What Trail Running Taught Me About Self-Trust

Do you choose to not rise to a challenge because you feel like you’ll just fail anyway?

Have you stopped listening to your intuition because you feel it has betrayed you?

If so, you might be struggling with some self-trust issues.

If you’re an anxiety sufferer, one of the things you can fall prey to is losing trust in yourself.

As your mind get carried away with fear, worry, indecision and overwhelm, it wears away at your self-trust and it starts to make you constantly second guess yourself.

I know it because I have been there.

I know how it can feel more difficult to make decisions because you think you’ll make the wrong choice. Or how it feels when you deny yourself an opportunity because you don’t trust you’re good enough.

And I definitely know how it feels to spend loads of time regretting things you’ve done and decisions you’ve made…

Can you relate?

If so, I’m here to tell you, things CAN feel different!

What if instead of second guessing yourself all the time, you felt confident in your decisions?

What if you felt authentic and that your truest self was strong and shining through?

What if you felt like you could handle anything that came your way?

And the best yet, what if you could talk to yourself like you were your own best friend?

I’m happy to share that you CAN feel that way!

By making small, sustainable changes and building up your self-trust, you CAN feel empowered to be all that you are and have all the confidence and trust in yourself you’ve been desiring!

So, with that, I’m going to share with you my journey of how I built self trust through trail running. I’ll also be sharing tips with you on how you can start to make the shift from self-doubt to self-trust for yourself!

And if you really want to set the holistic foundation for building self-trust, make sure you grab my workshop here to work on the nutrition and lifestyle factors that can strengthen your self-trust and confidence!

How to shift from self-doubt to self-trust

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust | #1. Be Yourself

Okay, this probably seems like common sense, but stay with me here and take an honest look at this one.

Do you feel like you’re 100% your authentic self all the time?

Or, are there maybe times where you withhold parts of yourself to appease others? Maybe you’re not fully yourself when you’re at work because you’re worried about what your co-workers or boss will think…

In many cases, most of us who suffer with anxiety don’t allow ourselves to BE OURSELVES 100% of the time.

And this is one of the reasons why you’ve lost trust in yourself!

So how can you show up more authentically and be more of you?

First, stop caring what other people think. The only person you need to please in this life is YOU.

Regardless of what others think, do what YOU love. Do what calls to YOU! Be ALL of who you were meant to be!

And let that freak flag fly if you want to!

I mean honestly, who the hell cares if you look ridiculous in a tutu while you’re out gardening? If that’s what makes YOU happy, then by all means, GO DO IT!

Let me share how this looked for me…

I’m not a great runner. I never have been. I am short and was definitely built to sprint short distances, but God didn’t gift me with long runner’s legs.

And because of that, I do look kind of awkward out running!

But you know what? I don’t care.

I was called to challenge myself, and I wanted to do something out in nature. Trail running had always made me curious, and I thought it would be a good outlet for me, but I had been holding onto the fear of not being good or capable enough.

So, in letting go of what others out on the trail might think and honoring my own desires, I went for it!

I bought myself a pair of trail running shoes and started my journey.

Again, this is what I wanted to do to honor myself. This felt like me being ME.

And by letting go of what others think, and honoring who YOU are, you allow yourself to BE yourself.

Which helps you build the almighty self-trust!

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust | #2. Get To Know Yourself

So this comes up a lot when I talk to clients…

I challenge them to be themselves, and they push back because they no longer feel like they know who they are.

If you just read the above tip on Be Yourself, and thought, “I don’t even know who I am, how am I supposed to be myself?” then this tip is perfectly for you.

As an anxiety sufferer, I know how easy it is to get so wound up in all the to dos, and all the busyness, that we lose sight of who we are.

You stop feeling like yourself because of all that worry and overwhelm. And somewhere along the way, you get lost.

If that sounds like you, I encourage you to spend some time getting to know yourself once again.

That begins with spending time with yourself.

Schedule out some alone time with just YOU (even if it’s for just 30 minutes), and ask yourself the following questions:

What brings you JOY?
What makes your heart HAPPY?
What are you GOOD at?
If you could spend an entire day to yourself, what would you FILL it with?
How and when do you feel the most loved?

