When I was younger, and up until a few months ago, I did not believe in myself.

For the longest time, I was the quiet girl who followed rules and tried to be as invisible as possible. I barely answered questions in class and God forbid tried my hand at asking them. I was scared of sharing my thoughts and so I remained a shy and quiet girl with big dreams.

But only dreams.

When I was seven years old, I knew I wanted to write a book one day. I loved reading and loved to tell stories. My parents and friends encouraged my writing, and of course, there were those people who discouraged it. I was too young, they said.

I listened to the words of those who discouraged my passions. And most of us do that when we do not believe in ourselves.

I was already afraid that no one would buy my books, and had a fear that people would make fun of my stories, so when other people reinforced the idea, I believed them instantly.

Despite having so many stories to share I could burst, I wrote in secret but never shared it with anyone but my family. There were times when I thought of taking the leap to share my stories with others, but then I would retreat. I couldn't understand why. Later I did.

You see, here's the thing about belief: it doesn't work like a switch. You cannot just turn it on or turn it off whenever you want to. Belief just doesn't work like that. You have to earn believing in yourself. You have to prove yourself worthy of belief from yourself. And you can only do this by challenging yourself and practice.

So do the things you are most afraid of. Force yourself to try. Build some wings and fly!

And then continue doing so!

Will Durant, summarizing some of Aristotle's philosophy, said: ”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” Therefore, practice, practice, practice. Keep doing the things you love so you can gain control over it.

I was bad at speaking in front of a crowd (sometimes I still am!), but I always had the desire to speak. I repeatedly rehearsed the words I would share in my mind. Sometimes I would take the jump and say it, albeit in some broken phrases, but I did it. Other times, my rehearsed lines remained just rehearsed lines. They never came to the forefront.

This had to change, and so in high school, I forced myself to join the debate team. I spent my three years of high school debating. Soon, speaking out my thoughts didn't seem like such a big problem. Belief and gripping onto that one thing catalyzed the achievement of my other goals.

Once you are able to believe in yourself, everything starts to change. Dreams don't stay dreams, they become new realities. They become your present.

So put your energy into building yourself in your own eyes so that when that day comes that you need your belief, you have it right in your hands!