Tips for Believing in Yourself

I have a quote printed on a scrap of paper that I have carried around for years. It says

“Profess no belief without conviction. To conform means often death; to non-conform in this is often life, often life eternal.”

The quote is by Albert Einstein and it has always inspired me. It is something that I strive for. It doesn’t mean I have to always be right or that I can’t change, but it challenges me to pick a side and boldly hold on to what I believe in. Obviously, that is so much easier said than done.

These words came to mind today because I was doubting myself. I am sure you do the same thing from time to time. Am I good enough? What if I am wrong? Should I compromise my beliefs? If you take Einstein’s quote to heart then the self-doubt can become really intense. Just having a belief backed by conviction is something that will get attacked. The stronger your conviction the more pressure you will have to conform. You will be called close-minded. Stubborn. Arrogant. Judgmental. Mean. Insensitive. And those are the nicer words! This is where your convictions get tested and it is critical that you don’t give in. Einstein says it is a matter of life or death!

So how do you maintain the strength of your convictions? One thing that helps me is to try to be aware of insults that carry hidden compliments in them. For example, I take pride in being uncompromising. If someone calls me stubborn I could get defensive, or I could realize that this person just doesn’t appreciate how uncompromising I am. Insults are often just a simple trick that people use to twist your strengths into weaknesses. A prolific person gets accused of “having too much free time.” A creative person is “artsy.” A person with ambition gets labeled a “dreamer.” Are you curious or unfocused? Confidence gets misconstrued as arrogance. These are all insults that I know from experience and I bet you can add to the list with examples from your life. Once you recognize what is really going on beneath the insults then you can be encouraged and know that you are doing something right! I hope you feel encouraged and I wish you luck as you try to live a life of conviction.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 12:11 am and is filed under Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.