Do you trust yourself? Trusting yourself on a basic level leads to an increase in your self-esteem

We often say that we don’t trust other people for a variety of reasons. Someone may have let us down, abandoned, hurt, lied to us and so on.

Five ways to practice self-trust

When we learn to trust ourselves, we invite more trust into our lives for others. This, in turn, is reciprocated. When you begin to feel let down or hurt by another person, rather than sinking into a place of blame, which leaves you feeling powerless, there are other ways which will empower us instead.

When we take responsibility for how we feel, we are living our lives, not the life another person may wish us to lead. The following five points are ways to help you come back into your own truth and trust yourself, which, in turn, leads to greater self-esteem.

1. Recognise when we begin to feel a lack of trust for another person, stop for a moment and truthfully understand which part we are playing in this relationship. There is always something we can recognise that we are contributing to any situation. This does not mean it is your fault, it is about recognising what you may be doing so that you can stop yourself, take a breath and make a different choice. This awareness is powerful, yet simple in building self-trust.

2. Plan your day, week or month ahead, so you have things to look forward to. Although many people find planning restricting. Imagine seeing it in the opposite light. Once you have something in the diary, you can forget about it and not have it in your head. Your diary then becomes your friend, reminding you of joyous events, rather than you being a slave to too many thoughts.

3. Think of something which gives you joy. Do something for someone else which you know will bring them joy, without them knowing. This way, you are not expecting anything in return and you are purely giving to another person and only you know about it. You are trusting who you are, not expecting approval or recognition.

4. Think of something in the past you did not like about yourself. Notice how you are now a better person. If you cannot think of anything which has improved, work on a part of yourself you would like to improve, so you feel good about yourself. Then you become the kind of person you want to know.

5. Take time out each day to see to your nutrition, water intake, rest, relax, have enjoyment and exercise. Lift your spirits. The body intelligence needs downtime, good fuel and movement. When you look after this mind and body, it will repay you in kind.

Watch your trust in yourself soar, your life becomes more fulfilling and your self-confidence and self-esteem greatly improve. Your connections with others cannot help but become better, more nourishing and trustworthy.