How To Believe in Yourself and Keep Going
The focus this week is on believing in you.
Hi there!
“No one will ever read it.”
That was the only response I got after telling a friend I was going to write a book about life with bipolar disorder. The negativity echoed the voices in my head, but I knew one thing about myself: if I was determined and refused to quit, I could accomplish anything.
What my friend said hurt enough that I chose to start with writing fiction.
I wrote my first novel under a penname, and while it was therapeutic for me, it received average reviews. Even so, it proved to me that I could write a book and that someone would want to read it.
Belief and persistence are just as important when coping with a mental illness.
It took me three years to find the right combination of medication and therapy, but I never gave up hope. There were days when it was hard to get out of bed and weeks I never left the house, but I kept going. I knew things could get better, and there’s power in hope.
How do you believe in better days when you feel like you have no future? How can you believe in yourself when no one else does? Our goal this week is to learn how to believe in ourselves.
Let’s jump in.
“Always believe in yourself and keep going. You don't have to have the most talent in the world. You don't have to be the smartest person in the world. If you persist and you persist and you persist, you will be successful.”
- Dean Cain
Believe in the possible
The first step in learning to believe in yourself is to decide it’s possible.
For many years, even long before my bipolar diagnosis, I couldn’t believe in myself. I felt I was terminally broken and no amount of work on my part could ever fix it.
I know now a lot of that feeling was coming from bipolar disorder starting to come to the surface, but I can’t blame it all on mental illness. Somewhere in my past, life beat me down to the point I believed I could never come back from it.
Years later, while in my mid-20s, I was seeing a therapist every week. It was during one of our sessions that for the first time I felt I could believe in myself.
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Believe you are worthy
When you decide it’s possible to believe in yourself, the second next step is to believe you are worthy of such attention.
I didn’t love myself growing up. If I’m honest, there are many days now when I still don’t, but it’s not every day anymore.
The love I refused to give myself kept me from believing that I was worthy of anything. It was only when I found my twin flame that I believed loving me was possible. Once I opened the door, it was easier to believe I was worthy of believing in myself.
Believe in yourself
The third step in believing in yourself is to just do it. Believe in your value. Believe in your worthiness. Believe in the possibilities and opportunities you have today and tomorrow.
This is the hardest part, but it’s also the most vital. You have to believe that you can achieve your dreams, even when everyone else says it’s impossible. My friend was wrong, and the Debbie Downers in your life probably are too.
When you have bipolar disorder, there will be days when you don’t believe in yourself. That’s normal and okay, but don’t let those days be every day. Always remember that those feelings are temporary and will pass.
Believing in yourself is not a one-and-done process. There are a few more steps you should take to reach your goal.
Tomorrow (paid subscribers), we’ll do a little more work on those negative voices in your head. It’s time to silence that dark chorus.
Monday’s Journal Prompt: What do you hope to learn this week? How would your life change if you could fully believe in yourself?
Until next time, keep fighting.
Scott Ninneman
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Scott Ninneman is the author of Speaking Bipolar’s 30 Days of Positivity and the writer behind SpeakingBipolar.com. Living in the mountains of southeast Tennessee, he spends his days crunching numbers as a tax preparer and his nights caring for his mother and writing stories about bipolar life. (And he loves pandas.)
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Hi Scott. I enjoyed your article. I spent my whole life, well most of it, not believing in myself - and sometimes now. Even when I was accomplishing some powerful goals. I was a public speaker, for God’s sake, for a while, something most people are deadly afraid of. I helped individuals and families with their mental health. I sold articles to some pretty well-known magazines - including Readers Digest. And I’ve been in a loving relationship for 38 years. Well, there, I’m done bragging. I needed to today though, so I can spend the day believing in myself. Thank you so much for your positive messages!