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Mike Robbins

Infusing Life and Business with Authenticity and Appreciation

The Importance of Self-Trust

October 25, 2021 6 Comments

How well do you trust yourself?

For most of us, myself included, self-trust can be tricky.

Many of us second guess ourselves. We don’t listen to our gut, trust our instincts, or we hang onto negative memories or regrets from the past. These things and others can make it difficult for us to trust ourselves and thus create challenges in our relationships, work, and lives.

But you’re not alone. Lack of self-trust, while debilitating in many ways, is quite common. We all doubt ourselves sometimes – but that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with us. It’s perfectly normal.

So how do you stop doubting yourself and start living an authentic life full of self-love, confidence, and truth?

Like most important aspects of our life and growth, the first step in our expansion process is to notice and tell the truth about why it can be difficult.

In the case of self-trust, once we can honestly acknowledge our challenges (and have some compassion for ourselves), we can consciously choose to trust ourselves in a more authentic way.

When we bring some mindful self-awareness and get curious about why we doubt ourselves or lack self-trust, that’s when we begin to learn about ourselves, our insecurities, and what we can do to grow as human beings.

What makes it difficult or challenging for you to trust yourself fully?

Take a moment to consider this question. The more compassionately aware we can be, the more likely we can move beyond it and let go of our “story” about why we can’t trust ourselves.

How to Build Self-Trust

Here are a few things you can do to enhance your ability to trust yourself:

1) Listen to yourself

We all have inner wisdom. Some refer to this as our intuition, others call it our gut, and others relate to it as our higher consciousness. Whether you call it one or all of these things (or something else), I believe that we’re all very intuitive. A big part of trusting ourselves is understanding that we each have a deep sense of what is true and right for us in most situations. As we practice listening to this inner wisdom (through meditation, prayer, quiet time, breath, conscious thought, and more), we begin to trust ourselves on a deeper level.

2) Don’t be afraid to fall

Remember: we all fail sometimes – but that doesn’t mean that we should ever give up on pursuing our dreams and goals. Be willing to take risks, go for it, and make mistakes. When you fall, get back up . So often, we don’t try things because we think we might fail. I love Wayne Gretzkey’s famous quote about this: “I missed 100% of the shots I never took.” While it can be scary for us to take risks in life, one of the greatest ways we can build our capacity for self-trust is to go for it, even if we fail. As we build up our ability to take risks, we also grow our capacity for courage, expanding our ability to trust ourselves.

3) Forgive yourself

Many of us live in a constant state of guilt, disappointment , or shame, which is not the healthiest way to live. We’re only human. We make mistakes, and we learn from them. One of the main reasons we don’t trust ourselves is that we haven’t forgiven ourselves for mistakes we’ve made, the pain we’ve caused, or the regrets we have. These demons from our past haunt us, and we use them as evidence to not go for things and not trust ourselves. As we enhance our capacity to forgive ourselves, we heal from the past and breathe new life into our experience, creating a genuine sense of enthusiasm for both the present moment and our future. And, as we’re able to forgive ourselves, we can let go of our attachment to being perfect and having to do everything just right, which allows us to trust ourselves more freely.

Are You Struggling With Self-Trust?

Here are a few other things you can do to boost your self-trust:

• Be decisive
• Honor your emotions
• Set reasonable goals
• Be kind to yourself
• Practice self-care
• Be yourself
• Spend time with yourself
• Reward yourself

Think of something important in your life right now – a decision you’ve been on the fence about because you’re worried about making the wrong choice (i.e., not trusting yourself).

Given what we’ve been discussing here, what would you do regarding this vital issue if you fully trusted yourself? I bet if you listen to your inner wisdom, allow yourself to take a risk, and know that you can forgive yourself no matter what happens – the answer to the question, “What should I do?” is probably pretty clear.

What can you do to enhance your self-trust and listen to your inner wisdom more? Share your thoughts, action ideas, insights, and more here on my blog below.

I have written five books about the importance of trust, authenticity, appreciation, and more. In addition, I deliver keynotes and seminars (both in-person and virtually) to empower people, leaders, and teams to grow, connect, and perform their best. Finally, as an expert in teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence, I teach techniques that allow people and organizations to be more authentic and effective. Find out more about how I can help you and your team achieve your goals today. You can also listen to my podcast here .

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This article was published on January 29, 2015, and updated for 2021.

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Reader Interactions

March 28, 2015 at 6:45 pm

Consider trusting 1self is about BEing, rather than DOing (call it “being in action”). One can only trust 1self; every1 else shows up as ‘trustworthy” or not …

January 2, 2016 at 10:25 pm

Loving ourselves. Many of us hate ourselves for things we do which don’t seem to work week most of the time, our looks that we end hating ourselves. The more we hate ourselves the more we don’t trust ourselves. We need to learn to love who we are, the way we look and that each is unique

October 28, 2021 at 12:51 am

Interesting and inviting to read more on such issues.

October 28, 2021 at 1:06 pm

I consider trust as a fundament for having sufficient positive thinking, and positive energy to take initiatives that can be important for growing and change my mind set, being empathetic, living in the reality that the world is global and we all must be responsible for ourselves, our family, our nation, but last and not least for all people on earth. Curacao, October 10, 2021 A.F.M. Bloem, educationalist, retired but still learning every single day.

January 31, 2022 at 5:59 am

A difficult topic, but we really need to learn the lesson ourselves …

August 8, 2023 at 4:23 am

i trust jesus chirst, i trust my self, and i have trust in you

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Self-Trust and How to Build It

Stand up to the inner critic..

Posted September 12, 2019 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

Self-trust is not trusting yourself to know all the answers, nor is it believing that you will always do the right things. It’s having the conviction that you will be kind and respectful to yourself regardless of the outcome of your efforts.

The definition of self-trust is the firm reliance on the integrity of yourself. There is a difference between a life that is grounded in self-trust and one that is not. When we look at examples of people who are self-trusting, we find that they have clarity and confidence in their choices. They are interdependent, which includes healthy dependency, not overly dependent or hyper-independent. They speak with authority that comes from a deep place within but is not arrogant. They are good observers and have cultivated the ability to learn from their experiences, both the successes and failures.

Because they can trust themselves to not be punitive when they make mistakes, they can look openly at their experience without fear of self- punishment . If my agenda is to protect myself from external or internal recrimination, I am not going to be able to examine my experience because my primary intention is not to learn but to protect myself.

Regret undermines self-trust

The word recrimination has the word crime within it. Many people live with a lot of regret. Some people have the misguided notion that you should not have regrets. That belief causes them to have more regrets. It’s human to have regrets. Only a psychopath or a person who is incapable of learning anything new will have no regrets.

Regret itself is not the problem; what keeps us stuck in regret is the resistance to feeling the full depth of it. It’s overwhelming when we don’t have the inner resources to hold the magnitude of the remorse. There are plenty of means to learn from regrets and to forgive ourselves.

The bigger the regret, the deeper the shame , and the bigger the opportunity. Just like being compassionate and forgiving for another person who may have harmed us, we can focus that same attitude towards ourselves. When we demonstrate that we have learned from the mistake, regret evaporates. Then self-forgiveness and self-trust automatically occur. We are producing evidence that reflects the integration of what we have learned.

Avoiding the inner critic undermines self-trust

People who have not learned to relate to their inner critical voice in a productive way will argue with it or comply with its indictments. When we buy into the negative voice, we diminish our self-trust. Trying to escape the inner critic and ignoring it by drinking or drugging, or other distractions will empower it. The way to build self-trust is to relate to the inner critic and show it that it is taking a seed of truth and blowing it out of proportion. There are ways to get to know the critic by being curious about its nature:

• What is the inner critic?
• Where does it come from?
• What is its intention?
• What does it want from us?
• What is its agenda?
• What is its job?
• Is it educable?
• Is there any way other than adversarial to relate to it?
• How do we stand up to the inner critic?

When we listen to the inner critic, relate to it, and educate it, we stand up to it. A positive shift in our relationship with the inner critic is possible.

Being caught in the past or worrying about the future undermines self-trust

There are so many opportunities all around us that are missed. If we live in a consciousness of regret, we live in the past. If we are fearful of the possibility of future suffering, we are living in the future. While bouncing back and forth between the past and the future, we are missing the present. If we’re not present, we can’t learn and keep recycling through the same mistakes.

As soon as we stop focusing on the future, we will feel anxious and vulnerable. Worry is an expression of an imagined defense to keep trouble away. When we are present, we may feel unprotected. The challenge is to cultivate a courageous heart that can tolerate increasingly longer periods of presence. By cultivating tolerance for being in the anxiety for longer periods of time, we are not enslaved by fear, and self-trust automatically grows stronger.

When we are in the present moment, it is the ultimate protection. The paradox is that it seems like dropping the protection that worry provides is dangerous and puts us at risk. But the vulnerability of pure presence is the ultimate sanctuary. When we are fully present, there is no fear. Often the fearful mind kicks in saying, “While you are not paying attention to all those things you should be concerned about, all kinds of dangers are looming. All kinds of problems need to be solved. All kinds of people are waiting for you to take care of them. Stop indulging yourself in this childish experiment and get on with life. If people see that you are not doing what you should be doing and planning for the future, they will have no use of you.”

The weight of regret and lack of presence can crack us open in a way that we can no longer maintain our previous self-image and world-view. Learning to manage the inner critic will free up the energy that is necessary to develop self-trust. Learning to stay present and coming into the right relationship with the inner critic work together to become a breakthrough for our salvation.

These factors in combination are the beginning of an orientation towards a life where we welcome new insights. Now, no longer so fearful of being open and present in our lives, the anxiety that robbed us of self-trust has been transformed to eager anticipation of future learning. And self-trust will now be our constant companion.

Linda Bloom, L.C.S.W. , and Charlie Bloom, M.S.W. , are the authors of Secrets of Great Marriages: Real Truths from Real Couples About Lasting Love .

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WHY SELF-TRUST IS IMPORTANT

Trust is a vital aspect of relationships, but one of the most fundamental things we all too often forget to address is how much we trust ourselves. Self-trust is important because it leads to a better relationship with ourselves. And the better we know and like ourselves, the higher our self-confidence and self-assuredness will be. But most importantly, self-trust is key because it allows us to tap into our potential and become more than we are .

“Self-Trust Is The First Secret of Success.” – Ralph waldo emerson –

Self-trust leads to knowing yourself better, and assist in strengthening your self-confidence in yourself. It helps you to make quicker and better decisions, and your levels of stress are drastically reduced. It does not come overnight but can be fostered over time with practice and determination.

Have you ever found that you second guess yourself, find it difficult to trust your instincts, or even hang on to notions solidified by the past? Many people experience these things too, making it difficult to trust themselves, which inevitably creates uncertainty and difficulty in various parts of our lives. Lacking self-trust also eventually impacts how well we navigate through life.

The Importance Of Self-Trust

When it comes to lacking self-trust, many people struggle with this, so worry not; you are not alone if you struggle with this issue. Lacking self-trust can be pretty debilitating and can cause us to doubt our decisions, abilities, and how we navigate through life.

A lack of self-trust can also limit our opportunities and stifle the success and achievements we desire so deeply. Self-trust is truly a stepping stone to our better futures.

With that being said, like many things in life, the first port of call is identifying why trusting ourselves is difficult. This then allows us to acknowledge the challenges and go about rectifying them. We can then begin the journey of learning how to trust ourselves. It starts with being mindful and self-aware and learning why we doubt ourselves.

When it comes to obtaining self-trust, this does not mean that you trust yourself to be right about everything or that you will never make mistakes, but rather it ensures that you are kind, respectful, and forgiving of yourself, regardless of what may come. You have sufficient faith in yourself to believe that you will always do your best.

With self-trust, you learn to rely on yourself instead of looking to others to see the “right” thing to do. People who have self-trust tend to have greater confidence, and they are generally able to address matters with more clarity. They also tend to be more independent, but this does not mean they never rely on other people. [1]

If you have fostered self-trust, you will also likely speak with greater authority and carry yourself in a manner that does not apologize for who you are. This is not the same as having an air of arrogance, but rather knowing oneself, your value, and what you have to offer others.

People who have self-trust also realize that they may be wrong at times and make mistakes, but this is okay. Instead of allowing themselves to be crippled, they will then take these experiences and learn from them. This will only help reinforce their trust in themselves as they will now know how to handle things in the future.

Okay, we have looked at the importance of self-trust and what it really means to have confidence in oneself, but how do we develop it and ultimately grow into self-assured people ? This next section can help with that.

So, if you’re reading to dig into some tips for building your self-trust, let’s dive in:

Tips To Help You Build Your Self-Trust

1. Be Your Authentic Self

People are often scared of how others perceive them, and we are concerned about judgment and criticism. Therefore we put on a façade and pretend to be who we believe people want us to be. This is a sure sign that your self-trust and your confidence are low, and other people will eventually be able to see through it.

We all get nervous at times, and we want to make a good impression around other people, but when you begin to feel insecure, realize that it is perfectly fine to be yourself. You were born as you, do not feel that you have to change to satisfy other people.

To help to curb insecurities, try being yourself around people you feel comfortable with and then slowly but surely start to spend time with those that make you feel vulnerable and somewhat uncomfortable.

Over time you will discover that your confidence will build, and you will trust that you are enough.

2. Spend Some Time Alone

We do not mean that you need to spend vast amounts of time in isolation, but if you lack self-trust, the best thing to do is to look inward. This is not always easy, though, and you may even keep yourself constantly busy to avoid spending time by yourself.

And although it is a good idea to keep active in life, sometimes we need to sit for a moment and have a bit of introspection. How can you trust yourself if you never spend any time with yourself? Each day invest a small amount of time in sitting with yourself and growing in self-awareness.

Consider the thoughts that plague your mind, note if there is any self-criticism , acknowledge it, but then let it go and if it is something legitimate, then make plans to improve these aspects of yourself.

3. Treat Yourself With Kindness

Kindness tends to spawn from love, and that is what you need to develop. You need to find a way to develop self-love. If you love yourself and accept yourself for who you are, you are far more likely to grow your self-trust. [2]

When you love yourself, you will have far fewer negative thoughts about yourself, and you will be less likely to fire harsh criticism, especially when you fail or make mistakes. So try to grow the love you have for yourself and be mindful of what your inner voice says about you.

Train yourself to think kind and accepting thoughts of yourself instead of things that are critical and corrosive. If you are kinder to yourself and show yourself the grace that love provides, you will be far more likely to grow in your self-trust.

Related: Inspiring Trust Yourself Quotes

4. Focus On Self-Improvement

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and by now, you likely have a fair idea of what yours are, but if not, consider sitting down and examining what these are. You can then examine what areas of your life need improvement and where you likely need less work.

Then realize that self-improvement does not happen overnight and will take time and dedication. If you struggle to talk in front of people, for example, focus on that and see what strengths you have that can help you improve on your shortcoming. Perhaps you’ve got a great sense of humor, and this can assist you.

Regardless of what you feel you need to focus on, once you start on a journey of self-improvement, you begin to gain confidence and trust yourself to handle the things that life brings your way.

5. Practice Decisiveness

If you find that you constantly second guess and question your decisions and the actions you take, you will struggle with self-trust. And this, over time, may cause us to doubt who we are as a person and what we stand for.

Thus we need silence our inner critic and it’s loud doubting voice. [3] And then decisively chart a course that encourages us to stick with what we decide, even if that decision ends badly. At least you can say that you stood by what you felt was the right choice.

If it was the wrong choice, don’t beat yourself up, learn from it, and then you can be wiser for the future. 

Seeking to develop your self-trust is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Not only will you learn more about who you are as a person and what you stand for, but you will also grow your confidence and improve your decision-making processes.

However, your biggest gain from trusting yourself, and the reason everyone should strive to improve their self-trust, is the fact that it is the gateway to our best life.

So, get to work on improving your self-trust, and then relax in the fact that you’re actively creating a better future for yourself .

PS – If you enjoyed this post on the importance of trusting yourself, then you’ll also enjoy this article that covers some of the best ways to build self-trust .

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10 STRATEGIES ON HOW TO BECOME FEARLESS AND CONFIDENT

If you’re searching for effective strategies on how to become fearless and confident in yourself then this article is for you. However, before we provide those strategies, it’s important to know that we all have choices to make in this life, and some of those choices are constant. We all must choose on a daily basis, between shirking opportunities for growth and expansion, or leaning in to face our challenges fearlessly with full acceptance of the outcome.

Choosing the former leads to stagnation, less freedom, less happiness and ultimately unfulfilled potential. While on the other hand, the latter leads to more joy, freedom, abundance, and potential fulfilled.

“THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS IS FREEDOM…AND THE SECRET TO FREEDOM IS COURAGE.” –  THUCYDIDES  –

Without a doubt, there are fears and doubts that keep the majority of people living out their lives in quiet desperation, only to go to their graves with their gifts, dreams, talents, and aspirations still left inside of them. In fact, the late Wayne Dyer once stated, “The number one regret of the dying is ‘I wish I had the courage to live the life I wanted rather than doing what others wanted of me.’”

Thus, it is for this line of reasoning that we decided to publish this resource, to provide you with actionable strategies that you can use to build confidence in yourself. The type of confidence that would allow for you to to live life fearlessly starting today.

With that being said, after researching numerous books, and experimenting with a variety of different tools, (meditation, affirmations, guided visualizations, hypnosis etc…) we discovered a handful of best-practices that you can immediately employ to start building confidence in yourself quickly.

We’re confident, that if you attempt to conquer your fears using the insights provided on this page with complete commitment, you will begin to experience noticeable progress in your self-belief, confidence, and your ability take more action.

In other words, you will become more confident, fearless, and thus more inclined to transform yourself into the type of action-taker your dreams require you to be.

So, if you’re ready to learn about the 10 best strategies for becoming fearless and confident in yourself starting today, let’s dive right in:

HOW TO BE FEARLESS AND CONFIDENT IN YOURSELF

1. BELIEVE (HAVE FAITH) IN YOURSELF

This first confidence-building strategy simply consists of having faith in yourself. We understand that this may seem difficult to do. But once we show you the why behind how this works, you may just become inclined to make your leap of faith.

This “why” that we’re referring to consists of a simple process. It’s only one process, but we aim to illustrate it in two different ways.  Thus, the two diagrams below are meant to inform you, as well as act as an incentive to encourage you to continue using the other strategies we will be providing to you. 

With that said, both of these diagrams are important to comprehend, but the diagram that is best to keep in mind as you utilize the other strategies we’ll be recommending, is this first one, Diagram 1 . 

We suggest that it is kept at the forefront of your mind, and used as a foundation as you strengthen your confidence muscles. We recommend this because of the substantial life enhancing effects that can result from you believing that you can become not just uber-confident, but fearless.

So, without further ado, here is the first diagram, your foundation, and your strong reason as to why you should become fearless.

DIAGRAM 1: 

This diagram (see on next page) is a model for life enhancement.  When we comprehend how this model impacts our life, we can equip ourselves with the conviction that is needed to jumpstart our intentions for facing our fears. 

The model demonstrates how you can actually decide to crush your fears, and take steps to continually suppress those fears, while at the same time setting yourself up for future success.

When you observe the model on the next page you will notice that it is cyclical.  You should also take note, that the model spirals in a direction that is toward a stronger, increasingly improved you, which naturally translates into a brighter future for you.  

You’ll notice when looking at this model (especially in comparison to the second diagram provided just after this one) the word ‘Increased’ . 

This entire model is impacted by the decision to increase our belief that we can become fearless, and an increase in our belief of ourselves.  As a result, a bigger brighter, more fulfilled future can ensue.  

