How to Have Faith in Yourself

The most successful business leaders share a secret they rarely discuss in public: behind their confident decisions and bold visions lies a constant battle with self-doubt. In my years coaching executives and entrepreneurs, I’ve discovered that learning how to have faith in yourself isn’t just a personal development nicety—it’s the foundational skill that determines whether your business thrives or merely survives.

The path of leadership inevitably leads through territories of uncertainty. Markets shift unexpectedly. Trusted strategies suddenly fail. Team members you counted on depart. In these moments, your ability to maintain faith in yourself becomes the invisible force that keeps everything else from unraveling.

The Counterintuitive Truth About Confidence and Doubt

Here’s what most leadership books won’t tell you: self-doubt isn’t the opposite of confidence—it’s actually its necessary companion. The leader who claims never to question themselves isn’t displaying strength but dangerous ignorance.

True faith in yourself doesn’t mean eliminating doubt. It means developing the capacity to act decisively despite it.

As one CEO client told me after navigating a particularly challenging pivot: “I wasn’t sure we’d make it, but I was certain that whatever happened, I could handle it. That made all the difference.”

This distinction is crucial. Having faith in yourself isn’t about believing you’ll always succeed. It’s about knowing that you can face whatever comes, learn from it, and continue forward.

The Discipline of Self-Trust: Practical Frameworks

Learning how to have faith in yourself isn’t a matter of positive thinking or affirmations. It requires intentional practices that build your self-trust muscle over time.

1. Evidence Collection

Most leaders mentally catalog their mistakes while glossing over their successes. This creates a distorted evidence base that feeds self-doubt.

Practical Application:

• Create a “victories document” where you record challenges overcome, problems solved, and positive feedback received
• Review this document weekly, especially before making important decisions
• Ask trusted colleagues to help identify successes you may have minimised

A retail executive I worked with kept dismissing her turnaround of a struggling division until we quantified the achievement: 18% revenue growth in a declining market. The evidence made her faith in herself undeniable.

2. Failure Reframing

How you interpret setbacks directly impacts your ability to maintain faith in yourself. The most resilient leaders view failures as data points, not character indictments.

Practical Application:

• After any setback, document:
  • What specifically went wrong
  • What you learned
  • How you’ll apply this learning
• Identify the elements that were outside your control
• Articulate how this experience makes you better equipped for future challenges

3. Uncertainty Rituals

The ability to function effectively amid uncertainty separates exceptional leaders from average ones. Developing personal rituals for these moments builds your capacity for self-faith.

Practical Application:

• Create a standardised decision-making protocol for high-uncertainty situations
• Develop a physical “reset” practice (deep breathing, brief movement, etc.) that helps clear mental fog
• Identify your personal “uncertainty triggers” and plan specific responses

A technology founder I coached developed a simple but effective uncertainty ritual: whenever facing a major decision with incomplete information, she would take a 15-minute walk, asking herself: “What would I advise someone else to do in this situation?” This small shift consistently helped her access faith in her own judgment.

Navigating Imposter Syndrome: The Leader’s Constant Companion

Perhaps no force challenges our faith in ourselves more persistently than imposter syndrome—that nagging sensation that you’ve somehow fooled everyone and are about to be exposed as inadequate.

What most don’t realise is that imposter syndrome actually intensifies with success. The more you achieve, the more you have to “live up to,” and the greater the perceived gap between your internal experience and external expectations.

Recognition vs. Elimination

The goal isn’t to eliminate imposter feelings—that’s rarely possible for thoughtful leaders. Instead, learn to recognise imposter thoughts as a normal part of growth rather than accurate reflections of reality.

Practical Application:

• Name the imposter voice when it appears: “I notice I’m having the thought that I’m not qualified for this”
• Ask yourself: “Would someone truly unqualified even worry about this?”
• Identify the growth opportunity hiding within the imposter feeling

The Competence Paradox

Understanding how to have faith in yourself requires recognising a fundamental paradox: those most concerned about their competence are typically more competent than they believe, while those with unwavering self-belief are often dangerously overconfident.