Starting with these questions may provoke other questions you want to ask yourself. Dig in deeper if it calls to you!

Luckily, as I began my self-trust journey, I felt like I knew myself pretty well and had a pretty good start on knowing myself.

But even feeling like I knew who I was, I spent time reflecting on the questions above and spent more time solo to get to know myself EVEN better.

And trail running actually helps me continue to do so!

Because when I’m out in nature, I feel so connected to who I am, and it puts me in a beautiful space to connect with my hearts desires. To connect with my truest self.

Regardless of where you’re at or how well you think you know yourself, I encourage you to spend time with yourself to deepen your relationship with YOU.

In deepening your relationship with yourself, you’ll learn to more easily trust yourself too.

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust | #3. Build on your strengths

My third tip for you today comes from knowing yourself.

When you know who you are, a part of what you know is what you’re good at.

Knowing what you’re good at can help you lean into your strengths. This helps you feel more trusting in your abilities and creates more self-trust.

In my example here of trail running, I decided this was a good fit for me to do because I know I’m good at hiking.

I’m good at holding myself accountable for moving my body. I know that I love being in nature and spending time out soaking up sunshine on my skin.

Because I knew I could hike and I knew I could stay accountable to get outside, I knew trail running was a challenge I could take on.

By knowing what our strengths are, we can lean into them and expand on them to develop trust in ourselves.

So what are you good at? How can you use those strengths and lean into them even more?

Maybe you’re good at writing and want to do more journaling, start a blog, or even write a book!

Maybe you’re good at cooking and you want to start to try new recipes and eat healthier? (If that’s you, then read my posts here and here for some recipe ideas!)

Or maybe you’re good at teaching others and you want to take on a mentee to share your skills and knowledge?

Who knows, maybe it’s something as simple as you’re good at walking and you want to explore some new areas by walking around them.

It doesn’t matter WHAT you’re good at, the key is KNOWING what you’re good at and doing more of it and/or expanding on it.

Because the more you can leverage your strengths and build upon them, the more trust you’ll create in yourself and feel empowered and confident in all that you are!

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust | #4. Be Kind to Yourself

The journey to developing self-trust is a great time to incorporate self-kindness and self-compassion.

As you begin to know yourself, be yourself, and develop your strengths, take some time to be kind to yourself along the way.

This could look and feel a few different ways.

For me, as I began trail running, I definitely had to incorporate some self-kindness and self-compassion.

There were days when my body was only able to run a short distance on the trail. Instead of beating myself up about not making the distance I wanted, I was kind to myself.

I showed myself compassion and grace. I would tell myself, “I’m proud of you for accomplishing what you did, thank you” instead of letting any negative internal dialogue in.

And when I would hit a point on the trail when my body was too fatigued to run, instead of pushing through it and doing any harm to myself, I just finished the trail by hiking it and showing myself some kindness.

There is no shame in trying and working toward something. Whatever you’re doing to improve yourself is already an incredible step to alleviating your anxiety!

So instead of letting that negative internal dialogue creep in (which is all too common for anxiety sufferers), replace it with some kindness and compassion.

A quick and easy way to do this is to take a moment before bed and say to yourself, “I’m proud of you for doing/trying/showing up for X today…”

Each time you do, you’re offering yourself some kindness and compassion and building more trust in YOU!

If you want some inspiration on how to be kind to yourself, check out my post on the 7 Self-Care Practices for Self-Love!

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust | #5. Set Reasonable Goals

One tendency you may have as an anxiety sufferer is to bite off more than you can chew. (Maybe both literally and figuratively.)

As you’re looking to grow and change, it’s important to set reasonable goals for yourself that are achievable.

You may experience some trial and error as you set and reach your goals, so again, remember tip #4 and be kind to yourself along the way.

But the more you can set realistic goals for yourself, the more easily you can achieve them and further strengthen that self-trust muscle.

This takes some time and practice; though it’s definitely worth it!