The premise of the model is this: If you force yourself to have certainty about your abilities, an absolute belief that you can handle whatever it is you are undertaking, you will place in motion a positive life enhancing process. 

When you decide to increase your belief that you can do something, you will influence your potential for actually being able to do that thing well.

Having the sense that you have increased potential to accomplish something, you will in effect be more likely to take (increased) action to fulfill that potential. As you begin taking more action, and doing so with full faith in your potential and ability to execute flawlessly, you will begin to get better results.

Having these improved results will reinforce your belief in yourself, and in your abilities.  In turn, the whole process will restart anew, and every recurring time, it will be from an even stronger, more confident position.

In summary :   with a decision to believe in one’s self, one’s potential to execute will increase.  Consequently, one will be inclined to take even more action, whereby, one will inevitably see more improved results.  As time goes on, this process will compound all results.  Therefore, it is vital to begin from a position of belief, to get onto the path towards living fearlessly.

DIAGRAM 2: 

Diagram 2 is very similar to Diagram 1, just illustrated above.  This diagram was included primarily to provide additional context in relation to the power of belief.  Its purpose is to demonstrate what the opposite effects are, if we get started on the wrong foot.

This diagram, unlike Diagram 1, is on a negative spiraling path towards a diminishing life.   It is different in that it consists of a cycle of decrease.  In essence, when we allow for things, people, or our own negative opinion of ourselves to negatively impact our belief in ourselves and our abilities, we will inevitably experience a level of diminishment in our potential.

Through this feeling of diminished capabilities, we will in effect act less on the fulfillment of our goals.  Like most people, when something seems futile, we are less inclined to persevere.  As a perfect example of cause and effect, our lack of action (or our half-hearted action) leads to substandard results.

And the cycle goes on.  Those less than stellar results reinforce our lack of belief in ourselves (again), which as a result decreases our outlook on our potential even more so.  In turn, this ultimately reduces even further, our desire to act, yet again bringing even worse results, etc.

This phase can go on indefinitely to eventual physical, spiritual, and professional defeat. Something we do not want for you, or anyone.

The most critical aspect to take away from this strategy to build confidence in yourself (considering both diagrams), is that it is critical that we start all of our undertakings from a place of belief.

If you begin having any doubts as you implement any of our other strategies, or begin to feel your inner cynic start to come out, just come back to this first strategy and simply reacquaint yourself until you are ready to move forward with faith.

It is vitally important that you believe you can actually learn how to become more confident.  It is important to believe that you can do amazing things, because without belief, you can not, nor ever will, become a fearless version of your former self.

So, first things first, have faith in yourself!

“IF YOU MUST DOUBT SOMETHING, DOUBT YOUR LIMITS.” –  PRICE PRITCHETT  –

2. INTERNALIZE THESE 6 TRUTHS

This next confidence boosting strategy consists of six very important truths that when deeply understood, can assist you in the easing of your apprehensions. [1]  

We suggest you attempt to internalize these truths.  By doing so, you will be conditioning your mind to release the stress that you may have built up around your fears and apprehensions in the past. Here they are:

• Fear and angst never goes away fully, not as long as we are growing, stretching, and striving for more.  Fear, angst, and uneasiness then, is but a natural consequence of striving.
• To start feeling confident and good about ourselves, we have to take some type of definitive steps/actions to improve the situation or ourselves.
• The only way to get rid of the fear or angst of doing something is to go out and do that thing which which is causing us unease.
• Fear and doubt art things that is experienced by everyone.  To be human, is to fearful and doubtful. Fear and doubt are natural byproducts of growth; it’s a byproduct of placing ourselves in unfamiliar territory, outside of our comfort zones.   We are all human, and thus we all experience fear and doubt.
• Living with the regret and the feeling of helplessness the stems from not tackling your fears or seeking to suppress your doubts, is more frightening than having decided to face your fears head on.
• The more attention we give to our fears without doing something to combat them, the stronger they will grow, and the more paralyzed you’ll feel when you decide to conquer them.

Speaking these six truths out loud whenever fear begins to creep up in our mind, can do wonders for quelling any anxiousness we may be feeling.

It’s like preparing for a big game or battle against a worthy opponent.  The more you know about your opponent, the less frightening it is.  The less frightening the opponent appears, the more willing we are to face it.

3. PRACTICE THESE SIX ACTIONS TO BUILD CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF

There are six practical actions will be helpful for you to keep in your ‘back pocket’ so-to-speak, so they can be easily accessed when the time comes for proactively building confidence in yourself.

This step, also includes a diagram that conveys how taking action works toward curing our fears.

It is critical to know, that action builds confidence and cures fear.  As such, find a way to isolate your fears.  Once you do this, you can then begin to take constructive action to face those fears.  Taking action on the thing you fear most is highly effective.  If you don’t take action, your fears will grow.

Project (or force) your confidence.  Here are some ways to do this:

a. Force yourself to sit in the front row of your training classes, sit nearest the boss in meetings, put yourself out there, etc.

b. Speak up.  Participate.  Engage.

c. Make sure you make and keep eye contact with everyone with whom you speak.  Force yourself to not instantly look away. Establish your presence.

d. When you walk, walk with purpose. Consider walking 25% faster. [2]

e. Smile big and act as if you were confident.  Fake it till you make it.  

f.   Stand tall, and act like a person with pride.  People respond more positively to such a presence, which will up your confidence.

Take time to actively envision yourself successfully executing that thing which you fear.  Many times, our fears are tied up in our perception that we can’t or won’t be able to do something well.  A simple action that we can take to calm our nerves about a fear of our inability to do something is to imagine, over and over again, our doing that thing well, or perfectly.  Doing so will not only ensure you do that thing better, but you will have less angst leading up to the doing of that thing.

Take massive action to only allow positive thoughts in your mind.  Watching or reading the news, allowing ourselves to think negatively, being around gossipers, or participating in gossiping, will detract from your confidence, and thus incubate your fears.

Practice following what your conscience tells you is right.  In other words, listen to your gut.  By doing so, you will prevent a toxic guilt complex.  Trust your gut.  If something feels wrong, it probably is, so don’t do it.

Release your fear of other people, and of their judgements.  Remember that other people are just as human as you.  Also keep in mind, that people more often than not, really mean well.  And deep down inside, they are actually nice, and don’t have the negative judgements of us that we typically conjure up in our minds.

Be sure to review the ‘Take Action Diagram’ on the following pages, as it will help illuminate why taking action on your fears is helpful.

Once you have reviewed the diagram, consider coming back to the actions mentioned earlier, and pick any item, and decide to take action on it today.

TAKE ACTION DIAGRAM

We are fearful of those things that are outside our comfort zone. The unknown has always brought discomfort to even the greatest of us. This model objectively demonstrates how when we take actions/risks towards facing our fears, we eventually make progress towards overcoming those fears. [3]

Imagine yourself standing within the center of the model, which is your existing comfort zone.  As you take incremental risks, you move outward on this model, to higher level risks, acquiring new levels of confidence in the process.  This level of confidence then allows for you to keep moving (outward) towards that main fear, until you’ve faced it.  At this point, the discomfort of doing that fearful event again should be much less severe, as you have graduated into your newly attained comfort zone.

This model also demonstrates why even after we’ve accomplished a fear inducing goal, why we may continue to still have fears.  It’s important to note, that in most cases, the fear we are experiencing won’t be the same fear as before.  As we choose to stretch ourselves to accomplish bigger or more challenging goals, new fears will arise due to the uncertainty of accomplishing those goals. 

4. LEVERAGE THIS SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA

The following Self-Confidence Formula was derived from Napoleon Hill’s classic book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ . [4]

We have found that it has the most optimal effect when it is read consistently, in its entirety, and aloud with deliberate energy every morning just after waking up. 

By reading this mantra daily as a ritual, noticeable changes to your confidence levels may be experienced.  As such, you will be positioning yourself to approach your fears with the heightened courage needed to conquer them.  Here it is:

1. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life.  Therefore, I demand of myself persistent, continuous action towards its attainment, and I here and now promise to take such action.

2. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality.  Therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.

3. I know through the principle of autosuggestion that any desire I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object.  Therefore, I will devote 10 minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of self-confidence.

4. I have clearly written down a description of my Definite Chief Aim in life.  I will never stop trying until I have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.

5. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice.  Therefore, I will engage in no transaction that does not benefit all whom it affects.  I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people.

I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve others.  I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity because I know that a negative attitude towards others can never bring me success.  I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.  I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day, with full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so that I will become a self-reliant and successful person.

COMPANION RESOURCE: 

As part of this strategy, we’ve also included the following mantra, which was written by Walter D. Wintle . [5]  

This mantra is a great reminder of the power that thought has on our life outcomes.  We’ve included it because it is such a helpful reminder on the power belief and mindset can have on how we show up in life.

With constant review, it can strengthen your belief in your ability to will change, and to use your mind to defeat the challenges that lay before you.

MINDSET MANTRA

Related: Mantras For Success

5. BUILD CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF WITH AFFIRMATIONS

If you are not familiar with affirmations, they are essentially statements said to oneself, with conviction about a perceived truth.  They are a way of programming one’s mind into believing what you are telling it. 

Affirmations can be useful for strengthening our minds against a number of self-limiting beliefs.  They are especially affective for helping people manage a lack of confidence. And they are great to use if you have a strong sense of fear towards doing something.

If you want to learn more about what affirmations are, and how to make them work for you, we highly recommend you read the Psychology Today article, by Ronald Alexander Ph.D. titled: ‘5 Steps to Make Affirmations Work for You’.

The following phrases are some of the most powerful Fear Conquering affirmations you can use.  They are most impactful when read daily, out loud to yourself.  It is especially effective if you look into a mirror, directly into your eyes, when reciting these affirmations. This is known as the mirror technique, of course it’s not 100% necessary, especially if you are driving, etc.

For the sixth one, just fill in the blank with whichever issue you are having doubts about. Or fill it in with any issue that fills you with anxiety due to self-perceived feelings of inadequacies. 

For example; if you have doubts about your strength as a leader, recite the following: “I am a strong leader.” 

Similarly, if you fear you are not good public speaker, you can recite the following:  “I am a great public speaker.” 

And, if you fear you are not a good conversationalist, recite the following:  “I am a great conversationalist”. And so on and so forth.

You can also easily interchange the adjective of Great on this sixth affirmation with whichever you wish to be more of. For example, you can use good, powerful, successful, calm, peaceful, happy, etc. instead of Great.

• I AM FEARLESS.
• WHATEVER HAPPENS TO ME, I CAN HANDLE IT.
• I EXUDE CONFIDENCE.
• I AM POWERFUL, POSITIVE, AND ENERGETIC.
• I LOVE MYSELF, AS WELL AS OTHERS.
• I AM A GREAT__________________.

If you’re looking for a really thorough list of affirmations to build confidence in yourself, and more about affirmations in general, use these resources:

• Affirmations For Confidence
• What Are Affirmations?
• Do Affirmations Work?

With that said, this next section includes a helpful diagram that can help you track how affirmations are impacting your feelings of empowerment over time.  The exercise is optional, but it can help you observe and track progress.

PAIN TO EMPOWERMENT CONTINUUM DIAGRAM: 

This is a powerful diagram that the late Susan Jeffers, Ph.D. inspired via her book, ‘Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway’. [6]    It has served as a very useful way to track my progress on my feelings of confidence. 

With the knowledge that you can track how you feel about yourself, and how you perceive yourself in terms of handling your fears, you can gradually improve your situation.   That which gets measured, can improve. 

As such, this diagram is an excellent way to track your progress towards becoming more empowered via the affirmations you used, (or can be used to track your feelings of progress for the implementation of all mentioned strategies), towards building your confidence.  How you measure yourself is purely subjective and relative to your situation, but then again, so is fear.

An important thing to keep in mind, is that the secret to handling our lack of confidence, is our ability to move ourselves from a place of pain (see left side of diagram), to a place of feeling empowered (see right side of diagram).  When we are in a place of pain, we feel helpless, we feel depressed, have a feeling of paralysis (Can’t, Won’t, or Don’t want to do Anything), and are generally apathetic. 

However, when we are empowered, we feel we are capable of making decisions. We have more energy, we take more action, and we conduct ourselves from a place of passion.  Observe the diagram below.

When you’re feeling empowered, you’ll make better choices and have more energy. You’ll also take more action, and feel a stronger sense of passion and well being in your life.

PAIN TO EMPOWERMENT TRACKING

Consider tracking the impact the affirmations are having on you at the end of each week. Practice your affirmations diligently, and then measure how you feel in each area to if they are working.

Take inventory of your progress towards becoming a bit more confident and a lot more fearless for the next 66 days, using the ‘pain to empower’ diagram.  Simply add a check mark along the spectrum, pinpointing how you feel your empowerment levels rank on a scale from 1 – 8 at the end of every week  (1 being the worst, and nearest to pain, and 8 being the best and nearest to feelings of empowerment).   

Tracking like this can help to provide a sense of accomplishment. And that sense of accomplishment can help you push through the entire duration of the process.

Here is what that measurement and tracking process could look like:

Quantify Results to Make Measurable Progress:   Wherever you place your check mark on each of the four spectrums, you can use the location (1 -8) of that check mark as the number to enter in the boxes below.   By doing this, you put a number to your progress.  

In fact, at the end of each week, you can tally up your score for each spectrum (divide it by 4) and then enter it into the TOTAL SCORE box at the bottom.  By quantifying your improvement, you can make measurable progress over time.   For instance, the hypothetical total score on the next page is the total of each spectrum score, divided by 4.  i.e. 7+4+6+8 = 25   so then 25 ÷ 4 equals 6.25  

If you’re total score grows throughout the following weeks, keep doing what you’ve been doing, as a growing score signifies that you’re moving in the right direction.

Related: Affirmations For Success

6. INCREASE YOUR CONFIDENCE WITH VISUALIZATION

Cheryl Lossie, Ph.D., is a former lecturer of public speaking for Clemson University, and retired public-speaking lecturer who specialized in teaching some of the most fearless people on the planet, the U.S Special Forces, how to overcome their hesitancy of speaking in front of people, and how to do it well. 

When we interviewed Dr. Lossie about what she recommended to her students (the fearless Special Ops folks) for overcoming their fears of public speaking, she informed us that it was to simply practice visualization.

Her recommendation coincided well with much of our research and experiences for overcoming fears. In fact, it also aligned with some of Tony Robbins’ research on how to overcome fear as well.   As such, a great mental exercise to help you build confidence in yourself, is to simply practice visualization.

As a best practice to visualize effectively, it is recommended, that you sit in a quiet place, with no distractions. You’ll want to close your eyes, and then take 2 to 5 minutes to imagine yourself executing flawlessly (in addition rebounding flawlessly, if things do go as planned) that thing which you are so afraid of doing. 

For example:

• If afraid of public speaking, see yourself giving a flawless presentation.  Also, see yourself getting that standing ovation or that positive response you are seeking from your audience once you’ve finished wowing them.
• If it’s conducting an important staff-meeting, see yourself taking charge and crushing that meeting.  Imagine in detail exactly what you plan on saying, how you will say it, and think what you will say in response to other attendees at the meeting.
• If it’s presenting a sales presentation to a client, see yourself giving a perfect sales presentation.  Imagine also, every objection that might come your way, and see yourself handling those objections with grace and confidence.
• If it’s approaching that beautiful girl at the coffee shop, imagine yourself striking up a conversation confidently, and holding a great engaging conversation with the person.  Imagine everything that could go right.

You may be asking yourself, ‘Is building confidence really this easy?’ And the answer to that question is yes, it is that easy, so long as you put in the time to visualize your ideal outcomes.

With that said, let’s move on to our next confidence building strategy.

7. BUILD CONFIDENCE WITH ENCOURAGING QUOTES

Below you will find 20 power quotes that you can reference at your leisure.  Once you have read all of them, consider coming back to the ones that really speak to you.

The quote that moves you the most is the quote that will be most helpful to read when you need to take action on anything that you are resistant to do.

1. “Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage.” – Napoleon Hill

2.  “Fearlessness isn’t a divine gift.  Fearlessness is a daily practice.” – Robin Sharma

3.   “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho

4.  “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown

5.   “There is only one way to avoid criticism:  Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” – Aristotle

6.   “A human becomes fearless by accepting his/her fears.  It is not a question of bravery.  It is simply seeing into the facts of life and realizing that these fears are natural.” – Osho

7.    “He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

8.   “Safe is Risky” – Seth Godin

9.    “Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting” – Karl Wallenda

10.    “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly ” – Robert F. Kennedy

11.    “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot

12.    “Greatness lives on the edge of destruction” – Will Smith

13.  “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage” – Anais Nin

14.    “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot: but make it hot by striking” – William B. Sprague

15.   “It is never too late to be what you might have been” – George Elliot

16.   “The most important thing to remember is this:  To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become. ” – D.E.B Dubois

17.    “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.  Dream.  Discover.” – Mark Twain

18.   “The only person who never makes mistakes is the person who never does anything” – Dennis Waitely

19.    “People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.  People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” – Peter Drucker

20.   “It is only by risking our persons from one hour to another that we live at all” – William James

If you’re looking for additional quotes to boost your confidence and help you life life fearlessly, these collections will do the trick:

• 100 Best Quotes on Courage
• 70 Confidence-Boosting Quotes
• 35 Quote For Fearlessness
• 25 No Guts No Glory Quotes

8. BUILD CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF WITH THESE KEY QUESTIONS

The following four questions will bring new levels of clarity to every situation where a lack of confidence is involved.  It is suggested that you honestly ask these questions of yourself. 

Similarly, when faced with a future challenge or situation which induces anxiousness in you, ask yourselves these questions, and wait for your inside voice to answer the question for you.

After doing so, you should find that these questions have a calming effect on you, thus, gently banishing the fears that your mind has potentially built up around the task at hand. With that said, here are the questions:

Question 1:  What is really on the other side of this thing I am fearing at the moment?

The answer is always… NOTHING.

Question 2:  If I knew that I could handle anything that came my way, what would I possibly have to fear?

The answers is… NOTHING.

Question 3:  If the worst possible outcome related to doing this thing that is making me so afraid, actually happened, would I be able to handle the outcome?

The answer is…YES.

Question 4:  If I let this fear get the best of me, and allow it to keep me from doing that which  am afraid to accomplish, will I, on my deathbed, regret that I had not made the decision to do that thing which I so feared?

The answer is… IT IS UP TO YOU .

Related: Books For Confidence

9. DIGEST THESE CONFIDENCE-BUILDING TED TALK VIDEOS

To help you increase your confidence while simultaneously minimizing fear and its shrewd ability to limit our lives, we’ve curated four classic Ted Talks you should watch.  Our hope is that you’ll watch them and learn some new tactics that you can use to build your confidence and overcome your fears rapidly.

Here are the videos:

VIDEO 1:  AMY CUDDY

This is an extremely inspirational video by Social Psychologist Amy Cuddy.  She provides amazing insight into how research is starting to suggest that we are influenced by our own non-verbal communication to ourselves. 

In short, she reveals how our non-verbal’s (like body language) can influence how we think and feel about ourselves. Put another way, she demonstrates how you can manipulate your body to build confidence in yourself.

All in all, it’s full of great information to help you build confidence so you can become fearless.   Her last suggestion is what is most important.  “Fake it till you Become it”.  

VIDEO 2:  TIM FERRISS

Author of ‘Tools of Titans’ and productivity guru Tim Ferrids gives a nice intellectual breakdown on how he learned to deconstruct his fears so he can eventually conquer them.  If you watch the video till the end, he eventually ties all of his examples together to help you understand how you can overcome fear. 

