Recently, I've come to the realization that the decisions I make at this point in my life are important and that they have a valuable impact on my future. Sure, little things like what to eat for lunch or whether I should go to the library now or later don't seem like that big of a deal, but little things like that aren't all I have to decide anymore.

I'm at a pivotal moment in my life. A time where I have to decide not only the small things, but also the big things like what I want to major in, what career path I want to take and whether or not I want to go to graduate school. These decisions seem critical to success–to securing a prosperous future–but more often than not, they can't be made without believing in myself.

When I question the big decisions I have to make about my future, it often comes down to me telling myself that I can't enter a certain career path or major in a certain subject because I don't believe that I can do it. Whether it's because we don't think we are smart enough, spunky enough or even well-rounded enough, somehow we always seem to find a way to tell ourselves that we can't do something we really want to do. This disbelieving state of mind is, more often than not, the thing that tears us down the most, and it's a habit that needs to be put to rest.

A friend of mine has recently been working on an application for the summer internship of her dreams, something I fully believe she is smart enough, spunky enough and well-rounded enough to obtain. However, she often feels the opposite, and often doesn't believe this dream job is within her grasp; that feeling is something we all deal with.

Somehow we seem to find it easier to just believe that we won't be able to get that internship, get into that class we've been trying to take for the last year or get the job of our dreams. Maybe it's because not believing in ourselves from the start makes it hurt less if we don't end up successful, but it's a destructive pattern that needs to stop.

If we believe in ourselves from the get-go, then we will try harder to obtain what we want. When we add that extra level of confidence, that knowledge that we can fully achieve what we're doing, then I believe we will be more likely to do just that. If we don't, then we at least know we tried our hardest, and that even though some things just aren't meant to be, we are still great enough to accomplish anything.

I think it's time we stop hurting our own confidence, ruining our own self-esteem and putting ourselves down. We can–and we will–all accomplish great things in life, and it's past time we started believing it.