Believe in yourself first.

In order to reach your potential, you have to stay rooted to the belief that the potential lies inside you, in your own belief about who you are, and that you have the answers.

I was deep in a relaxed pose at the end of a yoga class. My mind went to my dad, as it did often, and I was wondering again if he was proud of the path my life and career were taking – and mostly if I was making the right choices at that moment.

I started reflecting on my dad's approval and what it meant when he was alive versus now. I came up with some answers.

When he was alive:

1) I never sought out his approval

2) I was not afraid of failing

3) I lived and trusted my decisions

4) I was a leader and had unlimited potential

I simply had belief in myself. The awareness came slowly during this 10-minute relaxation but it all came....

After my dad died when I was 22, I stopped relying on my own intuition. I began playing small and learned to let other people’s limiting beliefs about themselves have an effect on my own beliefs about what I was truly capable of. Instead of looking to myself for approval, I realized that I had slowly stopped believing in myself and was constantly looking to him – yes, a dead man – instead of within. As this realization dawned on me, I gained the knowledge that I had not been living my own life and that no matter how often I told someone I was independent, I was completely dependent on my late dad's approval. How stupid is that?

A weight was lifted when this awareness settled in. I realized I was the only one that could make myself proud. That I had no control over what others would think.

The only way I was going to be free myself was to let go of “what would dad think?” and find a way to believe in myself again. That day when I left the yoga studio, I jumped into my car and realized I had tears running down my face because I felt free. I felt relief. I knew that I could find that belief again and what I truly gained was that knowing feeling that I would reach my full potential.

I was not stuck anymore. I believed in me or at least I knew that I was going to find it again and I was starting right then!