The Whats and Whys of Underestimating yourself

Do you underestimate yourself in life? If you do, how will you actually realise that you’re doing so?

Well, one of the easiest ways we find this out is when people tell us this. When people feel that we give ourselves a lot less credit than we actually should.

What is under-estimation really? What does it mean?

Do we under-estimate what we have achieved in life, or do we under-estimate our potential of what we could achieve?

I think both. But let’s look at each of them separately. 

Underestimating our achievements

 There are different reasons why we underestimate our achievements:

1. Being humble: We feel humble about whatever we have achieved and don’t feel it’s anything significant.

2. Comparing past achievements to where we want to get to: When we have a vision for our life that is much bigger than our current selves, we feel whatever we have achieved so far is not even close to what we aspire to achieve.

3. Comparing our achievements with the achievements of the person next to us: Feeling guilty already? Often enough, we compare our achievements with people around us.. And feeling that somebody else has achieved a lot more than us.

If your reason for underestimating your achievements is either 1 or 2, I feel it’s alright and more than under-estimation it’s just a difference of perspective. However, if the reason is 3, then we have a problem. Which is actually true for so many of us. We compare ourselves with our colleagues, friends, siblings, cousins and many more people. We feel that they’ve achieved a lot more in life than you at a similar age adn stage. If this thought ever crosses your mind, you need to tell yourself that your journey is not the same as anybody else. Even though everybody makes it sound like that, you are not competing with other people, you are only competing with yourself.

In your alone times, you will never reflect and remember how many people you beat to reach where you did. But you will always remember your own journey of growth. How you conquered your own fears, internal battles, behaviours, everything. So compete with yourself. And beat yourself. 

Underestimating our potential

Well, this is a crime! But let me still talk about why people do this:

1. People see their futures as a reflection of their past: If so far I have not been able to achieve anything, how will I be able to achieve something so big anyway? Ring a bell?

2. Discouraging words from people we look up to, and also from people we don’t care about: All of us get to hear discouraging words from different people in life. Could be family, friends, colleagues, bosses etc. Unconsciously, we sometimes end up defining ourselves as they define us, and hence start doubting our abilities. 

Whatever your reason is, stop underestimating your potential. Every single one of us has unlimited potential in life. And the first prerequisite to being able to realise this potential is self-belief.

So the next time you feel you are underestimating yourself, just look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that you believe in you. Tell yourself, that you will always be there for yourself, no matter what the world has to say.

Jai Jinendra.