His last two messages are by far the most important.  “Fear is your friend.” and “What is the worst that could happen?”

VIDEO 3:  JOE KOWAN

An entertaining and uplifting video that details how singer-songwriter  Joe Kowan eventually learned how to overcome his fear of being on stage.  Joe does this by ritually singing a stage fright song that he created before every event he does. 

It’s very powerful and it is a must watch for those who need to build confidence for getting on stage or in front of large groups of people.  Click on the image above to learn how to fearless and confident through learning.

VIDEO 4:  JIA JANG

Author of ‘Rejection Proof’, Jia Jiang, provides a very funny, informative, and helpful video for overcoming our fears.  He starts slow, but his message really picks up steam half way through.  By the end of the video, you will have laughed a dozen times and you will most certainly have gained some powerful insights for overcoming your fears and dealing with rejection. 

Jia Jiang’s last statement really knocks it out of the park, when he admonishes that we embrace our fears, because it is in doing so, that we are bound to discover our biggest opportunities.

10. FIND YOUR LIGHT

Why are we so afraid to do what we truly want in this life?  Why are we always letting other people’s opinions drive the decisions we make? 

Too many of us tuck our dreams and true interests away in some small corner at the first sign of disapproval from others. We don’t follow our own heart, we don’t we follow our light.  Why?

Robert Greene, said it so well in his book ‘Mastery’, as he pinpoints exactly what happens to so many people. In fact, it is what happens to all of us when we don’t follow our true inclinations.  He states the following:

“Conforming to social norms, you will listen more to others than to your own voice.  You may choose a career path based on what peers and parents tell you, or on what seems lucrative.  If you lose contact with your inner calling, you can have some success in life, but eventually your lack of true desire catches up with you.  Your work becomes mechanical.  You come to live for leisure and immediate pleasures.” [7]

So, if you are afraid to do what you truly want in this life, don’t be.  You only have one life to live, and none of us are getting out of here alive anyway.

If you are always letting other people’s opinions drive the decisions you make, or cause you to doubt yourself, with respect all due respect, stop!  Your opinions and interests matter, what interests you is important .

No more tucking your dreams and true interests away, no more hiding your talents because others may disapprove of them.  If you want to live a confident and fearless life, you have to follow your dreams .

This is the last act, because it requires the most self-examination and courage to act on your insights; however, it also harnesses the most potential to help you become confident, act boldly, and live fearlessly.  

Thus, to help you follow you fire, your light, your dreams, you first need to know exactly what it is that YOU want .  Thus, this strategy is an exercise to help you discover what your calling is, so you can follow it.

Once you’ve completed the self-discovery process, focus on bringing it to life by making plans to live it.

FIND YOUR CALLING EXERCISE

Below is a tool to help you find your light, your fire, or whatever you want to call it.

Ultimately, it is a questionnaire that will help you bring more clarity to your life. Improved clarity leads to confidence, and confidence leads to action, and action eventually turns into results.

Give it a look here: Find Your Light Guide

IMPLEMENTATION

By answering all of the questions in the guide provided, and giving each one your sincere and thorough consideration, you’ll discover a deeper awareness of who you are, what makes you happy, and what you should be doing with your life. All of these things will help you build confidence in yourself.

When every decision you make, every action you take is aligned with the fulfillment of the life objective you discover from this exercise, you will, without a doubt, have the confidence to truly live fearlessly.

BUILDING THE CONFIDENCE TO LIVE LIFE FEARLESSLY

A final word of caution. There is nothing more crushing in your pursuit of becoming your absolute best or in deciding to become who you truly want to be, then by having someone within your inner circle question your intentions and doubt your possibilities. 

“THERE IS NOTHING ENLIGHTENED ABOUT SHRINKING SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE WILL NOT FEEL INSECURE AROUND YOU.  WE ARE ALL MEANT TO SHINE.”    –  MARIANNE WILLIAMSON  –

As you’ve probably experienced, fear and doubt can spread swiftly like a virus.  As such, you must take proper precautions to make yourself immune to its infection. 

A good starting point, in making yourself immune, is to understand that doubters are simply afraid.  They are afraid of not living up to their potential, afraid that you may outshine them.  These individuals, will claw and scrape, and try to hurt you, to keep you fearful of life, fearful of your very best .

Often times, they don’t do this consciously. It’s their subconscious insecurities that compel them to lash out. And they lash out at you because they have yet to find the courage to face their fears and pursue their potential as you do.

If possible, remove these doubters from your life.  Remove, as best as you can, anyone who doubts your potential. Remove anyone who doubts your skills, your abilities, your choices, your greatness. 

If you can’t completely remove these people from your life, then distance yourself from them.  Spend as little time around them as possible, so as to minimize their negative influences on you. 

If distancing yourself from them is not an option, then you must create a mental firewall to negate their negativity, to negate their doubts.  A simple way to do this, is to convince yourself that their judgement no longer holds the weight that it once had.

Begin at once, to see yourself as a lion, and ‘them’ as the sheep (because that’s what they are). Reinforce your mental firewall with the following thought….

“A LION DOESN’T CONCERN HIMSELF WITH THE OPINIONS OF THE SHEEP.”    –  ANONYMOUS  –

A final word of encouragement. Congratulations, you now know how to be fearless and confident. You are truly equipped with the tools to become as confident as you want to be.  The choice to embrace your new found confidence and live life fearlessly is now solely up to you.

We encourage you to decide to be confident today, to make the decision to believe that you can handle whatever this world throws at you.  If you make this simple decision, and practice our recommended strategies, you will in effect be choosing to be fearless, and as a result, you will be. 

If the fears and doubts begin to creep back in, remember that you can rely on the power of belief and the power of pursuit, to drive your fears away.

As you move forward to build confidence in yourself, towards taking on new and greater challenges, we are sure everything in life will begin to change for you. 

Believe that you can do whatever it is that you wish to do.  Have faith in yourself, have faith in your vision, believe that you deserve the best, because my friend, you do. 

STRIVE To Go Fearless!

[1] Susan Jeffers Ph.D., Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 22.

[2] David J. Schwartz Ph.D., The Magic of Thinking Big (New York: Prentice Hall, 1965), 52.

[3] Susan Jeffers, Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 36.

[4] Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (Connecticut: THE RALSTON SOCIETY, 1938), 57,58.

[5] Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich (Connecticut: THE RALSTON SOCIETY, 1938), 59, 60.

[6] Susan Jeffers Ph.D., Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway (New York: Ballantine Books, 2007), 26.

[7] Robert Greene, Mastery (New York: Penguin Group, 2012), 13,14.

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THE SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA

Self Confidence is everything.  In fact, if you don’t have it, your chances of finding serious success in any endeavor is going to be limited.

Now, we are not saying you can’t succeed without confidence.  But, we are saying that it will be difficult to gain massive success without it.  And massive success is the key word.

Don’t believe us? Try naming one extremely successful person who isn’t self-confident.

Exactly.  We couldn’t come up with a name either.

What is Confidence?

Now, confidence isn’t the same as charisma. Too many people get the two mixed up. Charisma is when someone has a compelling attractiveness about them, a charm if you will, that allows them to typically inspire devotion in others. However, confidence on the other hand, is the deep knowing that you can do something. It is a calmness of mind that stems from having trust in your ability to do a certain thing well.

Of course people succeed all the time without having the charisma of Winston Churchill, Neil Patrick Harris , or Matthew McConaughey, but succeeding without confidence is a completely different story.

“One of the key factors of legendary success is to learn how to generate your own self-confidence.” – Robin Sharma

Without Confidence You Won’t Do This….

Here’s why.  When you lack self-confidence, you essentially don’t believe in yourself.  And when you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t take action .

Needless to say, the less action you take, the less likely you’ll be to run into opportunity.  And without opportunity, you can’t really find success.

Why?  Because success is never something that is given.  Success is something that is always earned.

And success keeps her distance from those who don’t take action.

You can’t seize your moment, or take risks on those slivers of opportunity that rarely present themselves, if you are not taking action.

In short, we can’t succeed, we won’t succeed, without first having self-confidence.

If success requires anything…. above all else it requires action, and action requires self-confidence.

Related: Lacking Self Belief? Read This

Can You Teach Yourself Confidence?

The great news is, you can teach yourself how to be more confident. You can increase your confidence levels because confidence, much like a muscle, can be strengthened by use. And if you can teach yourself confidence, you can take more action. And if take more action, you can be become about as successful as you want to be.

More confidence will lead to more action, and more action will lead to more success.

Related: How to Become an Extrovert

The Key to More Action

With that being said, we want to give you a powerful tool that will help you become more confident.  We want to give you a key to taking more action , and from that action, the attainment of more success.  This key, is called the self-confidence formula.

This self confidence formula is a simple tool that various members of our team still use daily to gain and maintain the confidence needed to crush our days.

This tool has been a big part of our morning routine for years now, and it has helped us strengthen our belief in our ability to do…. well, just about anything!

This formula that we use stems from Napoleon Hill’s classic book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’.   If you haven’t read the book yet, then we highly recommend you read it [ Click Here to Download for Free ]. 

Of course, you don’t have to read the book before putting this effective confidence formula to work for you.

The formula is essentially a declaration that you read to yourself. It contains a handful of hidden affirmations (auto-suggestion) that will gradually work on your subconscious minds.

It is suggested that you read it aloud, with an open mind, and with faith that it can help fortify your confidence. It will require some faith on your part, but I can assure you, if you believe in it, it will work.

Related: Think and Grow Rich Quotes

So without further ado, below is your new highly effective confidence tool that you will be sure to benefit from. Here you go:

• I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life. Therefore, I demand of myself persistent, continuous action towards its attainment, and I here and now promise to take such action.
• I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality. Therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.
• I know through the principle of autosuggestion that any desire I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object. Therefore, I will devote 10 minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of self-confidence.
• I have clearly written down a description of my Definite Chief Aim in life. I will never stop trying until I have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
• I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice. Therefore, I will engage in no transaction that does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve others.  I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity because I know that a negative attitude towards others can never bring me success.  I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.  I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day, with full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so that I will become a self-reliant and successful person.

Related: Self-Confidence Affirmations

Final Thoughts

There you have it!  A powerful and simple way to increase your confidence, and it’s free and available for you to use whenever you want.

Please don’t underestimate the power of this self-confidence formula.

Trust us when we say, it has the ability to level up your life.  We promise you. But, you’ll have to have a little faith and apply it habitually.

“What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?” – Elanor Roosevelt

To do so, consider reading this formula daily so that you make it habit to build your confidence .  The changes it will make in how you feel will amaze you. But ever more amazing, will be how other begin to notice the shift in your presence.

Moreover, you’ll impress yourself by how much more daring you’ll be in your own life.  Your new-found willingness to take more action, will undoubtedly open new doors for you.

It’s time to unleash that extremely confident titan residing deep down inside of you. Use this confidence formula to awaken that giant from its slumber! Your successful future-self, will thank you for it!

Till next time,

PS –  If you enjoyed this resource and found value in it, then you’ll enjoy this confidence booster and this list of great reads .

10 BEST WAYS TO STOP NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

When you woke up this morning, stumbled over to the mirror, and had a good long gander, what was the first thing you said to yourself? Did you give yourself a solid pep talk, remind yourself how awesome you are and think about all the ways you were going to crush it today? Probably not. You let that trash-talking peanut gallery in your head make you feel like you’re inadequate. Enough! If you’re going to take on the world and conquer it, you’ve got to know how to stop negative self-talk.

Negative self-talk is a symptom of something greater than just a lack of self-confidence. It can stem from years of not feeling support, an unending string of what we perceive to be failure, and an inability to see our potential. The roots of pervasive negativity can go all the way back to our childhood and manifest because we have unfinished business there, or it can be because we never developed a sense of resilience.

Overcoming negative self-talk isn’t merely an exercise in changing our mindset (although, that is a vital component for transformation), but a process which we have to be open to, so we can realize that on the other side of “I can’t” is an infinite world of “I absolutely can!”

You know that ol’ adage, “If we don’t respect ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to respect us?” The same goes for negative self-talk. We can’t lean on others to believe in us if we’re sitting in the back row doing an audit on our life instead of realizing that we are exceptional. So let’s dive in and learn some strategies to change our inner conversations and overcome negative self-talk for good.

HOW TO STOP NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

1. Call Your Critic By Name

Don’t roll your eyes, hear me out. You have been throwing shade at yourself for so long, you probably don’t even recognize when you’re being negative. That inner critic has latched onto you like a parasite and it’s time to set it free.

Give that critic a name, something funny. And every time you hear or catch yourself thinking something negative or critical, talk to your inner critic as if it were a person. Let it know it’s gunning for a break-up, and it’s just a matter of time.

If you feel comfortable enough, share the name of your inner critic with your friends and family so when they recognize you being negative, they can keep you accountable.

2. Talk it Out to Overcome Negative Self-Talk

Keeping with the theme of reaching out to friends and family, overcoming negative self-talk is a journey. It doesn’t happen overnight. And chances are, the ones closest to you (including your boss) have suffered alongside you. They are just as invested in your becoming a happier, more positive person as you are.

So when you feel yourself slipping into the doldrums, shoot a text to a trusted confidant and run those thoughts by them. If you’re mid-rant, telling yourself how useless you are, wouldn’t it be liberating to have someone chime in to tell you how smart, hardworking and kind you are?

Of course. It’s going to take a few battles to win the war, don’t be afraid to enlist the help of trusty troops.

3. If You Can’t Get Positive, Go Neutral

There is no pill for overcoming negative self-talk (though some may disagree). It takes work. Placing pressure on yourself to be all rainbows and sunshine right out of the gate only sets you up for failure, putting you in a headspace where negativity begets negativity.

Take baby steps. Start with very simple language changes. Swap out sentences like, “I can’t do this” or “this will never,” with phrases like, “I just need more time” and “maybe this can.”

This may seem trivial and ridiculous, but we’re talking about the power of language. Think about how destructive your language has been to you and your life. If you’re not ready to fully commit to complete transformation , let’s at least crack the door open, and explore some possibilities.

4. Stay in the Moment

Whew! This is a tough one, especially when one of your favourite things to do (subconsciously) is to focus on the absolute worst case scenario of everything in life. But unless you’ve discovered time travel, you have absolutely no idea what is going to happen.

Stop focusing on the “what if” and get your head in the game by being comfortable with the “right now.”

5. Get Off the Guilt Trip

Avid negative self-talkers love to pack their bags and head out on the most epic guilt trips. Guilt tripping lets you take inventory of every single minute thing that you didn’t get done, and then you get to revel in your failure to complete things. What about focusing on all the things you accomplished instead?

If you want to overcome negative self-talk, take 15 minutes out of your day every day and write down everything you accomplished. No detail is too small. From brushing your teeth, to closing a sale, to doing a load of laundry. You’re getting stuff done; you’re just too focused on what you feel like you should be doing.

6. Stop Pretending to Read Minds

Unless you’ve been side-gigging as a psychic, you have absolutely no idea what’s going on in someone else’s head. Read that again. If they haven’t told you, you have no idea what someone else is thinking.

So why are you creating negative dialogues about what they might be thinking about you? You need to stop attaching meaning to everything someone says to you, and stop fabricating stories that say bad things about you.

7. Surround Yourself With Positive People

Sure, opposites attract, but rarely do individuals who regularly engage in negative self-talk attract happy, positive people, and there’s good reason for that; happy people like to surround themselves with other happy people. If you exist in a circle of negativity outside of yourself, what hope do you have of making a transformation?

Make some social adjustments. If you’ve got family members who are enabling you or engage in negative self-talk, take a step back. Tell them you love them, but you need to make some changes for your mental well being.

8. Shift Your Perspective to Stop Negative Self-Talk

Pffft! Easier said than done, right? Sure, but totally worth a try. Take an inventory of your fears, your concerns, your challenges. Write them out, and read them back to yourself. Now write down why you think you’re incapable of overcoming these things.

Are they really so difficult? Are you asking yourself to climb Everest with no equipment next weekend? Are you being asked to solve world hunger by 2023? How dire are these issues you’re facing? You can absolutely push through whatever is holding you back from unleashing your potential. 

9. Simplify Your Social Media Influences

Don’t panic, I’m not telling you to get off social media…completely. What I am asking you to do is to take a deep dive on who and what you are letting influence your inner dialogue on the social media landscape.

Are you following positive people and brands? Do you spend hours and hours disappearing down social media rabbit holes, only to come up for air feeling even less adequate than when you swiped into the app? Clear the decks! If you’re not following accounts that make you feel like a rock star, or share positive narratives, you do not need them in your life right now.

10. Become Someone Else’s Hype Person

Helping others makes us feel good. It gets those endorphins pumping. But it also has a sneaky way of making us feel better about ourselves, and we tend to hold our chins a little higher. Consider taking on a mentorship role to someone in your life.

It could be a friend starting a business or a colleague who needs some support in getting that next promotion. Engaging in supportive dialogue with someone we care about can retrain our brains into quieting our own inner critics.

Final Thoughts on Negative Self-Talk

Negative self-talk is akin to cancer. It can permeate every aspect of our life, impacting our career aspirations, family and friend dynamics, and relationships. The great news is, it’s not a permanent state of being, it’s a choice.

Like everything in life, anything worth having requires time, effort and dedication, but once you cross that threshold into living a more positive existence , everything gets easier from there on out. So, if you’re ready to overcome negative self-talk for good, put these tips to good use daily.

PS – If you enjoyed this article on how to stop negative self-talk, then you’ll enjoy this read on how changing your mindset can can change your life, and you may even find value in these powerful affirmations for confidence .

100 INSPIRING COURAGE QUOTES TO HELP YOU FEEL COURAGEOUS

If you’re searching for some inspiring courage quotes then you’ll love this page. Before we dive into them however, know this…

We all need to look within and dig deep now and again, to remember that we have what it takes to live the life of our dreams. If that’s you, looking for that little nudge of encouragement, or help remembering that you can rise to the occasion, then you’ve come to the right place.

If you’re searching for quotes about courage, we’ve got them here. We’ve curated some of the most encouraging words on the importance of being brave, courageous, and fearless from some of the world’s greatest minds. Our hope is that they’ll give you the courage to unleash that inner bravery that will help you live your best life . So, without further ado, if you’re ready to dive into some of the most powerful courage quotes of all-time then let’s dive in: 

100 Courage Quotes to Help You Unleash Your Inner Lion

1. “Fortune favors the bold.” – Virgil

2. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide

3. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin

4. “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” – George A. Sheehan”

5. “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” – Soren Kierkegaard

6.  “Courage is being scared to death…and saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne

7. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

8. “He who is brave is free.” – Seneca

9. “Messenger boy: The Thessalonian you’re fighting, he’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen.  I wouldn’t want to fight him. Achilles:  That is why no one will remember your name.” – Troy

10. “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer” – George S. Patton

11. “ If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” – Marcus Garvey

12. “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth

13. “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” – Buddha

14. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

15. “In any given moment, we have two options: To step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

16. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings

17. “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” – C.S. Lewis

18. “Courage is knowing what not to fear.” – Plato

19. “All our dreams can come true , if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

20. “The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” – Tacitus

21. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” – J.K. Rowling

22 . “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.” – Amelia Earhart

23. “Just as courage is the danger of life, so is fear its safeguard.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

24 . “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” – Coco Chanel

25. “Courage is a love affair with the unknown.” – Osho

26. “From caring comes courage.” – Lao Tzu

27. “He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.” – Socrates

28. “Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.” – Dale Carnegie

29. “You will never do anything in this world without courage.  It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” – Aristotle

30.  “The secret to happiness is freedom…  And the secret to freedom is courage.” – Thucydides

31. “Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

32. “Freedom is a system based on courage.” – Charles Peguy

33. “Courage is action, not talk.” – Jeff Rich

34. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction.” – Albert Einstein

35.  “Valor grows by daring; fear by holding back.” – Publilius Syrus

36. “If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.” – David Viscott

37. “I have a lot of things to prove to myself. One is that I can live my life fearlessly.” – Oprah Winfrey

38. “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” – Seneca

39. “Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body.” – Ovid

40. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” – Nelson Mandela

41.   “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.  If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it.  Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie

42.  “Courage is on display every day, and only the courageous wring the most out of life.” – Zig Ziglar

43. “You can’t test courage cautiously.” – Annie Dillard

44. “Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.” – Eddie Rickenbacker

45. “What you are afraid to do is a clear indication of the next thing you need to do.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

46. “People don’t follow titles, they follow courage.” – William Wells Brown

47. “Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.” – Baltasar Gracian

48. “Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.” – Bertrand Russell

49. “Trust the still, small voice that says, “ this might work and I’ll try it.” – Diane Mariechild

50. “The brave may not live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all.” – Ashley L

Halfway There

You’re more than halfway through these courage quotes, great job! We hope they are providing you with the inspiration and courage you’ll need to go after the life you want.

