What are two of the easiest ways to lose trust in yourself?
Dwelling in regret over past choices and spending countless hours anxiously trying to control the future.
The mind loves to time travel. This can be a common tendency for high-achieving women, who are used to analyzing past performance and thinking several steps ahead. Yet, it’s also what keeps you disconnected from your inner power.
Because, when you’re anchored to the past, the mind becomes a relentless critic. It replays old missteps, magnifies imperfections, and questions your worth. Your mind creates elaborate “what if” scenarios that leave you feeling overwhelmed, doubtful, and disconnected from your deeper knowing.
On the other hand, the uncertainty of what’s ahead can feel both magnetic and intimidating. When the pull to step into the next chapter of your life causes anxiety to rise, the future becomes a place of imagined problems rather than potential possibilities.
Regret and future-based anxiety weaken your self-trust, pulling you away from the present moment where confidence and clarity reside. When you are tied to timelines that no longer exist or have yet to unfold, you become disconnected from the grounded awareness you need to trust yourself fully.
In this state of disconnection, it’s easy to forget that you are not defined by past choices or dependent on knowing the future. You are a wise, capable being, able to meet life with trust, intuition, and grace in this very moment.
Self-trust doesn’t live in the past or future; it begins right here in the present moment. It’s the choice to believe in yourself as you are now, rather than defining yourself by who you were or who you hope to be.
Regret Undermines Self-Trust
Regret whispers: “You should have known better.” It’s a voice that anchors you to past decisions, replaying them in an endless loop.
Self-blame and Judgment
You relive what you did or didn’t do, punishing yourself for not having the knowledge or perspective you have now.
Doubting Your Next Step
Seeing past missteps as proof that you can’t choose wisely makes it harder to trust yourself to navigate a new, more soul-led direction.
Overlooking Your Evolution
Regret can hide how much you’ve grown, making it harder to trust yourself. You don’t acknowledge that the wisdom and strength you have now were born from the very choices you made in the past.
Uncertainty Erodes Self-Trust
The unknown can trigger fear that you’re not ready for what lies ahead, despite your past accomplishments.
Doubt and Control
You doubt and overanalyze every possibility, replacing trust in your inner wisdom with the need to control, which drains your mental and emotional energy.
Disconnection From Self
Anxiety ungrounds you, replacing the steady trust in your own wisdom with the uncertainty of endless “what ifs.”
Fear-Based Decisions
Rather than choosing from a place of alignment and confidence, you make decisions from fear or self-protection, weakening your trust in your ability to navigate what’s ahead.
What Self-Trust Looks Like
Living in self-trust means being fully present in the now and making decisions from this grounded place rather than from fear or regret.
Honor Your Capacity
Appreciate who you are today. Trust that you have what you need for whatever comes next. Rather than questioning past actions or doubting your readiness to make future choices, confidently ask, “What feels right for me now?”
Trust the Next Step
Letting go of the need to have all the answers means trusting yourself to take one step at a time, even without seeing the full path ahead. Self-trust asks, “Can I allow myself to be guided moment by moment?”
Choose Compassion Over Judgment
Forgiving yourself and moving forward means releasing punishment for past decisions and choosing to view them with compassion. Self-trust reminds you that those experiences have shaped the strength and wisdom you carry today.
Practices for Building Present-Moment Self-Trust
Self-trust is like a muscle, the more you practice, the stronger it becomes.
- Breathwork to return to your body and calm your mind. Slow, intentional breathing signals safety to your nervous system, helping you respond from trust instead of fear.
- Affirmations to anchor yourself in the now. Try repeating: “I trust myself right now, in this moment.”
- Mindful pauses before reacting. Give yourself a beat to choose a response that reflects your values instead of your fears.
- Gratitude for this moment. Naming one thing you appreciate about right now keeps you rooted in the present and opens your heart to possibility.
Self-trust grows from the grounded clarity found only in the present moment. When you’re fully present, you can hear the whispers of your intuition. You can access your inner wisdom. You can meet your needs with compassion. You stop outsourcing your power to past regrets or future fears and begin listening to your soul’s guidance.
Presence invites you to respond, not react. To choose, not chase. To trust, not control. Right now, you have the opportunity to choose grace over regret, presence over perfection, and self-love over fear.
Your magic lives in the now. So take a breath, let go of what was, release what might be, and come home to yourself. Reconnect with the unshakable truth of who you are today, because within that truth lies the deepest, most enduring self-trust.