Your self-doubt, rather than signalling inadequacy, likely reflects your commitment to excellence and awareness of complexity.

Building Systems of Support

Self-faith isn’t built in isolation. The strongest leaders intentionally construct systems that support their confidence during inevitable challenging periods.

1. The Personal Board of Directors

Identify 3-5 people who:

• Have seen you succeed over time
• Understand your strengths and growth areas
• Will tell you the truth, even when uncomfortable
• Remember your capabilities when you temporarily forget them

Formalise this relationship by explicitly asking them to serve in this capacity and establish regular check-ins.

2. Feedback Filtration

Not all feedback deserves equal weight. Leaders with strong self-faith develop nuanced systems for processing input without being derailed by it.

Practical Application:

• For any feedback received, assess:
  • Does this person understand the full context?
  • Do they have relevant expertise?
  • What might be motivating this perspective?
  • What specific element can I extract as useful?
• Create different mental “folders” for different types of feedback

3. Progress Measurement

Faith thrives on evidence. Establish systems that regularly demonstrate your forward movement, especially in areas where progress feels slow.

Practical Application:

• Identify lagging indicators (final results) and leading indicators (behaviours and small wins that predict success)
• Track leading indicators weekly
• Create visual representations of progress

The Comparison Trap: Faith’s Greatest Enemy

Nothing erodes faith in yourself faster than unhealthy comparison. In an age of carefully curated professional personas, leaders must be especially vigilant against this tendency.

From Comparison to Connection

Instead of comparing yourself to others, seek to learn from them while maintaining your unique path.

Practical Application:

• For each leader you admire, identify one specific skill or quality to study
• Distinguish between their public image and the likely reality of their journey
• Connect with peers who are willing to discuss challenges honestly

A healthcare entrepreneur I worked with transformed her relationship with a “competitor” by reaching out to discuss common challenges. What began as a comparison-based relationship evolved into a supportive peer mentorship that strengthened both leaders’ faith in themselves.

Faith During Crisis: The Ultimate Test

It’s easy to have faith in yourself when everything is going well. The real test comes during periods of significant challenge or failure. These moments, while painful, offer the greatest opportunity for strengthening your self-faith muscle.

The Resilience Protocol

Develop a personal protocol for maintaining faith during crisis:

1. Acknowledge Reality: Name the situation honestly without catastrophising
2. Separate Identity from Circumstance: “This situation is challenging” vs. “I am a failure”
3. Identify What Remains in Your Control: Focus your energy exclusively here
4. Draw on Past Evidence: Recall previous challenges overcome
5. Take One Decisive Action: No matter how small, take a step forward

A manufacturing CEO facing a potentially business-ending lawsuit told me: “I realised I could either collapse under the weight of this or see it as the challenge that would define my leadership. I chose the latter, and that mental shift changed everything about how we responded.”

From Faith to Legacy: The Virtuous Cycle

As you strengthen your faith in yourself, something remarkable happens: your capacity to develop others expands. Leaders with genuine self-faith create environments where team members can develop their own confidence and capabilities.

This creates a virtuous cycle. As your team grows in capability, their success further validates your leadership, strengthening your faith in yourself and expanding what you believe possible.

The Practice of Imperfect Action

Learning how to have faith in yourself ultimately comes down to one essential practice: taking imperfect action consistently. Each time you act despite uncertainty, you build evidence for your own capability.

The leader’s journey isn’t about becoming someone who never doubts. It’s about becoming someone who has developed the discipline to act thoughtfully despite those doubts—someone who has learned that true confidence isn’t the absence of uncertainty but the ability to function effectively within it.

Remember: Your business will only grow to the extent that you believe yourself capable of handling the challenges that growth will bring. Building unshakable faith in yourself isn’t selfish—it’s the most important investment you can make in your leadership and your organisation’s future.

Start today with one small action that stretches your faith muscle. The rest will follow.