Having faith (in yourself)

I started writing these articles on a weekly basis on 8th December 2023 (28 articles so far). I knew that I would be able to follow through on this commitment.

It was a 'leap of faith'

It wasn't actually a leap. It came from a quiet knowing that I could do this. I couldn't tell you how but my intuition told me I could do this.

Cultivating this faith in myself has been incredibly powerful.

I believe in myself and believe that I can achieve much more than I could a few years ago. It encourages me to start a project or a business when I cannot control the outcome or know the path to get there.

I still get the insistent commentary inside my head trying to plan out and critique any new endeavour or project I start.

I am ok with this for two reasons:

• this is how my rational mind solves problems and it is incredibly useful (if I choose to use it)
• but I can choose to listen or ask questions like 'what should be my first step?' and listen to the quiet intuitive voice for guidance

I was introduced to a therapeutic model recently called the Internal Family Systems Model. It states that

It is the nature of the mind to be subdivided into an indeterminate number of subpersonalities or parts.

Also

Parts may be experienced in any number of ways -- thoughts, feelings, sensations, images, and more. When differentiated, the Self is competent, secure, self-assured, relaxed, and able to listen and respond to feedback (from the parts)

I found this a useful model for describing our inner life and reflects having confidence in oneself and also why that may be lacking.

When I work with my clients, one of the outcomes (whether it is explicitly stated or not) is that they start to have faith in themselves.

Interestingly this appears to be a step beyond the goals of this therapy where there is an intuitive knowing what is right or what is needed without having to listen and respond to the parts.

What would you like from future articles?