If you’re not 100% fired up yet, well, keep reading until you feel 100% belief in yourself. You got this, let’s go!

51. “The greatest test of courage on the earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” – R.G. Ingersoll

52. “Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

53. “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” – Winston S. Churchill

54. “Do not be afraid I am with you.” – Isaiah 43:5

55.  “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy

56. “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it.” – Amy Poehler

57. “Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of courage and I promise you something great will come of it.” – We Bought A Zoo

58. “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

59. “Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it by use.” – Ruth Gordo

60. “One man with courage is a majority.” – Thomas Jefferson

61. “Life is too short to not be fearless for what you want .” – Nate Lee Morales

62. You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both.” – Brene Brown

63. “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quite voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.”

64. “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J.K. Rowling

65.  “Courage is resistance to fear, master of fear, not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain

66. “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost

67. “I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflections.” – Thomas Paine

68. “Fight hard when you are down; die hard—determine at least to do—and you won’t die at all.” – James H. West

69. “Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.” – Karl Von Clausewitz

70. “The devil whispers, “You can’t withstand the storm.” The Warrior replied, “I am the storm.” – Unknown

71. “To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” – Picabo Street

72. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

73. “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” – Maggie Kuhn

74. “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

75. “Live Dangerously and you live right.” – Goethe

76. “Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting.” – Karl Wallenda

77. “Courage is Grace Under Pressure” – Ernest Hemingway

78. “Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.” – T. Scott Mcleod

79. “Glory gives herself only to those who have always dreamed of her.” – Charles de Gaul

80. “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” – Goethe

81. “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” – Raymond Lindquist

82. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” – Susan Gale

83. “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

84. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie

85. “Be Fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” – Courage Quote

86. “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan

87. “Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, “Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.” – Unknown

88. “Sometimes the biggest act of courage is a small one.” – Lauren Raffo

89. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill

90.   “Fate loves the fearless.” – James Russell Lowell

91. “One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world was better for this.” – Don Quixote

92. “Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live .” – Dorothy Thompson

93. “Have the courage to act instead of react.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

94. “He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery!” – Anne Frank

95. “The only person who never makes mistakes is the person who never does anything.” – Dennis Waitely

96 . “Cowards die many deaths before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.” – William Shakespeare

97. “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” – Billy Graham

98. “Courage is the standing army of the soul, which keeps it from conquest, pillage, and slavery.” – Henry Van Dyke

99. “To be successful we must do things that unsuccessful people do not want to do. Those things require levels of courage.” – R. Harpe

100.  “Courage is the ladder on which all other virtues mount.” – Clare Booth Luce

Bonus Quote on Courage

We have one last addition to these courage quotes that we’d like to add.  It is a courage quote that every student of success must never forget.  Here it is, straight from the mouth of the  ‘Dean of Personal Development’…

“All You Need Is The Plan, The Roadmap, And The Courage To Press On To Your Destination.” – earl nightingale –

Final Words On Courage

There you have it friends, the best of the best when it comes to courage quotes.  Did you enjoy them?  If so, please share using any of the social share buttons below…  Spread the fire!  Also, if you enjoyed these courage quotes, you’ll probably really enjoy our popular No Guts, No Glory Quotes.

With that being said, we hope you’ll leverage these courageous thoughts and words of wisdom to start living the empowered and successful life you were meant to live.  

Till next time, 

PS – If you enjoyed these courage quotes, then you’ll likely enjoy this courage enhancing + confidence boosting resource: Go Fearless

50+ SELF-ESTEEM QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU TO REACH FOR THE STARS

Having high self-esteem and confidence is critical to living a high quality life, and these quotes about self-esteem and confidence can help.  Without a strong sense of self and confidence in one’s abilities, life can be a struggle.  Low self-esteem can impact your professional success, your relationship success, and whether or not your reach for the stars and the best life has to offer. Consequently, having a low self-esteem and lacking confidence can greatly impact how your life turns out in general.

“Beauty Begins The Moment You Decide To Be Yourself.” – coco chanel –

So, considering how important having a high-self esteem is to living life to the fullest, we’ve pulled together these handful of quotes about self-esteem and confidence for you to use the next time you start doubting yourself and your self-worth.

Please use them to remind yourself that you are more capable and powerful then you know. Leverage them as encouragement to reach for the stars and unleash your potential into the world. So, without further ado, enjoy these top inspiring quotes about self-esteem and confidence :

BEST SELF-ESTEEM QUOTES FOR LOW-CONFIDENCE

1.   “Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”  –  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2.   “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”  –  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

3.   “The greatest discovery of my generation, is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind. ”  –  William James

4.  “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.”  –  Maxwell Maltz

5.   “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”  –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

6.  “The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.”  –  Tony Robbins

7.  “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”  –  Buddha

8.   “To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.”  –  Denis Waitley

9.   “If you don’t love yourself, nobody will. Not only that, you won’t be good at loving anyone else. Loving starts with the self.”  –  Wayne Dyer

10.   “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”  –  Sir Edmund Hillary

11.  “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.”  –  Brené Brown

12.   “When you have confidence, you have a lot of fun.  And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”  –  Joe Namath

13.   “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”  –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

14.   “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie

15.   “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”  –  Helen Keller

16.    “All confidence is acquired, developed.  No one is born with confidence.” – David J. Schwartz

17.   “Self-esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.” – Jack Canfield

18.   “Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them.”  –  T. Harv Eker

19.   “Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have. ”  –  Brian Tracy

20.   “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”  –  William James

21.   “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”  –  Lucille Ball

22.   “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”  –  Norman Vincent Peale

23.   “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” – Kurt Cobain

24.   “The strongest single factor in prosperity consciousness is self-esteem: believing you can do it, believing you deserve it, believing you will get it.”  –  Jerry Gillies

25.   “The man who does not value himself, cannot value anything or anyone.”  –  Ayn Rand

26.   “Respect yourself and others will respect you.”  –  Confucius

27.   “Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment .”  –  Thomas Carlyle

28.   “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”  –  Judy Garland

29.   “You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.” – Brené Brown

30.   “Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth .”  – Anonymous

31.  “Confidence is not “they will like me”.  Confidence is “I’ll be fine if they don’t.”  –  Anonymous

32.   “Look well into thyself;  there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.”  –  Marcus Aurelius 

33.   “In my mind, not just this year, always, I am always the best.  And I am always going to say that.”  –  Cristiano Ronaldo

34.   “If you are not in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in becoming the person you don’t want to be.”  –  Dale Carnegie

35. “Someone else’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” – Les Brown

36. “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” – Robert Morley

37. “My self-esteem is high because I honor who I am.” – Louise Hay

38. “You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise Hay

39. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

40. “The only thing that matters in life, is your own opinion about yourself.” – Osho

41. “Only make decisions that support your self-image, self-esteem, and self-worth.” – Oprah Winfrey

42. “To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself heaven. Don’t wait until you die. If you wait, you die now. If you love, you live now.” – Alan Cohen

43. “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.” – Michael J. Fox

44. “Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward.” – Roy Bennett

45. “Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.” – Helen Keller

46. “Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.” – Robert Collier

47. “The most delightful surprise in life is to suddenly recognize your own worth.” – Maxwell Maltz

48. “Watch your thoughts . Every thought accepted as true is sent by your brain to your solar plexus — your abdominal brain — and is brought into your world as a reality.” – Joseph Murphy

49. “I used to hate feeling embarrassed, but then I realized nobody’s watching and nobody gives a damn.” – Barbara Corcoran

50. “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” – Steve Jobs

51. “The self-image is the key to human personality and human behavior. Change the self-image and you change the personality and the behavior.” – Maxwell Maltz

Bonus Quote on Self-Esteem

Bonus: Alright, here’s our last and final self-esteem quote. We believe it packs a punch, and can be used as a catalyst to dive into conquering your confidence challenges for good. Enjoy:

“No One Will Believe In You Until You Believe In You.” – ROBIN SHARMA –

One of our main goals here at The STRIVE is to help you believe that you have what it takes to be who you want to be, do what you want to do, so you can leverage that belief to strive to live the life you’ve always imagined for yourself.

And that’s where these self-esteem quotes come in, and what we love about them so much. Because quotes have the ability to uplift and inspire the reader.  And in the case of these quotes about self-esteem and confidence in particular, we hope they succeeded in encouraging you to believe in yourself . But most importantly, we hope these quotes help you realize deep down, that you do have a lot to offer this world, and that you have what it takes to shoot for the stars.

With that being said, we believe in you, but what matters most is that you believe in you , and that is a feat that is entirely up to you.

So, till you reach your aims,

PS – If you enjoyed these self-esteem quotes, then you’ll love these trust yourself quotes !

35+ FEARLESS QUOTES TO HELP YOU BE FEARLESS AND LIVE BOLDLY

Being fearless is not about never being afraid. It’s about feeling the fear, and diving in anyway. Fearlessness is oftentimes about being scared to death, but still saddling up to take on whatever beast or challenge that lies ahead of you. And because sometimes, filling our minds with a few strong quotes related to being fearless can embolden us to do what we must, we’re publishing these handful of fearless quotes for you.

So, if you’re seeking some inspiring words to help you be more fearless, then this page is for you. We’ve rounded up the most powerful fearless quotes to give you the courage to stand tall, take more risks, and never back down.

With that being said, if you’re ready for some encouraging words to help you become fearless, let’s dive in:

BEST FEARLESS QUOTES

1. “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard

2. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Moliere

3.  “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of not trying.” – Jay Z

4.  “The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.” – Debbi Fields

5. “When there is no peril in the fight there is no glory in the triumph.” – Pierre Cornielle

6. “If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake don’t do anything new.” – Jeff Bezos

7. “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there’s something inside you that’s greater than any obstacle.” –  C.D. Larson

8.  “One finds limits by pushing them.” – Herbert Simon

9.  “Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” – Benjamin Disraeli

10. “The arch enemy of mankind, is FEAR.” – Napoleon Hill

11. “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” – JFK

12.   “Without dreams, there can be no courage. And without courage, there can be no action.” – Wim Wenders

13. “Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.” – Wayne Dyer

14. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho

15. “Fear, much like resistance, is nothing but the human motive of aversion.” – The STRIVE

16. “Failure is an option here.  If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” – Cher

17. “The beautiful thing about fear is that when you run to it.. it runs away.” – Robin Sharma

18.  “Fear kills more dreams that failure ever will.” – Anonymous

19.  “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmache

Related: Fearless Motivation Quotes

20.  “Your largest fear, carries you greatest growth.” – James Allen

21.  “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” – Elon Musk

22.  “Don’t let the fear of what could happen make nothing happen.” – Anonymous

23.  “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” –  William G.T. Shedd

24.  “Cultivate a fearless approach to life, attack everything with boldness and energy.” – Robert Greene

25. “To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around it.” –  Richie Norton

26.  “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.” –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

27. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain

28. “Freedom lies in being bold.” – Robert Frost

29. “Before you can become a millionaire, you must learn to think like one. You must learn how to motivate yourself to counter fear with courage.” – Thomas J. Stanley

30. “Fate loves the fearless.” – James Russell Lowell

31. “The more you are motivated by love; The more fearless and free your action will be.” – Dalai Lama

32. “Once you become fearless, life becomes limitless.” – Anonymous

33. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” – Roy T. Bennet

34. “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen

35. “Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan

36. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin

37.  “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho

38. “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart

39. “Fearlessness is the first requisite of spirituality. Cowards can never be moral.” – Mahatma Gandhi

40. “There is no illusion greater that fear.” – Lao Tzu

41. “Regret is the heritage of people who choose to live a fear-driven life.” – Taneka Rubin

42. “The eagle has no fear of adversity. We need to be like the eagle and have a fearless spirit of a conqueror!” – Joyce Meyer

43. “Being fearless isn’t being 100% not fearful, it’s being terrified but you jump anyway.” – Taylor Swift

44. “FEAR has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.” – Zig Ziglar

45. “We grow fearless by walking into our fears.” – Robin Sharma

46. “To many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown

47. “Let fear be a counselor and not a jailer.” – Tony Robbins

48. “Fears, even the most basic ones, can totally destroy your ambitions. Fear, if left unchecked, can destroy our lives. Fear is one of the many enemies lurking inside of us.” – Jim Rohn

49. “The key to success is to start before you’re ready.” – Marie Forleo

50. “Life begins where fear ends.” – Osho

51. “Courage above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.” – Karl von Clausewitz

52. “Fears are a kind of prison that confines you within a limited range of action. The less you fear, the more power you will have and the more fully you will live.” – 50 cent

53. “Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive – the risk to be alive and express what we really are.”  –  Don Miguel Ruiz

54 . “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” – Jack Canfield

55. “Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.” – Rabindranath Tagor

Bonus Fearless Quote

Bonus: Alright, here is one last bonus quote that we think deserves special attention. We hope it inspires you as much as it inspires us. Here you go:

“Fear Doesn’t Go Away. The Warrior And The Artist Live By The Same Code Of Necessity, Which Dictates That The Battle Must Be Fought Anew Every Day.” – Steven Pressfield –

Final Thougths

There you have it friends, some of the best fearless quotes to help you conquer the timidity that would keep you from living your greatest life.

May these handful of fearless quotes serve you well, as you strive to reach your goals and unleash your potential

Till you reach your aims, Go Fearless , and…

HOW TO START BELIEVING IN YOURSELF AGAIN: 7 BEST WAYS TO START TODAY

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “How do I start believing in myself again?” then this article is for you. We know everyone falls into a rut sometimes where we don’t have as much belief in ourselves as we used to. We know everyone, from time to time experiences those days where our self-confidence somehow gets thrown out the door, leaving us feeling uncertain and unsure of ourselves. The good news is, we have a few great tips to help you find out how to start believing in yourself again.

There is no doubt that lacking self belief can leave you struggling to find your way through life with little hope for significant change. In short, not believing in yourself can make the future look bleak. Fortunately, you can find your way back to a more confident and assured you, if you try. And you can do it today!

So, what happens when you start believing in yourself? Well, you’ll start having more hope for starters. And with more hope, you’ll be more inclined to take action. And with every action you take to build yourself up, and create a better future for yourself, your confidence and belief in yourself will grow.

So, let’s get you started on this journey of reclaiming your self, and with it, your future. Just follow these seven steps. They’ll show you how you can start believing in yourself again, and help you feel like you’re on top of the world again.

7 Best Ways to Start Believing in Yourself Again

1. Practice Loving Yourself

Believe it or not, self-love leads to self belief. It’s extremely difficult to gain faith in yourself if you don’t love the person that you are on the inside. You have to find confidence in yourself. [1] This means loving the person you see in the mirror every single day for all of their good and bad qualities.

So, ignore any of those small pesky voices that try to put you down or say that you are less than you are. Keep your chin up, and never forget that you have a purpose and that your life matters.

But ultimately the, main thing to take away from this step, is to realize that you are unique, invaluable, and loved by others. And if others can love you, you can love you. That said, once you find a way to truly love yourself, you can then take the first step towards believing in yourself.

2. Realize All Personal Failure Is Not Your Fault

The affairs of the world has made many people feel as if they were lost in a tornado. People’s lives have been turned upside down both professionally and personally. Some people have lost their jobs, while others their house, family, etc…

Hardship and failure abounds, but in all reality, often times failure is not your fault. Some of the most prepared and successful people fail. [2]

So, figure out the difference between the times failure might have been your fault and the times when everything was out of your control. Do this, and you’ll slowly begin to see your worth. You’ll realize that you can move forward once you understand failure happens.

You may even come to the realization that failure can be a stepping stone to something greater. And that it can in fact be exactly what you need to get you to your next level in life.

3. Treat Yourself The Way You Treat Others

It is easier to start believing in yourself when you begin treating yourself the way you treat others. Think about it, you wouldn’t usually tell others they are worthless and a failure, right? No, of course you wouldn’t because you believe in those people you respect and love around you. You are patient with them. And you’re willing to lend a hand and help them up when life is tough.

So, do the same for yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to talk and be open just as you do those around you. The way you treat yourself is a direct link to your feelings. If you give yourself positive affirmations, you’ll feel happy and lifted up.

However, on the flipside, if you continually tell yourself that you’re worthless, you’ll feel sad and slightly depressed. So be sure you take care of yourself the way you would take care of your best friend. [3]

4. Feed Your Spirit

It’s important to feed your spirit and mind with positive things. Be careful what you watch on television and what you read each day. Feed your mind with interesting and positive topics.

Ask respected colleagues about the great things they’ve done in their life. Ask them how self belief lead them to become the person they are today.

Seek out inspiration in quotes and documentaries. Read about topics that will help you figure out your next steps in life. Read about facing your fears and being confident.

All of these things may seem small, but they will make a difference to your mind and spirit. And if you do them long enough and often enough, you’ll essentially be able to rewire your brain to be confident , which will in turn help you believe in yourself more.

5. Take A Step Forward

When life knocks you down, get up and don’t look back. It’s crucial that you practice self love by moving forward. You may feel like giving up or just staying down in the dirt.

But you don’t want to stay down too long, because you will eventually begin to doubt yourself if you stay down long enough. So pull yourself up by your bootstraps and move forward.

Don’t think about looking back because you may get stuck staring at the past. You’ll start to wonder about things you could have done differently. [4]

If you want to start believing in yourself again, you’ll have to live in the present and look towards the future. So, consider brainstorming the best possible outcomes in your life, and then start taking steps in the direction towards your desired outcome. And it doesn’t matter how small the step is either, just take one step one at a time.

If you to this, one day you’ll notice how far you’ve come, and those days will be a distant memory.

6. Know You Choose Your Reactions

Start believing in yourself by knowing you are in charge of your reality. You do this by deciding how you react to good or bad news. Now, we understand that you might not be able to change the things happening to you, but you can change the way you react to them.

Yes, you might be angry and confused when you lose your job or a loved one passes away. But there is nothing you can do to change those types of outcomes. The only thing you can do is control the way you handle the situation.

You determine the positive outcomes of negative things because of the way you react. Those lacking self belief get stuck in the negative outcomes. They don’t try to find a way out because they’re scared to face their own reality. It might be tough, but you can face anything with a positive mind .

7. Accept That You Are Not Perfect

It’s hard for many people to understand that they aren’t perfect. Social media makes it seem like so many people are leading these amazing lives. We think we must be positive and happy or we are worthless. This isn’t true.

