I Believe In You

Yep, I totally do.

I’m not just saying that either, and here is the reason why.  Because I know that every single person has it in them to go after their dreams, to build a business, to build or rebuild a life, to get that degree, to get that job, to build that website, to write that blog post, to put that meal on the table, to go for that run, to do whatever it is. Whatever YOUR thing is.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s easy.  At all.  I’m not saying that it’s not easier for some than it is for others easier. I get that.  Is it easier for someone who still lives with their parents with no responsibility at all to start a blog or a business? Damn straight it is, operationally at least. They don’t have to worry about bills or food or anything really other than building their business.  Compare that to a mother of two working full time and trying to start her own business on the side.  Different? Yes. Harder? No doubt.  But is it their life stage or circumstances that are going to make or break either of these women? No, it’s not.  They can both succeed with the right mindset.  With the right amount of self belief.  With the conviction they need to get that business off the ground.  

If they believe in themselves.

In the last few years I have learnt a lot about myself and that includes more and more about my mindset and about how I have been responsible for so many things I used to blame others for.  My pathway through education is a big example of this for me and I don’t mind sharing it here with you now.  I’ve often wondered why, when I was such a smart young girl and started my secondary school with straight A’s in Year 7, I never went on to excel at school. Even when I was lucky enough to be at a great school why didn’t I do so much better? Was it because I changed schools so often? Was it the teenage years? Should my parents have been more strict on me? Was it the product of having divorced parents somehow? Why, even when I left school and after a year finally landed on marketing as my thing, did I still flounder and not really commit?  Why did it take me actually working full time for me to move beyond my Diploma and get my Degree, and then when my work was even more demanding to go on and get my MBA?

Why didn’t I achieve these things earlier in life.  When it would have been so much easier for me to do it?!  What changed? I was still the same person, but the biggest and most important shift happened for me.  

I changed my my mind.  

With age and life experience came the self belief and the positive mindset I needed to reach my potential (I won’t say ‘full’ potential because I believe I still have a hell of a lot more to offer this life).  I made the shift from a mostly fixed mindset to a growth mindset.  And thank God or the Universe or whatever it may be, that change happened for me!

I won’t go into the moments in my life that took me down this path but it was in these moments, dramatic and devastating at the time, that I chose not to be a victim and to take back belief in me and take control of my choices and to make shit happen.  And it wasn’t easy.  It was never easy.  But the alternative was just not an option.  More disappointment, more average, more blame.  It would have got me nowhere.

And it is because of this that I want you to know that I believe in you.  You, who might have the cushiest of lives or the toughest of roads ahead of you but who has the ability to choose belief. To know that there is more.  To know that you deserve what you want. YES YOU DO!  You, who might have a more than average day today but can wake up to a new day tomorrow.  You, whose to do list might be a waste of paper today but will be a shining light tomorrow.  You, who might be recovering from a break up, or a fight or someone ripping the rug out from under your whole life plan to know that it will get better.  You.  Yes every single one of you.

But before this can be meaningful in your life, you have to believe in you.  So make that choice today.

Repeat after me, I believe in me.