Trust Yourself and Learn How To

“If you don’t know how to fly remember that you can only grow your wings on the way down.”

The most powerful attribute that somebody can have is to trust in themselves and in what they want. Trust implies that you are open to change, that you are allowing yourself to know what you want, but you are not holding on to that as a law carved in stone.

Trust is the opposite of having belief. Trust is the fundamental element to change. If you don’t trust yourself then you will get back to your former path, you will return to the place where you began. And you don’t want that, do you?

Trusting yourself also means that you acknowledge that what you want is not influenced by the people around you. Again, friends, family members and coworkers all expect something from you. They created a certain image for yourself and in their view you should act accordingly. The good news is that you shouldn’t live up to anyone expectations of you.

That’s right, you have to be the judge of your own life and understand that you will piss some people off with your “new and crazy ideas”. I mean, if you want to live a great life you will be misjudged and misunderstood. There is no other way around and your great battle is to not be influenced by it

Whose life is it? Who will have great stories to tell their children and grandchildren? I mean would you put such an heavy mortgage on your life just because of “their opinion”?

Excuse my language but honestly… fuck their opinion!

Once a great man told me something that I will never forget. We were talking about this same subject and he said to me: “Who are you or anybody else to judge me? Seriously, who are they tojudge what you want? Do they have a Phd on your life? Did they received an award on how to live a great life? They have no fucking idea of what they are talking about, they are just entertaining themselves and you think that you should listen to those critics? Fuck them, seriously. The only person who should judge your life is you. Period.”

Yeah, he was an intense kind of guy but he made his point clear.

Most of the time we don’t fly as high as we could because we are too afraid, we want to dress in a certain way, behave in a certain way and be true to who we are but we throw all that to the side because of “their opinion”.

You have nobody else to blame and it is not society faults. It is yours. Like Frank Zappa said: “If you end up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.”

You can’t blame the man for speaking so clearly, can you?

This lesson doesn’t have any action piece or mission, just do this the next time someone judges your path or questions your purpose: nod, tell them that they are right and move on doing what you were about to do anyway.

No need for an argument, that only sucks up your energy and they won’t change their opinion anyway. Yeah sure, you are right. Shrug shoulders and keep moving forward. That’s the only way.

PS. If you want to read more helpful lessons, download now the free guide “How To Find Your Purpose and Live a Good Life”.

João Fernandes is a Portuguese writer, professional traveler and marketing strategist. He has been featured on Vice.com, ThoughtCatalog and EliteDaily. You can find out more about his writing and ineptitude to ride bikes on: www.adventurousartist.com