As an extremely passionate and young professional trying to pursue my career in psychology, I have grappled significantly with the concept of self-belief. Let’s back up…
During my bachelor's degree in psychology, I hate to admit it, but I was that student who constantly asked questions in class. I was always eager to dive into different rabbit holes during our discussions, seeking to expand and deepen our understanding of the human experience. I would even write down some of my reflections in my notebook and share them with my boyfriend every evening. Bless him for always listening so patiently to them!
Anyhow, in May 2023, I decided to create Loving Tula on Instagram, a platform where I could untangle my epiphanies in Psychology, Kenyan Culture, Society and Leadership; all topics that are so deeply meaningful to me. The name Loving Tula is a double entendre, symbolizing both the lessons I've learned through self-love and the embodiment of love as an attitude of life.
Eventually, this blend of multi-passionate thinking led me to realize my interest in coaching; a realization that was DEEPLY conflicting for me. On one hand, the coaching industry remains unregulated, and the prevailing skepticism within psychology academia only deepened my discouragement. In many ways, this skepticism about mindset coaching is appropriate, particularly given how pop psychology and the online self-help space have fueled misinformation and detrimental or unverified approaches to selfdevelopment and healing. The truth is not everyone has training or awareness of professional ethics, implications of linguistic artifacts or helping relationship boundaries.
While these perceived obstacles created inner conflict, I always seemed to find a reason not to start.
Deep down, I knew I should at least try and allow myself the experience of being seen in the process. But the story I told myself was:
"They’ll think you don’t have enough experience and that you’re too young,"
"You should wait until you have your degree or enough money for that coaching course you want."
Honestly, there was always a reason to delay something I secretly believed I might be good at.
I soon realized that I had been associating my “competence” too closely with how the world measures it. I needed to remind myself that I am not what I am afraid of. I value ethics and conscious relating in helping relationships, and I am attuned to the subtle changes in dynamics that can influence the process. I am also committed to continuously broadening my knowledge and learning. While I am grateful for the privilege of having taken courses in my degree that covered ethical principles, I recognize that qualifications, certificates, and titles don't always capture the depth with which these principles are integrated into one's practice.
Education and traditional work experiences are so extremely important, I fully agree with this; but besides that, there is so much more that people bring in.
The sacredness woven into the individual stories of people's lives, a depth that can only be uncovered when they are truly embraced and understood, is equally deserving of the recognition and reverence often reserved for academic and career achievements.
It can feel so challenging for young and passionate professionals to find their way in the world, and even more daunting to go down the untraditional route of entrepreneurship.
But something that I have learned along the way is that in everything that we do, we must learn how to believe in ourselves.
And self-belief must be accompanied with honesty. The ability to see what we have and what we need to get to where we want to be. And sometimes if we are struggling to be honest with ourselves, or if our self-perception is tainted with fear, we need to learn to reach out to others that we trust are going to be honest with us. In my case, I would like to thank Sinéad Hewson, Alison Mitchell and Christine Fitzgerald from the depths of my heart for helping me develop the skills that I needed to start taking the next steps of my coaching career.
Going back to my statement, "Sometimes, 'ready' is more of a choice than a feeling," it becomes clear that we often stand in our own way. And of course, we do this, because it is so deeply human to protect ourselves from potential rejection by our communities. But let us not lose sight of the fact that the world needs more of us—more of who we truly are, the essence of our being.
Choosing to step into our full selves and our interconnectedness is not only an act of self-empowerment but a contribution to the collective, enriching the world with the authenticity we hold within.
If you are a young professional with a similar experience, I would love to get connected!
And if you relate, could you share with us your greatest takeaways about believing in yourself?
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