People Take Away Their Own Self-Belief (if somebody else doesn't do it for them)

‘I cant do that because X’

‘That’s not for me, because X’

‘I’ve always wanted to do that but X’

Our inner voice really can sabotage us at times, we can easily talk ourselves out of our dreams so we’ve failed before we even try. I think this is especially true for our misfit group of nerds and weebs who tend to have experienced bullying growing up, if we ever had self-belief it was definitely beaten out of us before we finished school. 

I imagine this attitude is largely a defence mechanism, if we don’t try we can’t fail, right? Maybe we put the goal in ‘tomorrow land’ instead, somebody we’ll get around to it eh?

Simply the idea of these thoughts legitimately haunt me and before every life changing decision I’ve ever made I’ve had to shut them out completely. Quitting smoking, quitting drinking, quitting drugs, lifting weights, dieting down, starting my own business, getting on stage, public speaking etc.

Instead of saying ‘I can’t do this because X’ I say ‘I can do this because somebody else already has’ and stopped waiting for permission.

It’s not just the inner voice, with almost every goal I’ve achieved I had people close to me tell me that I couldn’t do it beforehand. Not out of malice, not usually. They’re speaking as people who have also lost their self-belief or people who just don’t want to see their friend get hurt. 

“Unobtainable dreams are the best kind”

When you experience this just remember; their opinions don’t matter, yours does. If you fail, so what? Trying things out that you’re legitimately interested in is what makes life worth living. And if you succeed? Well, ain’t that a pleasant thought!

90% of being successful at something is showing up and actually participating. Don’t let anybody talk you out of your dreams, especially yourself

Be More Shonen

Cosplay: Zack Fair | Series: Final Fantasy 7 | Photo: Nomes Cosplay (You can get the photo as a print here)