6 Practical Ways to Believe in Yourself – Zora Neale Hurston
First, here’s one of my favorite quotations, from author and poet Zora Neale Hurston:
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
We’ll never have all the answers – or all the questions. Different years and stages of our lives bring different questions and answers…but if you believe in yourself throughout it all, you’ll be that much closer to making your dreams come true! To unleash the power of your subconscious mind, click Believe In Yourself. And, read on for ten ways to live up to your own potential…
6 Practical Ways to Believe in Yourself – Zora Neale Hurston
1. Work as if everything depends on you. “Sweat, sweat, sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat!” said Hurston. To make your dreams come true, you have to work hard. And if you’re lucky, your work will be something you love – so it won’t feel like work at all. Have no fear: turning your hobby into a successful career may not be as difficult as you think!
2. Pray as if everything depends on God (or trust your Higher Source). Success isn’t a solo act, my friends. Success grows out of teamwork, relying on and helping others, and tapping into your highest source of power. Don’t get so wrapped up in pursuing your goals that you neglect your soul.
3. Be kind to yourself. This is my biggest weakness: I beat myself up for past mistakes, regrets, and flaws. But I know that I have to believe in myself to make my dreams come true…and part of believing in myself is being kind to myself. Can you make mistakes and move on? I believe that’s a huge part of living up to your potential.
4. Marvel at your magnificence! “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry,” said Zora Neale Hurston. “It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” She was a successful, strong woman in history because she truly believed in the value of her own company. Hurston not only saw her strengths, she celebrated them.
5. Surround yourself with successful women – but don’t compare yourself to them. You’re different than other women, and that’s better than okay! You are successful in different ways; you have different strengths and talents. To make your dreams come true and believe in yourself, you need to learn how women become successful – and then find and fill your own potential.
6. Don’t wait for other people to change. “Anybody depending on somebody else’s gods is depending on a fox not to eat chickens,” said Hurston. This reminds me of one of Wayne Dyer’s secrets of success: if you blame other people for the problems in your life, you have to wait for them to change before you can be happy. I love this, because I get so tired of hearing people complain about what other people did wrong, or what they did part way, or what they didn’t do at all! If you give your power away by blaming or waiting for others to change, then you don’t have the strength or power to make your own dreams come true. You do not believe in yourself if you are dependent on others.
Do you believe in yourself enough to make your dreams come true – to soar the way you thought you could?
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Dear Laurie,
Thanks for bringing these Zora quotes to light. Number 3 from Zora is close to my heart.
You see, I thought I would write to let you know about a project dedicted to Zora. It’s just been born actually. We haven’t even had the unveiling yet.
Zora scholars have my respect; I have had the honor and good fortune to meet a few of the devotees and scholars of Zora Neale Hurston. They were at the new Zora Neale Hurston Memorial.
During the past two years, after many hours of exploration of research on Zora Neale Hurston the information, with a combination of resources about Zora, I gleaned inspiration to provide to the new 2010 Zora Neale Hurston Memorial.
The Zora Neale Hurston Memorial is a new work of art dedicated to Zora Neal Hurston – This Special Life. The artist is the gifted James Liccione. We hope that you will look at the newly installed Zora Neale Hurston Memorial.
There is a newborn site dedicated to and the creation of the memorial. I hope you will like the site: http://www.zoranealehurstonmemorial.org
It’s been really something.
Well good bye for now.
Hi,
Number four is so true, and if you think about it, how can you enjoy someone else’s company if you forget to enjoy your own first? First thing is first.
Thank You
Amy
Thanks, Paula — I think #6 is my favorite. I love how much control (power!) it gives us to stop blaming others, and start realizing what we can and can’t do to change situations.
Gini, I think I see what you’re saying about sweat and hard work…..and I think it depends on how one defines “sweat.” I love writing and blogging, but sometimes it’s hard work — it takes discipline to stick to a blogging schedule, submit well-researched and well-written articles to magazine editors, and keep pitching book proposals and article ideas no matter how many rejections I get. That, to me, is sweat. Perseverence, dedication, hope, goals, etc etc etc… Because no matter how much you love what you do, there are times that it doesn’t come easy.
It’s an interesting idea, to think that you can be very successful without working hard. Maybe the best way to test that is to talk to incredibly successful women — Barbara Walters, Suze Orman, Gloria Steinem, Oprah Winfrey, Jodi Foster — and find out if they had to “sweat” and work their way up.
But I do understand that when you’re doing what you love, you’re not “sweating” as much.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Laurie
.-= Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen´s last blog post..80 Ways to Show Your Love on Valentine’s Day Without Spending Money =-.
These are so great, Laurie. The only one I wonder about is no 1 (kinda contradicats no 2). I know what you mean about giving it everything you’ve got – putting your energy into your goals BUT I’m not into the sweating hard work paradigm. I know it used to work in the old days (the really old days when tilling farms was the main source of revenue).
I’m a big believer in ease – if what I’m working on doesn’t feel enjoyable and effortless, then it’s not for me. Effort and ‘hard’ work are a form of resistance the way I see it and when things get sticky they don’t flow well. Ease is a spiritual state of being, where things manifest easily and effortlessly. You just set an intention and voila – the thing you needed appears. Sure you still have to do your work, but it’s easy peasy and enjoyable!
.-= Gini Grey´s last blog post..Intuition =-.
Love these. 3, 5 & 6 are my favorites. You cannot succeed and feel confident if you aren’t kind to yourself and certainly if you compare yourself unfavorably to others all the time, you’ll only beat yourself down. It’s all relative, we’re all unique. If you want to be confident – stay within your sphere and let the comparisons & blaming of others melt away.