Liberate Your Power: Building Belief
- Headmistress Jill Miller
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
I recently taught the Liberate Your Power class for the first time. This class is part of the Power Series of classes I offer, along with Speak Your Power and Embrace Your Power, which you can catch on April 16th.
Liberate Your Power has quickly become one of my favorite Finishing School for Modern Women classes. I spent a lot of time thinking about the title's meaning and digging into how to break through our self-imposed boundaries to free our power, and it has helped me. But it takes actually teaching the class to see how it impacts others to know how strong the class truly is. This class is powerful.
Although I wish all of you could come to this class, I know that's impossible for all kinds of reasons. Because this information is too good not to spread far and wide, I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm sharing the content of this class in a series of articles on my blog. In each section, there will be an exercise you can choose to do - or not.
This is the second installment. (Missed the first installment? Here it is!)
Building Belief
Learning to believe in yourself is the linchpin of making things happen. It is critical in achieving the life you desire.
Have you ever heard of the term self-efficacy?
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in their ability to accomplish tasks and reach goals. It includes their confidence in managing their actions, impacting their surroundings, and staying motivated in the pursuit of their goal.
I hadn’t heard of it until I started attending the National Federation of the Blind national conferences. Every year, one of their members who is blind would tell the story of how they didn’t let blindness hold them back from their dreams.
I’ll never forget the gentleman who shared the story of losing his vision in a car accident. He had been quite successful working in the Department of Education in Washington, D.C. He told the story of his recovery and how taken aback he was when the nurse asked if he needed help going to the bathroom. He was offended.
He talked about having self-efficacy – the belief in himself – that he could manage something as simple and repetitive as going to the bathroom independently. He credited his recovery and return to civil service to his strong conviction that he could learn to use the tools and determination to transform what he considered a setback into something stronger. And he did.
To liberate your power, make things happen, and truly pursue your dreams, you must believe that you can. That you are an American – not an American’t, surrendering to learned helplessness. You must have faith that you can achieve anything with every fiber of your being.
Here are some strategies for building belief.
Feed your mind.
Just like you are what you eat, you are also what you think. What are you feeding your brain?
What we read and watch on a daily basis has a significant impact on our brains. It influences our mood and affects the power of attraction. Instead of dwelling on what makes you anxious and scared about what may happen, shift your brainpower to what you want more of.
Make a point to seek advice from others who have achieved your goals, even if they are not your mentor or coach.
Watch documentaries about people who have done great things in life.
Read inspirational quotes and write down your favorites.
Learn about new topics that will help you reach your goals, like finance, or that will help you face your fears, like how to be confident or deliver a presentation.
You will train your brain to believe in yourself, as it will recognize that you possess the skills necessary for success.
Change your focus.
You don’t need to look for support and approval from outside sources to believe in yourself. If you’re feeling discouraged, sometimes all you need to do is shift your focus.
Instead of focusing on failures or weaknesses, remember moments in your past when you were successful at something similar or when your strengths shone.
Remember obstacles you’ve faced and overcome with grace and courage.
Focus on all the things you have to be grateful for instead of what you don’t have. Focus on the positive to change your mindset from negativity to abundance.
Affirm yourself.
When you hear your self-talk talking smack, it’s a good time for some positive affirmations. These are short statements, like a mantra, to feed your brain good stuff.
Self-affirmations reduce stress, enhance well-being, boost performance, and make us more receptive to behavioral change.
Examples:
"I am capable."
"I am confident."
"I am worthy of love and happiness."
"I am resilient."
"I am learning and growing every day."
"I am creating the life I desire."
"I am prioritizing my well-being."
How to write your own affirmations:
Start with small, achievable goals: Start with easy and comfortable affirmations, and gradually expand to more challenging ones. For ideas, you might want to revisit the self-limiting story you rewrote in the last blog.
Be specific: Instead of saying "I am good," try "I am a good listener" or "I am a kind person".
Use the present tense: Focus on the present moment and the reality you are creating.
Repeat them regularly: Make affirmations a daily practice to reinforce positive beliefs.
Feel them: When you say an affirmation, feel the truth of it in your heart.
Practice trusting in yourself.
Much of our belief in ourselves comes from how we believe we’ve performed in the past. But how do we move forward when we feel we’ve failed at something too important not to try again?
Visualizing achievements - I’ve heard the advice that visualizing the situation and seeing ourselves achieve what we’ve been dreading helps overcome some of the anxiety of taking a risk. I’m not sure that works for everyone.
Remembering past achievements - Remembering times when we’ve persevered in the past can be helpful. Writing down times when you came through a worst-case scenario like a champ reminds your brain of how resourceful you can be when necessary.
However, situations change, and we need to be careful about how we compare ourselves to who we were in the past.
Achievement experiments - One of the best ways to practice trusting ourselves is by creating small wins. Achieving little things through small experiments makes it easier to accomplish bigger achievements.
How to create small achievement experiments:
Start with something you want to achieve: Start with something simple you can achieve quickly. Pick something to do one time, not something you want to make into a habit. For example, clean out the garden beds. Make them small goals.
Bonus points if they work on your self-limiting story rewrites.
Be specific: “I will clean out my closet on Saturday.” Or “I will reach out to three people this week to help me with x.”
Focus on the effort, not the outcome: Make your experiment about what you’ll do, not about outcomes you can’t control. For example, “I will send out x resumes this week,” rather than” I will find a job this week.”
Acknowledge your achievements: Celebrate your progress and accomplishments, no matter how small.
Reflect on your experiences: Think about what you learned from each challenge and how you can apply those lessons in the future.
Don't compare yourself to others: Focus on your own journey and celebrate your unique strengths and accomplishments.
Be patient and persistent: It takes time to reprogram your thoughts and beliefs, so be patient with yourself and keep practicing.
Building belief is powerful! Give a try to creating your own affirmations and change what you’re feeding yourself with your thoughts. Practice learning to trust yourself and train your brain with small achievement experiments. I've included pages from the workbook for this class to help guide you in trying some of these exercises from class.
If you'd like to turn in your homework and earn a badge for this class like we do in our in-person classes, email me at Jill@FinishingSchoolForModernWomen.com.
Next installment: Building Courage
Did you know I've published a book? Learn more about it here!
Because We’re Never Finished
The Finishing School for Modern Women, located in Wichita, Kansas, offers classes to help women find their authentic selves, not because we need finishing, but because we’re never finished. We bring together women of all ages to learn from experts and each other how to claim our power in business, finance, communication, and life.
To learn more about what we do:
https://www.finishingschoolformodernwomen.com for our classes and free social membership.
Contact Us
Phone: 316-841-8927 Email: jill@finishingschoolformodernwomen.com
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