Sometimes there are positive people that have tough lives. This is because they accept the pain. They know life is going to be tough at times. They know they endless optimism won’t make life easier, but it will help them handle the harder things and move forward. It’s okay to accept the pain and anguish in life.

The trick is to be honest about it. The trick is to forgive yourself for the pain in your life. Understand that sometimes you are going to be negative, and that’s okay. As long as it does not take over your self worth, you can feel the pain at times. Embrace the imperfect times then let them go.

Related: Believe In Yourself Quotes

Bonus Tip To Help You Start Believing In Yourself

This last tip is related to correcting the issue by taking back control of your mind with force. A lot of the times, we don’t believe in ourselves because of alot of negative self-talk that we have going on in our minds. But, that negative chatter can be silenced with affirmations, especially if they are affirmations for help you improve your confidence.

So, if you’ve tried all the steps above, and you still find yourself wondering “How do I start believing in myself?” then you absolutely should give affirmations a try. Use these confidence affirmations , they’re a good place to start.

Self belief is something that isn’t created overnight. You might work years on yourself to boost your confidence and self worth. Just know that you are unique and the effort put forth will be worth the fight.

Give yourself the love you deserve by taking it a day at a time. It’s time to be your own best friend. And you can start by taking the first step and give yourself a few compliments today. Without a doubt, if you do this one little thing, you’ll start feeling better and you’ll usher in a more self-trusting and positive chapter in your life.

PS – If you enjoyed this post on how to start believing in yourself, then you’ll love this article on dealing with self-doubt .

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The Life-Changing Power of Trusting Yourself

“I prayed for guidance and learned to trust myself.”

These wise words feel so apt for this time. When we’re able to trust and think well of ourselves , it enables us to thrive in multiple areas of our lives.

Of course, if it were easy to simply trust ourselves and be done with it, there’d be far fewer stressed people and a whole lot more people pursuing the dreams that inspire them and facing their challenges with faith, not fear.

Building my own self-trust

Over the course of recent years, I’ve had to trust myself far more than I’ve wanted to. A few years ago, based on strong assurances that my husband would be relocated back to the United States—where we had lived for 11 years and where our four children had largely grown up (I’m an Aussie)—we sent our oldest children ahead to boarding school.

But then, a plot twist. My husband’s company said they wanted him to take a role in Singapore. Moving to Asia was not in my plans. But I packed up my home and set up shop there, intent on making the most of this unplanned chapter of my life.

Fourteen months after uprooting our life, another plot twist—my husband was reassigned to a different role. However, this time, I had a child about to enter his senior year of high school, and so unable to transfer curriculums yet again.  

So, I found my family spread across not two, but three continents. To say this was not a part of my “family vision” is an understatement.

Reclaiming your own power

As I write this now, still to reunite my family, I’ve found myself weathering another storm. Except this one I’m sharing with millions of others.  

COVID-19 disrupted the lives of people across the globe. It’s normal to feel fearful, ungrounded and off-kilter, as though the world has tilted off its axis. Yet, as I wrote in You’ve Got This! The Life-Changing Power of Trusting Yourself , when the ground beneath us feels shaky and so much is uncertain, we have to look within ourselves for the security we seek. That is, we have to trust that within us lie the resources we need to handle whatever unfolds ahead . We don’t do this one time and emerge braver forever more. No, we must do it again and again—one day, one hour and sometimes one minute at a time.

Of course, it’s only natural to feel anxious or stressed when dealing with so much uncertainty and seismic levels of disruption. I was about to do a monthlong book and speaking tour across the U.S., and alas, like so many plans, it was canceled. So if you’ve been feeling anxious right now, know you’re not alone. The entire world is experiencing that kind of vulnerability . 

Trusting yourself is not about becoming invulnerable to fear or eradicating self-doubt. Rather, it’s reclaiming the power that we surrender to our fears and choosing each day to show up from a place of faith rather than fear; of self-trust rather than self-doubt.

Walking the path of faith over fear is not about religion. It’s about daring to lean into a deeper source of power that lives within us and around us. It’s about taking the ultimate risk and placing a bet on ourselves that within us is all that’s required to meet the demands of each moment as it arises. 

Becoming your own hero

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Self-trust is the essence of heroism.” We are each walking our own hero’s journey , and each day we wake up, we have the opportunity to start anew in building the self-trust that true heroism requires. 

Day by day, choice by choice, one brave act of heroism at a time, you build self-trust each time you are braver than you want to be. You do it each time you risk falling short as you pursue what tugs at your heart, each time you defy your doubts and honor your gifts, each time you lay your vulnerability on the line for the sake of a noble cause and each time you look within for the light that you seek.  

If ever there was a time to be the hero of our own lives—to ground ourselves in our innate “enoughness,” listen to the whispers of our inner sage, step up to the plate in our lives and search inside ourselves for—and ground ourselves in—the self-certainty missing around us—it is now.  

You’ve got this. I’ve got this. We’ve got this.

Decide today that you will ground yourself in faith, not fear. Then ask yourself, “What would I do today if I trust that whatever happens, I can handle it?”

Breathe in faith, breathe out fear.

Breathe in faith again.

12 principles for building self-trust

Adapted from You’ve Got This! The Life Changing Power of Trusting Yourself:

• Don’t wait for confidence. Begin before you feel ready; life rewards action, not indecision.
• Doubt your doubts. When you let fear call the shots, you sell yourself short.
• Dial up your daring. Be bold in the vision you create for your life.
• Embrace your fallibility. Get off your own back and give yourself permission to be human.
• Use your gifts. Honor your talents and do more of what you do well.
• Strengthen your wings. Prioritize what empowers you to thrive under pressure.
• Stand tall in your worth. When you talk yourself down, you short change the world.
• Risk vulnerability. Lay down your armor and unleash your true strength.
• Choose faith over fear. Trust a higher force is conspiring for your greatest good.
• Find your uplift. Surround yourself with those who embolden you.
• Surrender resistance. Embrace uncertainty and look within for the security you seek.
• Own your power. Be an ambassador for the world you want to live in.

This article was updated April 2023. Photo by Makhh/Shutterstock

Margie Warrell

Best-selling author and mother of four, Margie Warrell is on a mission to embolden people to live and lead more bravely. Margie’s gained hard-won wisdom on building courage since her childhood in rural Australia. Her insights have also been shaped by her work with trailblazing leaders from Richard Branson to Bill Marriott and organizations from NASA to Google. Founder of Global Courage, host of the Live Brave podcast and advisory board member of Forbes Business School, Margie’s just released her fifth book You’ve Got This! The Life-Changing Power of Trusting Yourself . She’d love to support you at www.margiewarrell.com .

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Trust Yourself: Emerson on Self-Reliance as the Essence of Genius and What It Means to Be a Nonconformist

By maria popova.

No one has made more beautiful nor more convincing a case for trusting our inner voice than Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803–April 27, 1882) in his 1841 essay “Self-Reliance,” perhaps the best-known piece in his Essays and Lectures ( public library | free download ) — that endlessly rewarding trove of Emerson’s wisdom on the two pillars of friendship , the life of the mind , the key to personal growth , what beauty really means , and how to live with maximum aliveness .

At thirty-nine, Emerson writes:

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost.

In a sentiment his soul-brother Henry David Thoreau would come to echo a decade later , Emerson laments the ease with which we accept the judgments and opinions of others as objective truth while dismissing our own — a lamentation all the timelier a century and a half later, as the 24-hour media cycle feeds us ready-made opinions under the guise of objective news:

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

Nearly four decades before Nietzsche wrote that “no one can build you the bridge on which you, and only you, must cross the river of life,” Emerson admonishes that “imitation is suicide” and counsels:

The power which resides in [each person] is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. […] Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.

A century before the Golden Age of consumerism — that ultimate trance of commodified conformity from which we’re only just beginning to awaken — Emerson urges:

Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion… Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.

In a sentiment that calls to mind poet Wendell Berry’s beautiful observation that solitude makes our inner voices audible , Emerson adds:

The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

Complement this particular portion of Emerson’s wholly indispensable Essays and Lectures with Eleanor Roosevelt on conformity and integrity , Kierkegaard on why we conform , and Keats on how solitude opens our channels to truth and beauty .

— Published April 6, 2016 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/04/06/emerson-self-reliance/ —

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Trust Yourself: Emerson’s Self-Reliance The Buddha of the West's greatest essay

Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance was one of the first pieces of philosophy I ever read. And it was one of those fortuitous encounters that shaped my life in many ways. I first read it as a teenager at a crossroads in life; it was a time when big decisions about the future had to be made and Self-Reliance gave me the self-belief to dream more audaciously than my timid heart was temperamentally accustomed to.

It’s been a good few years since I sat down and went through the whole thing and so when I sat down recently and did just that I found myself blown away once again by this rhetorical masterpiece. If you’ve never read it I would recommend sitting down for five minutes and reading the first few paragraphs ( link to full essay ).

It’s an absolutely sublime bit of work and reading it today I can see how much it has coloured my worldview and shaped who I am. I don’t think of it that often anymore (except when certain lines from it bubble up to the front of my consciousness now and again) but, just as your average modern European doesn’t give much thought to the Ancient Greeks, there’s an archaeology of the soul whereby even things forgotten continue to shape us whether we are aware of them or not.

Reading it has yet again filled me with inspiration. Everything that I mean and everything that I feel with the words living philosophy is embodied in this essay. I can see foreshadowings of what Emerson would call The Living Philosophy’s “long foreground” in this essay. The inspiration was no doubt helped along this time by the more recently acquired knowledge that Emerson’s work was a pivotal influence on Nietzsche.

Obviously this time I had another intention when reading it as well and that was with the eye of a communicator. I was reading it with an eye to its essence with an eye to what it is about, how it unfolds, and why it is so amazing. And being quite a floral rhetorical piece rather than an argument made up of a series of propositions I actually had a bit of difficulty unearthing the structure.

I could go down a whole rabbit hole on this — it’s something I’ve thought about quite a lot recently with books and with all reading — the not so obvious art of how to read a book well. This time I thought I’d play with a lens that I picked up from my recent dabblings in Continental Philosophy and that is the idea of binary oppositions  — essentially pairs of opposites — something I imagine we’ll be exploring in much more depth when we start talking about Derrida.

So I began looking for the binary oppositions in Emerson’s piece and I can only recommend this approach highly enough because it unlocked the whole essay for me. I could now see the things that Emerson valued both in their hallowed haloed form and in their shadow vice form.  And so I thought that this might make an interesting way of approaching this essay of essays: through the medium of the binary oppositions that show what Emerson truly values. So this article is going to be an exploration of Emerson’s work through the lens of these binaries: greatness vs. meanness; the aboriginal self vs society; the dead past vs. the eternal present; and self-reliance vs. conformity.

Greatness vs. Meanness

A good binary opposition to start with that really sets the scene is Emerson’s dichotomy between greatness and meanness — or to use Nietzsche’s preferred term mediocrity. What the “great” value of Self-Reliance is seeking to bring about is the state of greatness. Emerson is concerned with the great people of history and he is encouraging us loyal readers to rise above the inertia of mediocrity and to attain the levels of human greatness.

The kind of people he has in mind aren’t just sages but statesmen, generals scientists and mystics. There’s Jesus and Socrates, Napoleon and Scipio, Pythagoras, Newton, Emmanuel Swedenborg, Diogenes, Zoroaster Washington, and Caesar.

These are all great individuals who left an indelible mark on the world. It wasn’t through the force of pen or sword that they did so but through the force of character. They were all self-reliant individuals who broke free from the gravity of society and were true to their inner genius. Emerson calls us to rise to the heights that are possible of humanity and to count ourselves among the greats rather than succumbing to the inertia of mediocrity.

Self vs Society

Evening on Karl Johan Street by Edvard Munch (via Wikimedia: Public Domain)

The second key binary opposition is between society and what Emerson calls the aboriginal Self.

This aboriginal self is the source of all genius, it is the source of virtue and of life. This source Emerson tells us can be called Spontaneity, Instinct or Intuition (after which “all later teachings are tuitions”).

So self-reliance then isn’t a reliance on a simple ego it’s not about becoming selfish. On the contrary Emerson tells us that the key trait of self-reliance is obedience and faith. It is following the course of this inner wisdom. He writes that he “Who has more obedience than I masters me, though he should not raise his finger.”

This following the self then isn’t about forcing our will on the world but it is to “allow a passage to its beams.” For those who have studied Jung , this immediately brings to mind his conception of the Self – the centre of consciousness around which our ego is to orbit and to be obedient to.

Over against this noble oversoul is Society. Society is Emerson’s big demon in Self-Reliance . It’s everything that the aboriginal self is not. For all the lightness of the aboriginal self, society is the darkening cheapening force in human life.

Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater.

Under the influence of society, we tow the line of the shoulds and should nots. We become blinker-eyed members of “communities of opinion”. Society tames the genius of individuals who step out of line with what the mainstream says and greet the genius with sour faces but Emerson tells us “the sour faces of the multitude, like their sweet faces, have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind blows and a newspaper directs.”

Under the influence of society all of our virtues are impotent. The virtues of those allied to society are “penances” — it’s not something that bubbles up from within, it’s not an expression of this soul or spirit but something that is extorted, something done out of guilt.

This capitulation to society’s demands “scatters your force” and we are left muddied shadows of ourselves.

The Dead Past and the Eternal Present

The Garden of Death by Hugo Simberg (via Wikimedia: Public Domain)

Connected to this society/self opposition is the binary opposition between the present and the past. The past is what society is loyal to. It wants us to respect the status quo – the way things are, the way the Bible tells us, or that the various authorities tell us.

“But the man in the street, finding no worth in himself which corresponds to the force which built a tower or sculptured a marble god, feels poor when he looks on these. To him a palace, a statue, or a costly book have an alien and forbidding air, much like a gay equipage, and seem to say like that, “Who are you, Sir?””

But Emerson reminds us that they are nothing without us.

“they all are his, suitors for his notice, petitioners to his faculties that they will come out and take possession. The picture waits for my verdict; it is not to command me, but I am to settle its claims to praise.”

This is what Emerson encourages most in us. It is being true to the voice of that aboriginal self and that can only happen in the present because it is not only the ancient authorities and the status quo that holds us in chains but it is our own past. In one of the lines from the essay that has stuck with me throughout the years he writes that:

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.”

This encouragement towards truth and integrity ties in with the divine spirit that the aboriginal self is tied up with. This spirit “shoves Jesus and Judas equally aside”. The great individual “belongs to no other time or place”. The roses under his window make:

“no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.”

The truth is not something revealed millennia ago in the Bible or the Upanishads or any other sacred text. The truth – the divine spirit – disdains time. It is always in the present it is always here and now.

The past is dead. The present is where life always is:

“This one fact the world hates; that the soul becomes; for that forever degrades the past”

And so Emerson tells us to shun the words in the books, to shun the words of authorities and to attune ourselves to this inner voice to what our heart tells us to do. Following the course of this inner star you may appear inconsistent to those around you — today you are doing this and the next day you are onto something else. But, in an image that has been lodged in my mind since I first read Self-Reliance Emerson writes:

“The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency. Your genuine action will explain itself and will explain your other genuine actions.”

Self-Reliance vs Conformity

All of which brings us to the central opposition of the text: Self-Reliance vs Conformity. Your conformity to Society’s demands “explains nothing” “But do your work, and I shall know you.”

In yet another story from Self-Reliance that has stayed with me over the years, and one of my favourite from any book, Emerson tells the story of a response he gave to an advisor of his who was trying to as he puts it importune him with the dear old doctrines of the church.

“‘On my saying, “What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?’ my friend suggested—‘But these impulses may be from below, not from above.’ I replied, ‘They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil.’”

Which he follows up with the kicker:

“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it.”

This is Self-Reliance in a nutshell. It is setting aside what Society tells you to do. It is to put on a sour face if needs be and to above all be true to your principles – to honour truth above all things, to esteem what is right above the principles of those around you and to have “no law above truth’s”.

This is the way to genius. This is the way to greatness. It is to quieten the voices outside of you—to disengage from those external voices and to tune in to the inner Muse, to the aboriginal self, to the drumbeat of your own soul which may guide you hither and thither but there is a purpose in all the wandering. As Tolkien wrote ‘not all who wander are lost’.

In our modern civilised world Emerson sees that we are “afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other.” But the greats — the self-reliant individuals embrace “the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born” and rather than dwelling on the past they walk abreast with their days.

And so Emerson tells us to go swim in the “internal ocean” and stop going to society to “beg a cup of water.”

In summary then Self-Reliance is a call for each of us to embrace our potential and to live fearlessly in obedience to our highest and deepest nature. It’s about setting aside the voices of the masses and past and to start living according to truth.

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15 Tips for Writing a College Essay About Yourself

What’s covered:.

• What is the Purpose of the College Essay?
• How to Stand Out Without Showing Off
• 15 Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself
• Where to Get Free Feedback on Your Essay

Most students who apply to top-tier colleges have exceptional grades, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities. How do admissions officers decide which applicants to choose among all these stellar students? One way is on the strength of their college essay .

This personal statement, along with other qualitative factors like teacher recommendations, helps the admissions committee see who you really are—the person behind the transcript. So, it’s obviously important to write a great one.

What Is the Purpose of the College Essay? 

Your college essay helps you stand out in a pool of qualified candidates. If effective, it will also show the admissions committee more of your personality and allow them to get a sense of how you’ll fit in with and contribute to the student body and institution. Additionally, it will show the school that you can express yourself persuasively and clearly in writing, which is an important part of most careers, no matter where you end up. 

Typically, students must submit a personal statement (usually the Common App essay ) along with school-specific supplements. Some students are surprised to learn that essays typically count for around 25% of your entire application at the top 250 schools. That’s an enormous chunk, especially considering that, unlike your transcript and extracurriculars, it isn’t an assessment of your entire high school career.  

The purpose of the college essay is to paint a complete picture of yourself, showing admissions committees the person behind the grades and test scores. A strong college essay shows your unique experiences, personality, perspective, interests, and values—ultimately, what makes you unique. After all, people attend college, not their grades or test scores. The college essay also provides students with a considerable amount of agency in their application, empowering them to share their own stories.

How to Stand Out Without Showing Off 

It’s important to strike a balance between exploring your achievements and demonstrating humility. Your aim should be to focus on the meaning behind the experience and how it changed your outlook, not the accomplishment itself. 

Confidence without cockiness is the key here. Don’t simply catalog your achievements, there are other areas on your application to share them. Rather, mention your achievements when they’re critical to the story you’re telling. It’s helpful to think of achievements as compliments, not highlights, of your college essay.  

Take this essay excerpt , for example:

My parents’ separation allowed me the space to explore my own strengths and interests as each of them became individually busier. As early as middle school, I was riding the light rail train by myself, reading maps to get myself home, and applying to special academic programs without urging from my parents. Even as I took more initiatives on my own, my parents both continued to see me as somewhat immature. All of that changed three years ago, when I applied and was accepted to the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco. I would be studying Arabic and learning my way around the city of Marrakesh. Although I think my parents were a little surprised when I told them my news, the addition of a fully-funded scholarship convinced them to let me go. 

Instead of saying “ I received this scholarship and participated in this prestigious program, ” the author tells a story, demonstrating their growth and initiative through specific actions (riding the train alone, applying academic programs on her own, etc.)—effectively showing rather than telling.

15 Tips for Writing an Essay About Yourself 

1. start early .

Leave yourself plenty of time to write your college essay—it’s stressful enough to compose a compelling essay without putting yourself under a deadline. Starting early on your essay also leaves you time to edit and refine your work, have others read your work (for example, your parents or a teacher), and carefully proofread.

