Bet on Yourself!
This pic was taken at Neyyar Dam, India earlier this year. It always feels like a leap when I go to India. A leap of love! Because it always feels like home for me. I love it. It will be hard to share this when I start taking people to India!
This blog was inspired by watching this clip. It rings so true. Love Hasan Minhaj and The Patriot Act!
When I first started thinking of becoming a yoga instructor in 2011, I let my mind tell me many things like,
“they don’t make a ton of money, and they just don’t have a lot of time off” but the main things I was deep down thinking were, “there’s no need for another yoga teacher” and “what would I have to offer that the next person couldn’t?”
I’m so glad I didn’t listen to that voice! I went after my yoga teaching certification in 2012 and the rest is history!
But my main takeaway is that we don’t really bet on ourselves because we don’t believe in ourselves.
The thing is everyday we’re called to put small and big bets on ourselves. Bigger ways like moving to a new country or city or getting hitched and smaller day-to-day things like asking someone out, or ordering something healthier.
When you bet on yourself in the bigger way, you’re tapping in your sense of self. Into the things that are amazing about YOU. Believing in YOUR dreams. When you believe in your dreams, you start to take action and take BIGGER chances. It snowballs.
The reason people hold back is because they feel that things have been “done” before, and that they don’t know what they could offer in that field because of it being “done”.
Take me for example, I felt strongly about teaching yoga and offering it as a modality for health and vitality but when it got to it, I felt I couldn’t trust myself to do it. At least not immediately. Having to push mentally past being a “poor” yoga teacher or not having a lot of time OR more bigger, thinking that there were enough yoga teachers out there already, etc. was a lot to do.
I had to sit with it for some time and I eventually went with my gut. I knew that if I put the metal to the petal, I’d be the best I could be and things would work out - fingers crossed. And they did.
Here’s a not-so-secret-secret: we all don’t know what we’re doing on this planet earth. That’s why the self-help business is doing so well. {I’m a huge fan of it, too!} We’re all trying to figure out a way forward.
So then why not just go for it and bet on yourself while you’re also figuring out life?! Because life is still a chance! We’re always gambling!! Unfortunately, we rely on other peoples opinions too much - that’s for another day’s blog!
If you feel compelled to teach cooking, or to become a chef, or be a web designer or quit your job to do something else more meaningful to you, you’ve got to believe you can do it first!! You have to believe in you before anyone else will.
Since taking that chance in 2012, I’ve kept taking more chances in smaller and bigger ways.
Because there’s momentum that grows from that first leap!
I love this quote:
“The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” ~ Paulo Coelho
It’s the heart of why we don’t do these big things we fear. The fear of suffering holds us back.
I encourage you to take a moment to think about what you’re holding yourself back from and brainstorm a few ways to take a chance on you today!
Below are a few reminders taken from here.
You are more powerful than you believe.
You are more influential than you think.
Invest a dollar, an hour, an ounce of emotional energy in yourself.
You will never lose.
You are steady.
Money is fleeting. You are constant.