Who Do You Trust?

Who do you trust? For most of us, our first answer is not “me”.

Look at the photo above. “Little Mary Clagett knows that little girls shouldn’t play with little matches because they can start a fire, but if you must, then have plenty of help nearby!” At six years old, I definitely knew things. And, if I knew things then, how can I doubt myself now? It was front page news in our local paper.

Trust is an important component for connection, and we are going to delve into trust over the next three weeks. We start with self-trust because how you feel about yourself will impact the quality of your connections with others.

We’ve written about understanding our values, evaluating our strengths and weaknesses, and examining our motivations. They are foundational for knowing oneself. To show up as trustworthy, authentic, and vulnerable requires us to trust ourselves. This relies on a deep understanding of oneself and the willingness to grow beyond what is. It can be hard to let go of the beliefs we’ve accumulated and the stories we tell ourselves, but there is also freedom in opening space for curiosity, new perspectives, and self-growth by doing so.

As you hear on any airplane ride, “In the event of emergency, place the oxygen mask on yourself first.” To facilitate your self-trust journey, consider taking one of the following steps:

• Start journaling.
• Ask for constructive feedback.
• Challenge your own beliefs and perspectives.
• Practice mindfulness.
• Engage in self-care.
• Practice empathy.

There are so many ways to invest in yourself. It’s worth the effort to ultimately know that you trust yourself deeply, which allows others to connect with you.

This Week’s Challenge: On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you rate yourself on self-trust? What factors led to your assessment? If you take a step back and consider those, which factors are based on potentially outdated beliefs? Choose one to dive deeper into. Consider whether it is serving you. If not, what changes might you make to increase your feeling of self-trust? You matter. Invest in yourself.