2. Choose a topic that’s meaningful to you 

The foundation of a great essay is selecting a topic that has real meaning for you. If you’re passionate about the subject, the reader will feel it. Alternatively, choosing a topic you think the admissions committee is looking for, but isn’t all that important to you, won’t make for a compelling essay; it will be obvious that you’re not very invested in it.

3. Show your personality 

One of the main points of your college essay is to convey your personality. Admissions officers will see your transcript and read about the awards you’ve won, but the essay will help them get to know you as a person. Make sure your personality is evident in each part—if you are a jokester, incorporate some humor. Your friends should be able to pick your essay from an anonymous pile, read it, and recognize it as yours. In that same vein, someone who doesn’t know you at all should feel like they understand your personality after reading your essay. 

4. Write in your own voice 

In order to bring authenticity to your essay, you’ll need to write in your own voice. Don’t be overly formal (but don’t be too casual, either). Remember: you want the reader to get to know the real you, not a version of you that comes across as overly stiff or stilted. You should feel free to use contractions, incorporate dialogue, and employ vocabulary that comes naturally to you. 

5. Use specific examples 

Real, concrete stories and examples will help your essay come to life. They’ll add color to your narrative and make it more compelling for the reader. The goal, after all, is to engage your audience—the admissions committee. 

For example, instead of stating that you care about animals, you should tell us a story about how you took care of an injured stray cat. 

Consider this side-by-side comparison:

Example 1: I care deeply about animals and even once rescued a stray cat. The cat had an injured leg, and I helped nurse it back to health.

Example 2: I lost many nights of sleep trying to nurse the stray cat back to health. Its leg infection was extremely painful, and it meowed in distress up until the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t mind it though; what mattered was that the cat regained its strength. So, I stayed awake to administer its medicine and soothe it with loving ear rubs.

The second example helps us visualize this situation and is more illustrative of the writer’s personality. Because she stayed awake to care for the cat, we can infer that she is a compassionate person who cares about animals. We don’t get the same depth with the first example. 

6. Don’t be afraid to show off… 

You should always put your best foot forward—the whole point of your essay is to market yourself to colleges. This isn’t the time to be shy about your accomplishments, skills, or qualities. 

7. …While also maintaining humility 

But don’t brag. Demonstrate humility when discussing your achievements. In the example above, for instance, the author discusses her accomplishments while noting that her parents thought of her as immature. This is a great way to show humility while still highlighting that she was able to prove her parents wrong.

8. Be vulnerable 

Vulnerability goes hand in hand with humility and authenticity. Don’t shy away from exploring how your experience affected you and the feelings you experienced. This, too, will help your story come to life. 

Here’s an excerpt from a Common App essay that demonstrates vulnerability and allows us to connect with the writer:  

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain. 

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

In this essay, the writer isn’t afraid to share his insecurities and feelings with us. He states that he had been “ appallingly ignorant ” of his brother’s pain, that he “ often felt out of step ” compared to his brother, and that he had felt “ more and more alone ” over time. These are all emotions that you may not necessarily share with someone you just met, but it’s exactly this vulnerability that makes the essay more raw and relatable. 

9. Don’t lie or hyperbolize 

This essay is about the authentic you. Lying or hyperbolizing to make yourself sound better will not only make your essay—and entire application—less genuine, but it will also weaken it. More than likely, it will be obvious that you’re exaggerating. Plus, if colleges later find out that you haven’t been truthful in any part of your application, it’s grounds for revoking your acceptance or even expulsion if you’ve already matriculated. 

10. Avoid cliches 

How the COVID-19 pandemic changed your life. A sports victory as a metaphor for your journey. How a pet death altered your entire outlook. Admissions officers have seen more essays on these topics than they can possibly count. Unless you have a truly unique angle, then it’s in your best interest to avoid them. Learn which topics are cliche and how to fix them . 

11. Proofread 

This is a critical step. Even a small error can break your essay, however amazing it is otherwise. Make sure you read it over carefully, and get another set of eyes (or two or three other sets of eyes), just in case.

12. Abstain from using AI

There are a handful of good reasons to avoid using artificial intelligence (AI) to write your college essay. Most importantly, it’s dishonest and likely to be not very good; AI-generated essays are generally formulaic, generic, and boring—everything you’re trying to avoid being.   The purpose of the college essay is to share what makes you unique and highlight your personal experiences and perspectives, something that AI can’t capture.

13. Use parents as advisors, not editors

The voice of an adult is different from that of a high schooler and admissions committees are experts at spotting the writing of parents. Parents can play a valuable role in creating your college essay—advising, proofreading, and providing encouragement during those stressful moments. However, they should not write or edit your college essay with their words.

14. Have a hook

Admissions committees have a lot of essays to read and getting their attention is essential for standing out among a crowded field of applicants. A great hook captures your reader’s imagination and encourages them to keep reading your essay. Start strong, first impressions are everything!

15. Give them something to remember

The ending of your college essay is just as important as the beginning. Give your reader something to remember by composing an engaging and punchy paragraph or line—called a kicker in journalism—that ties everything you’ve written above together.

Where to Get Free Feedback on Your College Essay 

Before you send off your application, make sure you get feedback from a trusted source on your essay. CollegeVine’s free peer essay review will give you the support you need to ensure you’ve effectively presented your personality and accomplishments. Our expert essay review pairs you with an advisor to help you refine your writing, submit your best work, and boost your chances of getting into your dream school. Find the right advisor for you and get started on honing a winning essay.

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Tips for crafting a compelling and authentic personal essay.

Writing an essay about yourself can be a daunting task, but when done right, it can be a powerful tool to showcase who you are and what makes you unique. Whether you’re applying for college, a scholarship, or a job, a well-crafted essay can help you stand out from the crowd and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

When writing a personal essay, it’s important to strike a balance between being informative and engaging. You want to provide the reader with insight into your background, experiences, and goals, while also keeping them interested and invested in your story. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of writing a compelling essay about yourself, from brainstorming ideas to polishing your final draft.

Essential Tips for Crafting

When crafting a compelling essay about yourself, it is important to think about your audience and what message you want to convey. Here are some essential tips to help you create an engaging and authentic essay:

A Powerful Personal Essay

Writing a powerful personal essay is a way to express your unique voice and share your personal experiences with the world. By weaving together your thoughts, emotions, and reflections, you can create a compelling narrative that resonates with your audience. To craft a powerful personal essay, start by reflecting on your own experiences and exploring the themes that matter to you. Pay attention to the details and emotions that make your story come alive. Be honest and vulnerable in your writing, as authenticity is key to connecting with your readers. Additionally, consider the structure of your essay and how you can effectively organize your thoughts to engage your audience from beginning to end. By following these tips and staying true to your voice, you can create a powerful personal essay that leaves a lasting impact on your readers.

Choose a Unique Aspect

When writing an essay about yourself, it’s important to focus on a unique aspect of your personality or experiences that sets you apart from others. This could be a specific skill, talent, or life experience that has had a significant impact on your life. By choosing a unique aspect to highlight, you can make your essay more compelling and memorable to the reader. It’s important to showcase what makes you different and showcase your individuality in a way that will capture the reader’s attention.

of Your Personality

When writing about your personality, it’s important to showcase your unique traits and qualities. Describe what sets you apart from others, whether it’s your creativity, resilience, sense of humor, or compassion. Use specific examples and anecdotes to illustrate these characteristics and provide insight into who you are as a person.

Highlight your strengths and acknowledge your weaknesses – this shows self-awareness and honesty. Discuss how your personality has evolved over time and mention any experiences that have had a significant impact on shaping who you are today. Remember to be authentic and genuine in your portrayal of yourself as this will make your essay more compelling and engaging to the reader.

Reflect Deeply on

When writing an essay about yourself, it is crucial to take the time to reflect deeply on your life experiences, values, beliefs, and goals. Consider the events that have shaped you into the person you are today, both positive and negative. Think about your strengths and weaknesses, your passions and interests, and how they have influenced your decisions and actions. Reflecting on your personal journey will help you uncover meaningful insights that can make your essay more compelling and authentic.

Your Life Experiences

When it comes to writing an essay about yourself, one of the most compelling aspects to focus on is your life experiences. These experiences shape who you are and provide unique insights into your character. Reflect on significant moments, challenges you’ve overcome, or memorable events that have had a lasting impact on your life.

• Consider discussing pivotal moments that have influenced your beliefs and values.
• Share personal anecdotes that highlight your strengths and resilience.
• Explore how your life experiences have shaped your goals, aspirations, and ambitions.

By sharing your life experiences in your essay, you can showcase your individuality and demonstrate what sets you apart from others. Be genuine, reflective, and honest in recounting the events that have shaped your journey and contributed to the person you are today.

Create a Compelling

When crafting an essay about yourself, it is essential to create a compelling narrative that captures the attention of the reader from the very beginning. Start by brainstorming unique and engaging personal experiences or qualities that you want to highlight in your essay. Consider including vivid anecdotes, insightful reflections, and impactful moments that showcase your character and achievements. Remember to be authentic and sincere in your writing, as this will resonate with your audience and make your essay more relatable. By creating a compelling narrative, you can effectively communicate your story and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Narrative Structure

The narrative structure is crucial when writing an essay about yourself. It helps to create a compelling and engaging story that showcases your unique qualities and experiences. Start by introducing the main theme or message you want to convey in your essay. Then, build a coherent storyline that highlights significant events or moments in your life. Use descriptive language and vivid details to bring your story to life and make it more relatable to the readers. Include a clear beginning, middle, and end to ensure that your essay follows a logical progression and captivates the audience throughout.

Emphasize the lessons you’ve learned from your experiences and how they have shaped your character and outlook on life. Connect these insights to your personal growth and development, demonstrating your resilience, determination, and self-awareness. End your essay on a reflective note, highlighting the impact of your journey on who you are today and what you aspire to achieve in the future. By following a strong narrative structure, you can craft a captivating essay that showcases your authenticity and leaves a lasting impression on the readers.

Highlight Your

When writing an essay about yourself, it is essential to highlight your unique qualities and experiences that set you apart from others. Consider including personal anecdotes, achievements, strengths, and challenges that have shaped your identity. Focus on showcasing your authenticity and individuality to make your essay compelling and engaging.

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The importance of being true to yourself.

Being true to yourself is a life-long practice that requires commitment and re-commitment, moment to moment, as you grow and evolve. The answer to what is true for you always exists at the core of who you are, if you give yourself the space and time to listen.

When you are being true to yourself, you are completely honest with what you feel, deeply value, and desire. It also means communicating your feelings wholeheartedly both with yourself and others, allowing your truth to flow through you and into the world.

To know your truth fully and express it authentically, you first need to cultivate a deep and trusting relationship with yourself. Ultimately, this begins with awareness of your thoughts, as well as awareness of your whole-body experience and how you interact with the world each day.

You can expand your awareness and strengthen the connection with yourself through introspective practices such as meditation, yoga, and journal writing. These practices help you become more present and establish reference points to identify when you are (or are not) living in alignment with the deeper aspect of yourself. The more you practice, the easier it becomes to self-correct when you are out of alignment.

Understanding when you are in alignment or out of alignment may often be based on an intuitive feeling rather than a thought. Feelings of openness, expansion, inner joy and freedom are good signs that you are on the right path. Conversely, if you are not being true to yourself, it may show up through feelings of contraction and tension, unease, disconnection, resignation, emptiness, discontentment, or a lack of fulfillment.

By learning to pay attention to your deeper senses and feelings, and by cultivating greater awareness in your life, you can establish a strong connection to yourself and feel confident in knowing what is deeply true for you.

But what is true, also yearns to be expressed. So it is up to each of us to be courageous in bringing forth our own truth, expressing it fully and authentically in the world.

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What does Emerson say about self-reliance?

In Emerson's essay “ Self-Reliance ,” he boldly states society (especially today’s politically correct environment) hurts a person’s growth.

Emerson wrote that self-sufficiency gives a person in society the freedom they need to discover their true self and attain their true independence.

Believing that individualism, personal responsibility , and nonconformity were essential to a thriving society. But to get there, Emerson knew that each individual had to work on themselves to achieve this level of individualism. 

Today, we see society's breakdowns daily and wonder how we arrived at this state of society. One can see how the basic concepts of self-trust, self-awareness, and self-acceptance have significantly been ignored.

Who published self-reliance?

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the essay, published in 1841 as part of his first volume of collected essays titled "Essays: First Series."

It would go on to be known as Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance and one of the most well-known pieces of American literature.

The collection was published by James Munroe and Company.

What are the examples of self-reliance?

Examples of self-reliance can be as simple as tying your shoes and as complicated as following your inner voice and not conforming to paths set by society or religion.

Self-reliance can also be seen as getting things done without relying on others, being able to “pull your weight” by paying your bills, and caring for yourself and your family correctly.

Self-reliance involves relying on one's abilities, judgment, and resources to navigate life. Here are more examples of self-reliance seen today:

Entrepreneurship: Starting and running your own business, relying on your skills and determination to succeed.

Financial Independence: Managing your finances responsibly, saving money, and making sound investment decisions to secure your financial future.

Learning and Education: Taking the initiative to educate oneself, whether through formal education, self-directed learning, or acquiring new skills.

Problem-Solving: Tackling challenges independently, finding solutions to problems, and adapting to changing circumstances.

Personal Development: Taking responsibility for personal growth, setting goals, and working towards self-improvement.

Homesteading: Growing your food, raising livestock, or becoming self-sufficient in various aspects of daily life.

DIY Projects: Undertaking do-it-yourself projects, from home repairs to crafting, without relying on external help.

Living Off the Grid: Living independently from public utilities, generating your energy, and sourcing your water.

Decision-Making: Trusting your instincts and making decisions based on your values and beliefs rather than relying solely on external advice.

Crisis Management: Handling emergencies and crises with resilience and resourcefulness without depending on external assistance.

These examples illustrate different facets of self-reliance, emphasizing independence, resourcefulness, and the ability to navigate life autonomously.

What is the purpose of self reliance by Emerson?

In his essay, " Self Reliance, " Emerson's sole purpose is the want for people to avoid conformity. Emerson believed that in order for a man to truly be a man, he was to follow his own conscience and "do his own thing."

Essentially, do what you believe is right instead of blindly following society.

Why is it important to be self reliant?

While getting help from others, including friends and family, can be an essential part of your life and fulfilling. However, help may not always be available, or the assistance you receive may not be what you had hoped for.

It is for this reason that Emerson pushed for self-reliance. If a person were independent, could solve their problems, and fulfill their needs and desires, they would be a more vital member of society.

This can lead to growth in the following areas:

Empowerment: Self-reliance empowers individuals to take control of their lives. It fosters a sense of autonomy and the ability to make decisions independently.

Resilience: Developing self-reliance builds resilience, enabling individuals to bounce back from setbacks and face challenges with greater adaptability.

Personal Growth: Relying on oneself encourages continuous learning and personal growth. It motivates individuals to acquire new skills and knowledge.

Freedom: Self-reliance provides a sense of freedom from external dependencies. It reduces reliance on others for basic needs, decisions, or validation.

Confidence: Achieving goals through one's own efforts boosts confidence and self-esteem. It instills a belief in one's capabilities and strengthens a positive self-image.

Resourcefulness: Being self-reliant encourages resourcefulness. Individuals learn to solve problems creatively, adapt to changing circumstances, and make the most of available resources.

Adaptability: Self-reliant individuals are often more adaptable to change. They can navigate uncertainties with a proactive and positive mindset.

Reduced Stress: Dependence on others can lead to stress and anxiety, especially when waiting for external support. Self-reliance reduces reliance on external factors for emotional well-being.

Personal Responsibility: It promotes a sense of responsibility for one's own life and decisions. Self-reliant individuals are more likely to take ownership of their actions and outcomes.

Goal Achievement: Being self-reliant facilitates the pursuit and achievement of personal and professional goals. It allows individuals to overcome obstacles and stay focused on their objectives.

Overall, self-reliance contributes to personal empowerment, mental resilience, and the ability to lead a fulfilling and purposeful life. While collaboration and support from others are valuable, cultivating a strong sense of self-reliance enhances one's capacity to navigate life's challenges independently.

What did Emerson mean, "Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide"?

According to Emerson, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to you independently, but every person is given a plot of ground to till. 

In other words, Emerson believed that a person's main focus in life is to work on oneself, increasing their maturity and intellect, and overcoming insecurities, which will allow a person to be self-reliant to the point where they no longer envy others but measure themselves against how they were the day before.

When we do become self-reliant, we focus on creating rather than imitating. Being someone we are not is just as damaging to the soul as suicide.

Envy is ignorance: Emerson suggests that feeling envious of others is a form of ignorance. Envy often arises from a lack of understanding or appreciation of one's unique qualities and potential. Instead of being envious, individuals should focus on discovering and developing their talents and strengths.

Imitation is suicide: Emerson extends the idea by stating that imitation, or blindly copying others, is a form of self-destruction. He argues that true individuality and personal growth come from expressing one's unique voice and ideas. In this context, imitation is seen as surrendering one's identity and creativity, leading to a kind of "spiritual death."

What are the transcendental elements in Emerson’s self-reliance?

The five predominant elements of Transcendentalism are nonconformity, self-reliance, free thought, confidence, and the importance of nature.

The Transcendentalism movement emerged in New England between 1820 and 1836. It is essential to differentiate this movement from Transcendental Meditation, a distinct practice.

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Transcendentalism is characterized as "an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson." A central tenet of this movement is the belief that individual purity can be 'corrupted' by society.

Are Emerson's writings referenced in pop culture?

Emerson has made it into popular culture. One such example is in the film Next Stop Wonderland released in 1998. The reference is a quote from Emerson's essay on Self Reliance, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

This becomes a running theme in the film as a single woman (Hope Davis ), who is quite familiar with Emerson's writings and showcases several men taking her on dates, attempting to impress her by quoting the famous line, only to botch the line and also giving attribution to the wrong person. One gentleman says confidently it was W.C. Fields, while another matches the quote with Cicero. One goes as far as stating it was Karl Marx!

Why does Emerson say about self confidence?

Content is coming very soon.

Self-Reliance: The Complete Essay

Ne te quaesiveris extra."

Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate ; Nothing to him falls early or too late. Our acts our angels are, or good or ill, Our fatal shadows that walk by us still." Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's Fortune Cast the bantling on the rocks, Suckle him with the she-wolf's teat; Wintered with the hawk and fox, Power and speed be hands and feet.

Ralph Waldo Emerson left the ministry to pursue a career in writing and public speaking. Emerson became one of America's best known and best-loved 19th-century figures. More About Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson Self Reliance Summary

The essay “Self-Reliance,” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, is, by far, his most famous piece of work. Emerson, a Transcendentalist, believed focusing on the purity and goodness of individualism and community with nature was vital for a strong society. Transcendentalists despise the corruption and conformity of human society and institutions. Published in 1841, the Self Reliance essay is a deep-dive into self-sufficiency as a virtue.

In the essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson advocates for individuals to trust in their own instincts and ideas rather than blindly following the opinions of society and its institutions. He argues that society encourages conformity, stifles individuality, and encourages readers to live authentically and self-sufficient lives.

Emerson also stresses the importance of being self-reliant, relying on one's own abilities and judgment rather than external validation or approval from others. He argues that people must be honest with themselves and seek to understand their own thoughts and feelings rather than blindly following the expectations of others. Through this essay, Emerson emphasizes the value of independence, self-discovery, and personal growth.

What is the Meaning of Self-Reliance?

I read the other day some verses written by an eminent painter which were original and not conventional. The soul always hears an admonition in such lines, let the subject be what it may. The sentiment they instill is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to think that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius.

Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost,—— and our first thought is rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light that flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought because it is his. In every work of genius, we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.

Great works of art have no more affecting lessons for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility than most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance that does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.

Trust Thyself: Every Heart Vibrates To That Iron String.

Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, and the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark.

What pretty oracles nature yields to us in this text, in the face and behaviour of children, babes, and even brutes! That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment because our arithmetic has computed the strength and means opposed to our purpose, these have not. Their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will stand by itself. Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me. Hark! in the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic. It seems he knows how to speak to his contemporaries. Bashful or bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary.

The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature. A boy is in the parlour what the pit is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible, looking out from his corner on such people and facts as pass by, he tries and sentences them on their merits, in the swift, summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests: he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat, he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutrality! Who can thus avoid all pledges, and having observed, observe again from the same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted innocence, must always be formidable. He would utter opinions on all passing affairs, which being seen to be not private, but necessary, would sink like darts into the ear of men, and put them in fear.

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, — "But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition, as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he. I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions. Every decent and well-spoken individual affects and sways me more than is right. I ought to go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways. If malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy, shall that pass? If an angry bigot assumes this bountiful cause of Abolition, and comes to me with his last news from Barbadoes, why should I not say to him, 'Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper: be good-natured and modest: have that grace; and never varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles off. Thy love afar is spite at home.' Rough and graceless would be such greeting, but truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it, — else it is none. The doctrine of hatred must be preached as the counteraction of the doctrine of love when that pules and whines. I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me. The lintels of the door-post I would write on, Whim . It is somewhat better than whim at last I hope, but we cannot spend the day in explanation. Expect me not to show cause why I seek or why I exclude company. Then, again, do not tell me, as a good man did to-day, of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee, thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong. There is a class of persons to whom by all spiritual affinity I am bought and sold; for them I will go to prison, if need be; but your miscellaneous popular charities; the education at college of fools; the building of meeting-houses to the vain end to which many now stand; alms to sots; and the thousandfold Relief Societies; — though I confess with shame I sometimes succumb and give the dollar, it is a wicked dollar which by and by I shall have the manhood to withhold.

Virtues are, in the popular estimate, rather the exception than the rule. There is the man and his virtues. Men do what is called a good action, as some piece of courage or charity, much as they would pay a fine in expiation of daily non-appearance on parade. Their works are done as an apology or extenuation of their living in the world, — as invalids and the insane pay a high board. Their virtues are penances. I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. Wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. The primary evidence I ask that you are a man, and refuse this appeal from the man to his actions. For myself it makes no difference that I know, whether I do or forbear those actions which are reckoned excellent. I cannot consent to pay for a privilege where I have intrinsic right. Few and mean as my gifts may be, I actually am, and do not need for my own assurance or the assurance of my fellows any secondary testimony.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.

This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. The easy thing in the world is to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you is, that it scatters your force. It loses your time and blurs the impression of your character. If you maintain a dead church, contribute to a dead Bible-society, vote with a great party either for the government or against it, spread your table like base housekeepers, — under all these screens I have difficulty to detect the precise man you are. And, of course, so much force is withdrawn from your proper life. But do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. A man must consider what a blindman's-buff is this game of conformity. If I know your sect, I anticipate your argument. I hear a preacher announce for his text and topic the expediency of one of the institutions of his church. Do I not know beforehand that not possibly can he say a new and spontaneous word? With all this ostentation of examining the grounds of the institution, do I not know that he will do no such thing? Do not I know that he is pledged to himself not to look but at one side, — the permitted side, not as a man, but as a parish minister? He is a retained attorney, and these airs of the bench are the emptiest affectation. Well, most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion. This conformity makes them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies, but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite true. Their two is not the real two, their four not the real four; so that every word they say chagrins us, and we know not where to begin to set them right. Meantime nature is not slow to equip us in the prison-uniform of the party to which we adhere. We come to wear one cut of face and figure, and acquire by degrees the gentlest asinine expression. There is a mortifying experience in particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history; I mean "the foolish face of praise," the forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease in answer to conversation which does not interest us. The muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping wilfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face with the most disagreeable sensation.

For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face. The by-standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friend's parlour. If this aversation had its origin in contempt and resistance like his own, he might well go home with a sad countenance; but the sour faces of the multitude, like their sweet faces, have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind blows and a newspaper directs. Yet is the discontent of the multitude more formidable than that of the senate and the college. It is easy enough for a firm man who knows the world to brook the rage of the cultivated classes. Their rage is decorous and prudent, for they are timid as being very vulnerable themselves. But when to their feminine rage the indignation of the people is added, when the ignorant and the poor are aroused, when the unintelligent brute force that lies at the bottom of society is made to growl and mow, it needs the habit of magnanimity and religion to treat it godlike as a trifle of no concernment.

The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.

But why should you keep your head over your shoulder? Why drag about this corpse of your memory, lest you contradict somewhat you have stated in this or that public place? Suppose you should contradict yourself; what then? It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day. In your metaphysics you have denied personality to the Deity: yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life, though they should clothe God with shape and color. Leave your theory, as Joseph his coat in the hand of the harlot, and flee.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

I suppose no man can violate his nature.

All the sallies of his will are rounded in by the law of his being, as the inequalities of Andes and Himmaleh are insignificant in the curve of the sphere. Nor does it matter how you gauge and try him. A character is like an acrostic or Alexandrian stanza; — read it forward, backward, or across, it still spells the same thing. In this pleasing, contrite wood-life which God allows me, let me record day by day my honest thought without prospect or retrospect, and, I cannot doubt, it will be found symmetrical, though I mean it not, and see it not. My book should smell of pines and resound with the hum of insects. The swallow over my window should interweave that thread or straw he carries in his bill into my web also. We pass for what we are. Character teaches above our wills. Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment.

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. For of one will, the actions will be harmonious, however unlike they seem. These varieties are lost sight of at a little distance, at a little height of thought. One tendency unites them all. The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. Act singly, and what you have already done singly will justify you now. Greatness appeals to the future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may. The force of character is cumulative. All the foregone days of virtue work their health into this. What makes the majesty of the heroes of the senate and the field, which so fills the imagination? The consciousness of a train of great days and victories behind. They shed an united light on the advancing actor. He is attended as by a visible escort of angels. That is it which throws thunder into Chatham's voice, and dignity into Washington's port, and America into Adams's eye. Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemeris. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it today because it is not of today. We love it and pay it homage, because it is not a trap for our love and homage, but is self-dependent, self-derived, and therefore of an old immaculate pedigree, even if shown in a young person.

I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazetted and ridiculous henceforward. Instead of the gong for dinner, let us hear a whistle from the Spartan fife. Let us never bow and apologize more. A great man is coming to eat at my house. I do not wish to please him; He should wish to please me, that I wish. I will stand here for humanity, and though I would make it kind, I would make it true. Let us affront and reprimand the smooth mediocrity and squalid contentment of the times, and hurl in the face of custom, and trade, and office, the fact which is the upshot of all history, that there is a great responsible Thinker and Actor working wherever a man works; that a true man belongs to no other time or place, but is the centre of things. Where he is, there is nature. He measures you, and all men, and all events. Ordinarily, every body in society reminds us of somewhat else, or of some other person. Character, reality, reminds you of nothing else; it takes place of the whole creation. The man must be so much, that he must make all circumstances indifferent. Every true man is a cause, a country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish his design; — and posterity seem to follow his steps as a train of clients. A man Caesar is born, and for ages after we have a Roman Empire. Christ is born, and millions of minds so grow and cleave to his genius, that he is confounded with virtue and the possible of man. An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man; as, Monachism, of the Hermit Antony; the Reformation, of Luther; Quakerism, of Fox; Methodism, of Wesley; Abolition, of Clarkson. Scipio, Milton called "the height of Rome"; and all history resolves itself very easily into the biography of a few stout and earnest persons.

Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under his feet. Let him not peep or steal, or skulk up and down with the air of a charity-boy, a bastard, or an interloper, in the world which exists for him. But the man in the street, finding no worth in himself which corresponds to the force which built a tower or sculptured a marble god, feels poor when he looks on these. To him a palace, a statue, or a costly book have an alien and forbidding air, much like a gay equipage, and seem to say like that, 'Who are you, Sir?' Yet they all are his, suitors for his notice, petitioners to his faculties that they will come out and take possession. The picture waits for my verdict: it is not to command me, but I am to settle its claims to praise. That popular fable of the sot who was picked up dead drunk in the street, carried to the duke's house, washed and dressed and laid in the duke's bed, and, on his waking, treated with all obsequious ceremony like the duke, and assured that he had been insane, owes its popularity to the fact, that it symbolizes so well the state of man, who is in the world a sort of sot, but now and then wakes up, exercises his reason, and finds himself a true prince.

Our reading is mendicant and sycophantic. In history, our imagination plays us false. Kingdom and lordship, power and estate, are a gaudier vocabulary than private John and Edward in a small house and common day's work; but the things of life are the same to both; the sum total of both is the same. Why all this deference to Alfred, and Scanderbeg, and Gustavus? Suppose they were virtuous; did they wear out virtue? As great a stake depends on your private act to-day, as followed their public and renowned steps. When private men shall act with original views, the lustre will be transferred from the actions of kings to those of gentlemen.

The world has been instructed by its kings, who have so magnetized the eyes of nations. It has been taught by this colossal symbol the mutual reverence that is due from man to man. The joyful loyalty with which men have everywhere suffered the king, the noble, or the great proprietor to walk among them by a law of his own, make his own scale of men and things, and reverse theirs, pay for benefits not with money but with honor, and represent the law in his person, was the hieroglyphic by which they obscurely signified their consciousness of their own right and comeliness, the right of every man.

The magnetism which all original action exerts is explained when we inquire the reason of self-trust.

Who is the Trustee? What is the aboriginal Self, on which a universal reliance may be grounded? What is the nature and power of that science-baffling star, without parallax, without calculable elements, which shoots a ray of beauty even into trivial and impure actions, if the least mark of independence appear? The inquiry leads us to that source, at once the essence of genius, of virtue, and of life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct. We denote this primary wisdom as Intuition, whilst all later teachings are tuitions. In that deep force, the last fact behind which analysis cannot go, all things find their common origin. For, the sense of being which in calm hours rises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them, and proceeds obviously from the same source whence their life and being also proceed. We first share the life by which things exist, and afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget that we have shared their cause. Here is the fountain of action and of thought. Here are the lungs of that inspiration which giveth man wisdom, and which cannot be denied without impiety and atheism. We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams. If we ask whence this comes, if we seek to pry into the soul that causes, all philosophy is at fault. Its presence or its absence is all we can affirm. Every man discriminates between the voluntary acts of his mind, and his involuntary perceptions, and knows that to his involuntary perceptions a perfect faith is due. He may err in the expression of them, but he knows that these things are so, like day and night, not to be disputed. My wilful actions and acquisitions are but roving; — the idlest reverie, the faintest native emotion, command my curiosity and respect. Thoughtless people contradict as readily the statement of perceptions as of opinions, or rather much more readily; for, they do not distinguish between perception and notion. They fancy that I choose to see this or that thing. But perception is not whimsical, but fatal. If I see a trait, my children will see it after me, and in course of time, all mankind, — although it may chance that no one has seen it before me. For my perception of it is as much a fact as the sun.

The relations of the soul to the divine spirit are so pure, that it is profane to seek to interpose helps. It must be that when God speaketh he should communicate, not one thing, but all things; should fill the world with his voice; should scatter forth light, nature, time, souls, from the centre of the present thought; and new date and new create the whole. Whenever a mind is simple, and receives a divine wisdom, old things pass away, — means, teachers, texts, temples fall; it lives now, and absorbs past and future into the present hour. All things are made sacred by relation to it, — one as much as another. All things are dissolved to their centre by their cause, and, in the universal miracle, petty and particular miracles disappear. If, therefore, a man claims to know and speak of God, and carries you backward to the phraseology of some old mouldered nation in another country, in another world, believe him not. Is the acorn better than the oak which is its fulness and completion? Is the parent better than the child into whom he has cast his ripened being? Whence, then, this worship of the past? The centuries are conspirators against the sanity and authority of the soul. Time and space are but physiological colors which the eye makes, but the soul is light; where it is, is day; where it was, is night; and history is an impertinence and an injury, if it be anything more than a cheerful apologue or parable of my being and becoming.

Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; 'I think,' 'I am,' that he dares not say, but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

This should be plain enough. Yet see what strong intellects dare not yet hear God himself, unless he speak the phraseology of I know not what David, or Jeremiah, or Paul. We shall not always set so great a price on a few texts, on a few lives. We are like children who repeat by rote the sentences of grandames and tutors, and, as they grow older, of the men of talents and character they chance to see, — painfully recollecting the exact words they spoke; afterwards, when they come into the point of view which those had who uttered these sayings, they understand them, and are willing to let the words go; for, at any time, they can use words as good when occasion comes. If we live truly, we shall see truly. It is as easy for the strong man to be strong, as it is for the weak to be weak. When we have new perception, we shall gladly disburden the memory of its hoarded treasures as old rubbish. When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.

And now at last the highest truth on this subject remains unsaid; probably cannot be said; for all that we say is the far-off remembering of the intuition. That thought, by what I can now nearest approach to say it, is this. When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; not see the face of man; and you shall not hear any name;—— the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. It shall exclude example and experience. You take the way from man, not to man. All persons that ever existed are its forgotten ministers. Fear and hope are alike beneath it. There is somewhat low even in hope. In the hour of vision, there is nothing that can be called gratitude, nor properly joy. The soul raised over passion beholds identity and eternal causation, perceives the self-existence of Truth and Right, and calms itself with knowing that all things go well. Vast spaces of nature, the Atlantic Ocean, the South Sea, — long intervals of time, years, centuries, — are of no account. This which I think and feel underlay every former state of life and circumstances, as it does underlie my present, and what is called life, and what is called death.

Life only avails, not the having lived.

Power ceases in the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of the gulf, in the darting to an aim. This one fact the world hates is that the soul becomes ; for that forever degrades the past, turns all riches to poverty, all reputation to a shame, confounds the saint with the rogue, shoves Jesus and Judas equally aside. Why, then, do we prate of self-reliance? Inasmuch as the soul is present, there will be power, not confidence but an agent. To talk of reliance is a poor external way of speaking. Speak rather of that which relies, because it works and is. Who has more obedience than I masters me, though he should not raise his finger. Round him I must revolve by the gravitation of spirits. We fancy it rhetoric, when we speak of eminent virtue. We do not yet see that virtue is Height, and that a man or a company of men, plastic and permeable to principles, by the law of nature must overpower and ride all cities, nations, kings, rich men, poets, who are not.

This is the ultimate fact which we so quickly reach on this, as on every topic, the resolution of all into the ever-blessed ONE. Self-existence is the attribute of the Supreme Cause, and it constitutes the measure of good by the degree in which it enters into all lower forms. All things real are so by so much virtue as they contain. Commerce, husbandry, hunting, whaling, war, eloquence , personal weight, are somewhat, and engage my respect as examples of its presence and impure action. I see the same law working in nature for conservation and growth. Power is in nature the essential measure of right. Nature suffers nothing to remain in her kingdoms which cannot help itself. The genesis and maturation of a planet, its poise and orbit, the bended tree recovering itself from the strong wind, the vital resources of every animal and vegetable, are demonstrations of the self-sufficing, and therefore self-relying soul.

Thus all concentrates: let us not rove; let us sit at home with the cause. Let us stun and astonish the intruding rabble of men and books and institutions, by a simple declaration of the divine fact. Bid the invaders take the shoes from off their feet, for God is here within. Let our simplicity judge them, and our docility to our own law demonstrate the poverty of nature and fortune beside our native riches.

But now we are a mob. Man does not stand in awe of man, nor is his genius admonished to stay at home, to put itself in communication with the internal ocean, but it goes abroad to beg a cup of water of the urns of other men. We must go alone. I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. How far off, how cool, how chaste the persons look, begirt each one with a precinct or sanctuary! So let us always sit. Why should we assume the faults of our friend, or wife, or father, or child, because they sit around our hearth, or are said to have the same blood? All men have my blood, and I have all men's. Not for that will I adopt their petulance or folly, even to the extent of being ashamed of it. But your isolation must not be mechanical, but spiritual, that is, must be elevation. At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear, want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door, and say, — 'Come out unto us.' But keep thy state; come not into their confusion. The power men possess to annoy me, I give them by a weak curiosity. No man can come near me but through my act. "What we love that we have, but by desire we bereave ourselves of the love."

If we cannot at once rise to the sanctities of obedience and faith, let us at least resist our temptations; let us enter into the state of war, and wake Thor and Woden, courage and constancy, in our Saxon breasts. This is to be done in our smooth times by speaking the truth. Check this lying hospitality and lying affection. Live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people with whom we converse. Say to them, O father, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth's. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey no law less than the eternal law. I will have no covenants but proximities. To nourish my parents, to support my family I shall endeavour, to be the chaste husband of one wife, — but these relations I must fill after a new and unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs that I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever inly rejoices me, and the heart appoints. If you are noble, I will love you; I will not hurt you and myself by hypocritical attentions if you are not. If you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own. I do this not selfishly, but humbly and truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men's, however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does this sound harsh today? You will soon love what is dictated by your nature as well as mine, and, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. — But so you may give these friends pain. Yes, but I cannot sell my liberty and my power, to save their sensibility. Besides, all persons have their moments of reason, when they look out into the region of absolute truth; then will they justify me, and do the same thing.

The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is a rejection of all standard, and mere antinomianism; and the bold sensualist will use the name of philosophy to gild his crimes. But the law of consciousness abides. There are two confessionals, in one or the other of which we must be shriven. You may fulfil your round of duties by clearing yourself in the direct , or in the reflex way. Consider whether you have satisfied your relations to father, mother, cousin, neighbour, town, cat, and dog; whether any of these can upbraid you. But I may also neglect this reflex standard, and absolve me to myself. I have my own stern claims and perfect circle. It denies the name of duty to many offices that are called duties. But if I can discharge its debts, it enables me to dispense with the popular code. If anyone imagines that this law is lax, let him keep its commandment one day.

And truly it demands something godlike in him who has cast off the common motives of humanity, and has ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity is to others!

If any man consider the present aspects of what is called by distinction society , he will see the need of these ethics. The sinew and heart of man seem to be drawn out, and we are become timorous, desponding whimperers. We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. We want men and women who shall renovate life and our social state, but we see that most natures are insolvent, cannot satisfy their own wants, have an ambition out of all proportion to their practical force, and do lean and beg day and night continually. Our housekeeping is mendicant, our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate , where strength is born.

If our young men miscarry in their first enterprises, they lose all heart.

Men say he is ruined if the young merchant fails . If the finest genius studies at one of our colleges, and is not installed in an office within one year afterwards in the cities or suburbs of Boston or New York, it seems to his friends and to himself that he is right in being disheartened, and in complaining the rest of his life. A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it , farms it , peddles , keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always, like a cat, falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days, and feels no shame in not 'studying a profession,' for he does not postpone his life, but lives already. He has not one chance, but a hundred chances. Let a Stoic open the resources of man, and tell men they are not leaning willows, but can and must detach themselves; that with the exercise of self-trust, new powers shall appear; that a man is the word made flesh, born to shed healing to the nations, that he should be ashamed of our compassion, and that the moment he acts from himself, tossing the laws, the books, idolatries, and customs out of the window, we pity him no more, but thank and revere him, — and that teacher shall restore the life of man to splendor, and make his name dear to all history.

It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; education; and in their pursuits; their modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views.

