. many think that ‘negativity’ is a form of constructive criticism when in fact.. it’s just a cover for their own ‘self-doubt’. I look forward to reading more of your posts!

    1. That is very true, it’s a sad thing how people bring down others, simply because they don’t believe in themselves.

      Thank you for reading, Hung!

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