Yesterday I was interviewing Terri Norvell for the radio show I co-host. She’s an expert on inner trust. She made a comment that really stuck with me. She said, “If you can’t trust yourself, you can’t fully trust other people.” And oh, how we need other people if we want to succeed.
She went on to talk about how some people trust themselves, but no one else. Other people trust others, but not themselves. And some people trust themselves so much at work that they accomplish great things, but doubt themselves at home.
I’ve always been one of those people with strong instincts. When I was young, it was easy to make decisions and take risks based on gut feelings. Then as I got older, I started to question my instincts, usually based on feedback from friends and family. It took me a long time to realize that I should trust my own doubts, but not those of others. Those doubts did not belong to me.
It wasn’t until I was in my mid-forties that I learned to not only trust my instincts, but also my skills, knowledge, experience, and wisdom. It wasn’t until then that I started to build inner trust into my decision-making process, and that’s when my business really took off.
Nearly everything I do now is based on listening to that voice that initially tells me, “Say no now,” or “This might work, let’s learn more.”
Terri mentioned that inner trust leads to confidence, and that’s true. But for artists and creatives, it’s trickier than that. We have to first trust that our work is good enough to put out in the world, then trust that people will buy it, then trust that they will praise or recommend it. When that doesn’t happen right away, many creatives give up. Our success is based on talent, or so it seems, and talent is either there or it isn’t.
So fine, you were only given a certain amount of talent, but do you trust that you have the ability to improve your skills, increase your knowledge, learn from your mistakes, and find your unique place? If so, you will take your talent as far as it will go. And there will be more to learn and celebrate from that journey than there will be from giving up.
If you’d like to listen to my interview with Terri on the World Positive Thinkers Radio Show, click here.