1. In what prayers do men allow themselves! That which they call a holy office is not so much as brave and manly. Prayer looks abroad and asks for some foreign addition to come through some foreign virtue, and loses itself in endless mazes of natural and supernatural, and mediatorial and miraculous. It is prayer that craves a particular commodity, — anything less than all good, — is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the spirit of God pronouncing his works good. But prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature, though for cheap ends. Caratach, in Fletcher's Bonduca, when admonished to inquire the mind of the god Audate, replies, —

"His hidden meaning lies in our endeavours; Our valors are our best gods."

Another sort of false prayers are our regrets. Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will. Regret calamities, if you can thereby help the sufferer; if not, attend your own work, and already the evil begins to be repaired. Our sympathy is just as base. We come to them who weep foolishly, and sit down and cry for company, instead of imparting to them truth and health in rough electric shocks, putting them once more in communication with their own reason. The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it. We solicitously and apologetically caress and celebrate him, because he held on his way and scorned our disapprobation. The gods love him because men hated him. "To the persevering mortal," said Zoroaster, "the blessed Immortals are swift."

As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect . They say with those foolish Israelites, 'Let not God speak to us, lest we die. Speak thou, speak any man with us, and we will obey.' Everywhere I am hindered of meeting God in my brother, because he has shut his own temple doors, and recites fables merely of his brother's, or his brother's brother's God. Every new mind is a new classification. If it prove a mind of uncommon activity and power, a Locke, a Lavoisier, a Hutton, a Bentham, a Fourier, it imposes its classification on other men, and lo! a new system. In proportion to the depth of the thought, and so to the number of the objects it touches and brings within reach of the pupil, is his complacency. But chiefly is this apparent in creeds and churches, which are also classifications of some powerful mind acting on the elemental thought of duty, and man's relation to the Highest. Such as Calvinism, Quakerism, Swedenborgism. The pupil takes the same delight in subordinating everything to the new terminology, as a girl who has just learned botany in seeing a new earth and new seasons thereby. It will happen for a time, that the pupil will find his intellectual power has grown by the study of his master's mind. But in all unbalanced minds, the classification is idolized, passes for the end, and not for a speedily exhaustible means, so that the walls of the system blend to their eye in the remote horizon with the walls of the universe; the luminaries of heaven seem to them hung on the arch their master built. They cannot imagine how you aliens have any right to see, — how you can see; 'It must be somehow that you stole the light from us.' They do not yet perceive, that light, unsystematic, indomitable, will break into any cabin, even into theirs. Let them chirp awhile and call it their own. If they are honest and do well, presently their neat new pinfold will be too strait and low, will crack, will lean, will rot and vanish, and the immortal light, all young and joyful, million-orbed, million-colored, will beam over the universe as on the first morning.

2. It is for want of self-culture that the superstition of Travelling, whose idols are Italy, England, Egypt, retains its fascination for all educated Americans. They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth. In manly hours, we feel that duty is our place. The soul is no traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his house, or into foreign lands, he is at home still, and shall make men sensible by the expression of his countenance, that he goes the missionary of wisdom and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign, and not like an interloper or a valet.

I have no churlish objection to the circumnavigation of the globe, for the purposes of art, of study, and benevolence, so that the man is first domesticated, or does not go abroad with the hope of finding somewhat greater than he knows. He who travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows old even in youth among old things. In Thebes, in Palmyra, his will and mind have become old and dilapidated as they. He carries ruins to ruins.

Travelling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. The Vatican, and the palaces I seek. But I am not intoxicated though I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions. My giant goes with me wherever I go.

3. But the rage of travelling is a symptom of a deeper unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action. The intellect is vagabond, and our system of education fosters restlessness. Our minds travel when our bodies are forced to stay at home. We imitate, and what is imitation but the travelling of the mind? Our houses are built with foreign taste; Shelves are garnished with foreign ornaments, but our opinions, our tastes, our faculties, lean, and follow the Past and the Distant. The soul created the arts wherever they have flourished. It was in his own mind that the artist sought his model. It was an application of his own thought to the thing to be done and the conditions to be observed. And why need we copy the Doric or the Gothic model? Beauty, convenience, grandeur of thought, and quaint expression are as near to us as to any, and if the American artist will study with hope and love the precise thing to be done by him, considering the climate, the soil, the length of the day, the wants of the people, the habit and form of the government, he will create a house in which all these will find themselves fitted, and taste and sentiment will be satisfied also.

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation, but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? Every great man is a unique. The Scipionism of Scipio is precisely that part he could not borrow. Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. There is at this moment for you an utterance brave and grand as that of the colossal chisel of Phidias, or trowel of the Egyptians, or the pen of Moses, or Dante, but different from all these. Not possibly will the soul all rich, all eloquent, with thousand-cloven tongue, deign to repeat itself; but if you can hear what these patriarchs say, surely you can reply to them in the same pitch of voice; for the ear and the tongue are two organs of one nature. Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart, and thou shalt reproduce the Foreworld again.

4. As our Religion, our Education, our Art look abroad, so does our spirit of society. All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves.

Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other and undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous,  civilized, christianized, rich and it is scientific, but this change is not amelioration. For everything that is given, something is taken. Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts. What a contrast between the well-clad, reading, writing, thinking American, with a watch, a pencil, and a bill of exchange in his pocket, and the naked New Zealander, whose property is a club, a spear, a mat, and an undivided twentieth of a shed to sleep under! But compare the health of the two men, and you shall see that the white man has lost his aboriginal strength. If the traveller tell us truly, strike the savage with a broad axe, and in a day or two, the flesh shall unite and heal as if you struck the blow into soft pitch, and the same blow shall send the white to his grave.

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. He is supported on crutches, but lacks so much support of muscle. He has a fine Geneva watch, but he fails of the skill to tell the hour by the sun. A Greenwich nautical almanac he has, and so being sure of the information when he wants it, the man in the street does not know a star in the sky. The solstice he does not observe, the equinox he knows as little, and the whole bright calendar of the year are without a dial in his mind. His note-books impair his memory; his libraries overload his wit; the insurance office increases the number of accidents; and it may be a question whether machinery does not encumber; whether we have not lost by refinement some energy, by a Christianity entrenched in establishments and forms, some vigor of wild virtue. For every Stoic was a Stoic, but in Christendom, where is the Christian?

There is no more deviation in the moral standard than in the standard of height or bulk. No greater men are now than ever were. A singular equality may be observed between the great men of the first and of the last ages; nor can all the science, art, religion, and philosophy of the nineteenth century avail to educate greater men than Plutarch's heroes, three or four and twenty centuries ago. Not in time is the race progressive. Phocion, Socrates, Anaxagoras, Diogenes, are great men, but they leave no class. He who is really of their class will not be called by their name, but will be his own man, and, in his turn, the founder of a sect. The arts and inventions of each period are only its costume, and do not invigorate men. The harm of the improved machinery may compensate its good. Hudson and Behring accomplished so much in their fishing boats, as to astonish Parry and Franklin, whose equipment exhausted the resources of science and art. Galileo, with an opera-glass, discovered a more splendid series of celestial phenomena than anyone since. Columbus found the New World in an undecked boat. It is curious to see the periodical disuse and perishing of means and machinery, which were introduced with loud laudation a few years or centuries before. The great genius returns to essential man. We reckoned the improvements of the art of war among the triumphs of science, and yet Napoleon conquered Europe by the bivouac, which consisted of falling back on naked valor and disencumbering it of all aids. The Emperor held it impossible to make a perfect army, says Las Casas, "without abolishing our arms, magazines, commissaries, and carriages, until, in imitation of the Roman custom, the soldier should receive his supply of corn, grind it in his hand-mill, and bake his bread himself."

Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not. The same particle does not rise from the valley to the ridge. Its unity is only phenomenal. The persons who make up a nation today, next year die, and their experience with them.

And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on governments which protect it, is the want of self-reliance. Men have looked away from themselves and at things so long, that they have come to esteem the religious, learned, and civil institutions as guards of property, and they deprecate assaults on these, because they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure their esteem of each other by what each has, and not by what each is. But a cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property, out of new respect for his nature. Especially he hates what he has, if he see that it is accidental, — came to him by inheritance, or gift, or crime; then he feels that it is not having; it does not belong to him, has no root in him, and merely lies there, because no revolution or no robber takes it away. But that which a man is does always by necessity acquire, and what the man acquires is living property, which does not wait the beck of rulers, or mobs, or revolutions, or fire, or storm, or bankruptcies, but perpetually renews itself wherever the man breathes. "Thy lot or portion of life," said the Caliph Ali, "is seeking after thee; therefore, be at rest from seeking after it." Our dependence on these foreign goods leads us to our slavish respect for numbers. The political parties meet in numerous conventions; the greater the concourse, and with each new uproar of announcement, The delegation from Essex! The Democrats from New Hampshire! The Whigs of Maine! the young patriot feels himself stronger than before by a new thousand of eyes and arms. In like manner the reformers summon conventions, and vote and resolve in multitude. Not so, O friends! will the God deign to enter and inhabit you, but by a method precisely the reverse. It is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail. He is weaker by every recruit to his banner. Is not a man better than a town? Ask nothing of men, and in the endless mutation, thou only firm column must presently appear the upholder of all that surrounds thee. He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles; just as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.

So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and shalt sit hereafter out of fear from her rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

Which quotation from "Self-reliance" best summarizes Emerson’s view on belief in oneself?

One of the most famous quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" that summarizes his view on belief in oneself is:

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."

What does Emerson argue should be the basis of human actions in the second paragraph of “self-reliance”?

In the second paragraph of "Self-Reliance," Emerson argues that individual conscience, or a person's inner voice, should be the basis of human actions. He writes, "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." He believes that society tends to impose conformity and discourage people from following their own inner truth and intuition. Emerson encourages individuals to trust themselves and to act according to their own beliefs, instead of being influenced by the opinions of others. He argues that this is the way to live a truly authentic and fulfilling life.

Which statement best describes Emerson’s opinion of communities, according to the first paragraph of society and solitude?

According to the first paragraph of Ralph Waldo Emerson's " Society and Solitude, " Emerson has a mixed opinion of communities. He recognizes the importance of social interaction and the benefits of being part of a community but also recognizes the limitations that come with it.

He writes, "Society everywhere is in a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members." He argues that society can be limiting and restrictive, and can cause individuals to conform to norms and values that may not align with their own beliefs and desires. He believes that it is important for individuals to strike a balance between the benefits of social interaction and the need for solitude and self-discovery.

Which best describes Emerson’s central message to his contemporaries in "self-reliance"?

Ralph Waldo Emerson's central message to his contemporaries in "Self-Reliance" is to encourage individuals to trust in their own beliefs and instincts, and to break free from societal norms and expectations. He argues that individuals should have the courage to think for themselves and to live according to their own individual truth, rather than being influenced by the opinions of others. Through this message, he aims to empower people to live authentic and fulfilling lives, rather than living in conformity and compromise.

Yet, it is critical that we first possess the ability to conceive our own thoughts. Prior to venturing into the world, we must be intimately acquainted with our own selves and our individual minds. This sentiment echoes the concise maxim inscribed at the ancient Greek site of the Delphic Oracle: 'Know Thyself.'

In essence, Emerson's central message in "Self-Reliance" is to promote self-reliance and individualism as the key to a meaningful and purposeful life.

Understanding Emerson: "The American scholar" and his struggle for self-reliance.

Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09982-0

Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Other works from ralph waldo emerson for book clubs, the over-soul.

There is a difference between one and another hour of life, in their authority and subsequent effect. Our faith comes in moments; our vice is habitual.

The American Scholar

An Oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837

Essays First Series

Essays: First Series First published in 1841 as Essays. After Essays: Second Series was published in 1844, Emerson corrected this volume and republished it in 1847 as Essays: First Series.

Emerson's Essays

Research the collective works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Read More Essay

Self-Reliance

Emerson's most famous work that can truly change your life. Check it out

Early Emerson Poems

America's best known and best-loved poems. More Poems

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“To thine own self be true.” ~William Shakespeare

No one knows the real you but you. Sometimes it is true that we don’t know ourselves. That’s because we’ve lost ourselves, or maybe because we never knew ourselves to begin with.

I grew up a long time ago on a hill on Bentley road in Puyallup, Washington. I was a very quiet, shy, and reserved little girl. Today, I am a forty-two-year-old woman. I am still introverted , but I am learning to be more assertive.

As a co-dependent people pleaser , I grew up with a lot of self-doubt and shame. I didn’t have a sense of self at all. I was like a leaf that the wind blows away, and I needed to be more of a tree with deep roots, grounded and rooted in love.

Growing up, I received a lot of conflicting and negative messages from my family, such as “you are loved but you are flawed.” I was hungry for the approval of others.

I learned not to trust my ability to make a good decision because the people in my life did not validate my view of reality. My brother used to tease me a lot. I tried speaking up about the mistreatment, but my parents didn’t take my complaints seriously.

They did little to address the situation because of their high levels of shame. It just got swept under the rug, and so I got the message that it wouldn’t matter if I spoke up, because those in authority would not protect me.

It took me a long time to see that I could have a different opinion than other people and still be loved and accepted.

When I did make a decision, I got the impression that people are in your life to change your mind, and guilt and shame were good tactics to achieve that.

This has made it extremely difficult for me to make and stick to decisions.

If you think you aren’t qualified to make a good choice then you’re going to be afraid to make any choice.

I have often run around asking multiple people, “What should I do? What should I do?” I invited them to give me input. But then I was angry with them for “telling me what to do.”

What I was really telling myself is that my opinion didn’t matter. I valued other people’s opinions far above my own. I disowned myself. Somewhere in my mind I thought that they must have known better. After all, what in the world could I know? I grew up believing that if you think you know something then you are very proud.

But there is no shame in speaking from a place of truth.

You do know something and that is not a bad thing. In fact, you probably know more than you think you know. But thinking you don’t know anything keeps you from taking the good advice you would give yourself. And it keeps you dependent on other people.

People seem to lose respect for people who are wishy-washy and can’t make their own decisions. In other words, people who can’t think for themselves are also people who don’t respect themselves because they don’t respect their own opinions.

It takes a lot of courage to stand up and take personal responsibility for your life and actually “own” your decisions.

I have let others play the scapegoat by allowing them to be my decision makers. For example, because of my lack of assertiveness in my marriage, I was handing over my brain and responsibilities to my husband.

I think it was because of fear but also laziness on my part. But no one can really be happy this way. You won’t be happy, and the other people won’t be either when they hear you blame them for your choices.

Ask for advice if you feel you need it, but take it with a grain of salt. In the end, you are the one who needs to live with your decision. The gurus won’t be the one with the consequences of your choice.

Don’t be so afraid of making mistakes. Fear of the choice being “bad” keeps you stuck. Accept that you are human. As far as I know, all humans make mistakes. The only ones that won’t give you grace are the ones that have no grace for themselves. So lighten up a bit.

I know some truths that I need to stop denying and start accepting. That unsettled feeling in my gut is there for a reason.

It’s time for me to stop sweeping things under the rug and start having the courage to speak up. I need to tell myself that I am relevant and my opinions matter, and that by standing my ground I can be a positive force for change, because I have something to say that someone out there may need to hear.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to trust my best judgment, stick to my decision, follow through, and let the cards fall where they may.

I think the important thing to realize is that life has a way of working out. Even if we make the worst possible choice, we still have the freedom to make adjustments.

So let yourself try what feels right for you, and don’t worry about making the “wrong” decision. One of the best things I have learned is that the world is a place to explore, and it will embrace you if you embrace it.

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Study Today

Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Essay on Trust Yourself To Get Success : Expansion, Meaning

July 26, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Success is a seven letter word which has got different meanings for different people but one thing which takes everyone to it is the belief; the belief in one’s self , in his efforts and his thoughts. Even a mountain can be moved if a person has such a belief, and without it not even a pebble can be moved.

The trust of a person on his own ability, skills and his own self has a very pivotal role to play in what a person does and ultimately what he achieves in his life.

Our history has ample examples which clearly shows that trust on oneself has helped to achieve the goals which seemed impossible to others.

The Indian Freedom struggle, the sacrifices of the leaders clearly shows their firm belief in their goals and ambitions which empowered them to take stern steps towards the British rule and set the country free.

If a person trust himself/herself even the failure is not able to deviate him/her from the path and ultimately he/she is able to achieve success in whatever he does. The trust of a person in his own ability helps him/her to develop further qualities and emerge as a stronger person.

Trust in oneself helps to develop will to work harder, determination and perseverance to fight against all odds of life. It provides the courage and patience to face the hurdles and rise in the opposite waves in life. It does not allow you to quit even at the time when leaving seems to be an only option.

A beautiful quote by Thomas A. Edison says; “Many of Life’s Failure are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” It shows how the trust of a person bridges the gap between failure and success in life.

At times, a person faces such situations in life when the whole world seems to be against him/her or his/her aspirations; he/ she may feel despaired and not willing to move further. But for a person who has a strong belief in his own self and his abilities it is just an impetus to prove everyone else wrong and achieve his dreams.

One major aspect experienced by every person in his/her life is that every other person believes in one who himself/herself trust oneself. No other person will be willing to provide an opportunity to such a person who is not able to trust his/herself and doubts his own talents.

A classic example to showcase the power of trusting oneself is the life of our Former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr. Kalam belonged to a very poor family and had to work to support his studies; but his firm belief in himself and his dreams led him to the path of success and he became a successful scientist, a great teacher and adorned the Most Prestigious position of the country.

He has become a role model for most of the people. His life aptly displays how the hard work and belief of a person pays off.

Trusting oneself provides the confidence to face the difficulties and makes one more responsible for his/her own decisions. Even if a person fails in his/her pursuits initially, it pushes him/her stand up again and face the situation with more vigour.

A person who can trust himself before trusting others will never find himself alone and will always have the courage to accept his mistakes. He will not be complacent for the destiny or luck not favouring him/her rather he will be willing to work harder and build his own destiny.

A famous saying also goes “Destiny favours the brave” and a person with self-belief is brave enough to work on his destiny.

Self-belief is a very important trait of a person as it lays the foundation of self-esteem. A person can claim to have self-esteem but if he/she is not able to trust his own self; he/she will not be able realize its importance and always confuse it with arrogance.

Belief in oneself keeps a person miles away from arrogance. It makes a person willing to make efforts and a person knows the worth of hard work and efforts emerges out to be a mild person always ready to help others. A single positive quality of believing oneself becomes the root cause of many other qualities which helps a person to grow.

It develops optimistic attitude and helps to ward away the pessimistic thoughts and enables a person to DREAM…To think bigger and ACHIEVE what they desire. As soon as a person learns to believe himself and his decisions and is ready to stand by them he is able to witness the change in his own self, his surroundings, his opportunities and everything around him.

The change in a single person’s vision about his own self has the power to change every aspect around him. It develops a person into a better being while the lack of self-belief has the power to destroy the lives of concerned person and also others related to him/her.

We can say that trusting yourself is one of the most critical factor for success in career, work or any other area where a person desires to achieve something. It can be regarded as the stepping stone to all other qualities which a person needs to succeed in life.

It can be said that even wars can be won if the belief exists and nothing can be done if a person has the whole world with him but lacks the belief in his own self. Everyone stands with only such a person who can show the world that he/she can do it; and this attitude to do anything requires SELF BELIEF.

To conclude, I would like to quote an inspiring thought of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam with a hope of nurturing the quality of self-belief in everyone. Dr. Kalam said:

“Start your Day by speaking 5 Lines to yourself – this will motivate your full day and keep you energetic.

I am the best.

I can do it.

God is always with me.

I am a winner.

Today is my day. “

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