Self-Trust: Reconsidering Self-Confidence
No one will trust you until you trust yourself.
Self-trust is better than self-confidence. Ungrounded self-confidence is baseless arrogance.
Read: 5 Lies About Self-Confidence
Self-trust is based on self-knowledge. You need to know seven things about yourself to trust yourself.
The 7 Cornerstones of Self-Trust:
- What you stand for:
Know the core behaviors that express your values. Self-trust is an illusion apart from values because you don’t know who you’re trusting in. Reliability makes you trustworthy.
- What matters to you:
What mission drives you? Is it bigger than the organization where you work? Does it include serving the interests of others? Noble mission makes you trustworthy. Caring for others makes you trustworthy.
- How you lead:
A clear leadership philosophy prevents second-guessing and inconsistency. What’s your definition of servant leadership? Consistency makes you trustworthy.
- How you make decisions:
Knowing whether you rely on principles, data, or intuition strengthens confidence in how you decide. Predictability makes you trustworthy.
- How you handle setbacks:
Self-trust grows when you learn, adapt, and move forward after failure. Grit makes you trustworthy.
- How you manage emotions:
Understanding your triggers makes you predictable. Stability makes you trustworthy.
- What you’ve proven to yourself:
Self-trust requires confidence based on personal history. How do you respond when someone praises you, criticizes you, or suggests alternatives? What obstacles have you climbed over? Can you thrive regardless of your environment? Grounded self-confidence makes you trustworthy.
The first person to trust is you.
People trust you when you trust yourself.
Which of the seven cornerstones is at the heart of self-trust?
How do people learn to trust themselves?
The Courage to Not Know – Brene Brown