I know for me, when I first started trail running, I wanted to start running 3 miles each trip out. Well, after my first run, I quickly learned that wasn’t going to happen!

I had to get real with myself and set that as a longer-term goal. (As any of you reading this may know, jumping right in to running 3 miles on a rocky trail is tricky and a bit exhausting!)

Instead, I started to take an incremental approach. What if I ran .5 miles of a 3 mile hike for two weeks?

Then what if I increased that to running 1 mile of the 3 mile trail for the next two weeks? What if I kept slowly increasing my endurance and ability to hit 3 miles of running inside of a few months?

That approach felt reasonable to me and allowed me to practice being kind to myself along the way.

Whatever it is for you as far as your goals are concerned, take an honest look at what expectations you’re setting for yourself.

I encourage you to set yourself up for SUCCESS by setting reasonable, realistic goals.

With that, you’ll be on your way to trusting in yourself and your abilities in no time!

From Self-Doubt to Self-Trust | #6. Check Your Surroundings

As you begin on your journey to building self-trust, you may start to notice that you aren’t surrounded by the most supportive or trusting people.

Anytime we go on a healing journey to improve ourselves, it’s very common to notice what and who we’re surrounded with.

On your journey to self-trust, make sure you take some time to check your surroundings. To do that, look at those around you.

Are the friends/family/acquaintances in your life lifting you up or bringing you down? Do you have supportive relationships? Or are there people around you who are belittling you? Do you have a lot of naysayers in your life that are influencing you to second guess yourself?

Take an inventory, and look at those relationships it may be time to back away from or cut out of your life.

Also, look to the people who are the most supportive and encouraging, and lean IN to those relationships. The ones who lift you up and make you feel motivated are exactly the ones you want to be surrounded with while you’re building up your self-trust!

As I started trail running, I had one friend who was SO supportive. I started to share with her my journey and she was always commending me on my time spent on the trails. I found her energy motivating and uplifting, and when I was doubting myself, I reached out to her for some inspiration.

On the contrary, I had a few people in my life (ahem, a man I am thankfully no longer dating), who very quickly showed me he was NOT a supporter in my life. He questioned my need and desire to run. He told me I would probably hate it and didn’t think it was a good idea for me. (And yeah, he didn’t last long after that!)

So, take a good look at the people in your life surrounding you. After you take your inventory, consider making some changes to build more supporters and get rid of the haters.

I promise you, as you start to clean up the energy around you, it will help you to shine and create more trust in yourself!

How To Take Action on Building Self-Trust

There you have it: my six tips for you to build self trust on your journey to relieving anxiety.

Remember, even though the journey can be challenging, nothing worth achieving comes without a little work.

So, based on what I’ve just told you, here is what you can start doing today to deepen the trust you have in yourself:

Start by BEING YOU! Make a commitment right here and right now to start speaking up and being authentic in all your communications with yourself and others. If you’ve got it, let that freak flag fly!

Not sure who you are yet? Carve out some solo time (preferably out in nature if you can) to get to know YOU! You truly are your greatest gift, and you will be delightfully surprised in what you discover about yourself!

Find something you’re good at, and get better at it. By knowing your strengths and leaning into them, you’ll deepen your self-trust and build your confidence!

Be kind to yourself, and tell yourself at least one think you’re proud of for doing every single day. Whether this be during the day or before bed, it doesn’t matter. Just make sure you’re honoring all the good you’re bringing into your life and give yourself some mad props for trying!

And remember, keep your goals reasonable along the way. As you’re working towards them, double check your surroundings and make sure you’re allowing supportive people into your life!

That’s what I have for you today dear ones. I hope you’ve found this post inspiring and helpful. If you found something in it that’s useful, I hope you’ll share it with someone else you know who might benefit from it too. We’re in this together!

Thank you for being here and showing up for you. The fact you’ve read this post tells me you’re ready to begin your journey and I know you can do it!

You are beautiful and magnificent and worthy of trusting in yourself. It’s time you start to do what it takes so you FEEL that trust so deeply!

You’ve got this. I believe in YOU!

Much Love,

Susan Renee