Faith in Yourself First

I've noticed something lately.

More people are talking publicly about spirituality, their relationship with God, what they believe.

I think that's good.

The world probably needs more people willing to admit they don't have all the answers.

But I keep seeing something that bothers me.

People using their spiritual beliefs as a way to avoid personal responsibility.

"God has a plan."

"I'm trusting in something bigger than myself."

"Everything happens for a reason."

Sure. Maybe.

But it feels like some people say these things so they don't have to do the hard work of figuring out what they actually want and then going after it.

It's easier to say "it's in God's hands" than to admit you're scared, you don't know what to do, or you haven't made the decision you know you need to make.

Here's my problem with that.

If I don't have faith in myself first, how can I claim to have faith in anything else?

If I can't trust myself to show up, to do the work, to make the hard call, to follow through when it's difficult, then what am I actually placing my faith in?

I'm not saying I don't believe in something bigger. I do. But I don't get to use that belief as an excuse to abdicate my own responsibility.

Believing in God or the universe or whatever you want to call it - that's fine. But if you can't trust yourself to do your part, then what are you actually trusting?

I think about this with training all the time.

The client who says, "My body just doesn't work like it used to" and stops trying.

They've given up faith in themselves. And no amount of trust in a higher power is going to make them stronger if they're not willing to do the reps.

Or the coach who says "the market's just tough right now" instead of admitting they're undercharging, overworking, or building the wrong thing.

They've lost faith in their ability to change their situation. And no amount of waiting for the universe to provide is going to fix that.

Faith in something bigger doesn't replace the work. It supports the work. But you still have to do it.

I've spent a lot of years trying to figure out what I actually believe.

And what I keep coming back to is this: I have to trust myself first.

Not in an arrogant way. Not in a "I've got all the answers" way.

But in a "I can handle what comes, I can learn what I don't know, I can make hard decisions and live with the consequences" way.

Because if I can't trust that, then what am I trusting?

That something else will step in and do the hard parts for me?

That I can bypass the work if I just believe hard enough?

That's not faith. That's magical thinking.

The people I respect most, the ones who've built something real, who've stayed in shape at 60, who've maintained relationships worth having, who've navigated hard things without falling apart...

They all seem to have two things:

Faith in themselves. And belief in something bigger.

Not one or the other. Both.

They trust themselves to show up, to do the work, to handle what comes.

And they trust that the work is worth doing even when they can't see the outcome yet.

That's the balance.

You don't get to skip the first part and claim the second part covers it.

You have to trust yourself to do your part. Then you get to trust something bigger to handle the rest.

I'm still working this out.

I've only been exploring spirituality seriously for the last year or so. Before that, I didn't really have a framework for it.

But I know this much: I had to learn to have faith in myself first before any of the spiritual stuff made sense.

I had to prove to myself that I could show up, follow through, do the hard thing when it mattered.

And now that I'm thinking about what belief in something bigger actually means, I can see the difference between using it to support the work versus using it as an excuse to avoid the work.

Because I've seen both in myself and in other people.

And the version that works is always the one where you have faith in yourself to do your part first.

Paul

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