Having strong self-esteem will allow you to step into your greatness and pursue your dreams.

Believing in yourself is fundamental to experiencing the kind of happiness that nurtures your soul as well as achieving success in life. You don’t need others to believe in you (initially). But the magic is that when you believe in yourself, you will draw others to you. And they will start to believe in you, too. Having others believe in you is meaningful when you first believe in yourself.

Believing in yourself is an extension of the prerequisite:  Loving Yourself. How can you believe in yourself if you don’t love yourself? I don’t think it is possible.

When we believe in ourselves, we are living our self-worth for all to see. We see and value our talents and abilities. These are our unique gifts that we wish to share with the world. We are confident in ourselves because we truly know ourselves. This is a beautiful feeling of worthiness and strength. We are stepping into our greatness.

This belief in ourselves is different from being egotistical or boastful. These undesirable traits come from a sense of superiority over others which is simply not acceptable. My parents wanted to make sure that my sisters and I never got “a big head.” They told us plainly that this was their aim when they sometimes diminished the glory of us achieving something. They didn’t want us to think that we were better than anyone else. The result is that their daughters are filled with humility, for which I am grateful. We can still appreciate our achievements and accept others’ celebration of our accomplishments with graciousness.

Braggarts are never very well liked and are looked on as foolish. I once worked with a woman who was definitely nice but was prone to bragging about her accomplishments. She usually said at least one boastful thing in every conversation. This tendency was a turn-off and didn’t make her look very good. After a while, I noticed that she was no longer bragging when she conversed. It was such a wonderful thing to notice. I was happy for her because her true goodness was now shining through unabated.

I have always loved to watch the Academy Awards on television. Maybe you do, too. I love hearing the acceptance speeches of the Oscar winners. Without exception, the speeches I enjoy the most are the ones where the winner is humble in triumph – sincerely thanking others and acknowledging others’ stellar work in their category of competition. I always cringe a little when someone gives a speech that is all about them and how great they think they are or how much they think they deserve the award. What I like to celebrate is someone who is at the pinnacle of their career and is still thoughtful and kind.

When we believe in ourselves, we know we are worthy, but we also understand that our neighbour is worthy, too. There is no need to be in competition with another person. We can be great, and we should be great. And our neighbour can and should be great. There is enough greatness to go around, and everyone can receive their rightful share. There is no stinginess in the concept of greatness. Greatness is limitless.

If greatness is limitless, so, too, is how great you can become. You can dream your biggest dreams. You can decide which dreams you want to pursue. You can choose to develop and implement a plan to achieve your dreams. You can do what you set your mind to.

When you set out to achieve a dream, you may experience any number of obstacles along the way that you can choose to overcome or choose to let them deter you from your original goal. Whatever you decide to do, it’s your choice.

Perhaps you find out that the dream or goal you had is not really what you want or is not worth the time and effort for you to achieve. Well, this is okay, too, because you have learned something very valuable – what makes you happy. What you discard in your life can make room for new dreams you can pursue. No endeavour is without its rewards, even if it is just finding out that it is not right for you.

I have heard many times the story of a young person who goes to college to pursue a line of study and after one year quits. Old thinking may have been, gee that was a waste of time and money. But was it really? It actually may have turned out to be one of the soundest lessons the student learned in life – that finding out what isn’t for you can be just as valuable as finding our what is for you.

We know reaching our dreams and greatness are achievable. We’ve seen people from all walks of life achieve greatness in all disciplines and fields. One can become a Nobel Prize winning physicist or an Olympic Gold Medallist. Or one can become the first-ever woman Mayor of ________ (you can fill in the blank). Or one can become great by saving the life of another in a heroic act of bravery. Or one can be great by being a steadfast benefactor, by voluntary deed or monetary donation, to a cause that helps animals, humanity or the planet.

Believe in Yourself! You can choose how you want to step into your greatness. One thing’s for sure:  you are worthy. You are the Light of your own Life.