THE ART OF BELIEVING IN YOURSELF
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THE ART OF BELIEVING IN YOURSELF
One of the many life lessons we can learn from Yosef is to believe in your talents, even when the world tries to bury them. His ability to interpret dreams was not just a skill but an act of belief. Think about it: Yosef’s own dreams, the ones that caused his brothers to hate him, were still unfulfilled. Yet, even after being sold into slavery and thrown into prison, Yosef trusted that his dreams—and his interpretations of others’ dreams—were correct. When Pharoh’s butler and baker mentioned to him their troubling dreams, Yosef didn’t hesitate to step into the role of interpreter. What? Yosef! You saw that your dreams and your interpretations of your dreams are false!! Give up this dream interpretation career!
Why did Yosef still interpret the dreams of the butler and the baker? Because he believed in himself. He believed that his abilities were G-d-given and that his struggles were part of a larger plan.
If there is one thing, we can learn from President Donald Trump is to be your own No. 1 fan, no matter if the world thinks of you as a lunatic. No matter what you are going through. Your struggles aren’t here to break you; they’re here to make you. This article is written, to strengthen just one belief. That the only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment.
To believe in yourself, in your values, in the strengths G-d gave you, isn’t arrogance; it’s faith. Faith that the challenges you face are part of your unique story. Faith that your talents, experiences, and struggles are all tools G-d gave you to fulfill your mission. From the pit of despair to the palace of Egypt, Yosef’s belief in G-d’s plan allowed him to rise above every challenge. It is all a question of focus. Focus on your mission, not your critics. Yosef’s brothers doubted him, Potiphar’s wife tried to destroy him, and no one trusted him that he was of moral character. Yet, Yosef stayed focused on his purpose. He knew he was meant to serve and protect. He knew how to build up people, as he supported the brothers from Bilha and Zilpah. He knew that G-d cared about him, and was with him, from the good smelling perfumes that the Yishmaelim who took him down to Egypt were carrying, not the usual tar that they transported. He knew that he had potential to lead, and that your potential isn’t dependent on others’ opinions; it’s dependent on your actions.
Many have difficulty in believing in themselves when faced with adversity. Sometimes we need others to believe in us, and that will help us be the person we are meant to be. Rachel, wife of R’ Akiva, believed in him, when no one else believed in him. All the Oral Torah, we have is in the merit of Rachel believing in R’ Akiva, whose students wrote all the Mishna, Tosefta, Midrash, Zohar, etc. Rachel did not just see Akiva the shepherd, that everyone else saw. She saw the pillar of the Torah Shbaal Peh, Oral Torah.
We have Reish Lakish, because R’ Yochanan believed in him. R’ Yochanan did not just see Reish Lakish as the head of bandits. He saw the one who had the strength to challenge him in learning, and become the pillar of challenging thought of the Talmud. Yosef, though, had no one to believe in him. All he had, was, that when his father heard his dreams, his father made a note of them. But Yosef knew, that your greatest breakthroughs come from your greatest breakdowns. The times when you’ve felt most alone, when you pushed your limits, are the times you grow the most.
What then, is holding us back from seeing our strengths, our talents? How did Yosef stick to his dream interpretations, stick to his good character, stick to believing in himself? He had a different approach to adversity in life than we do. Yosef went with the flow of life, not against it. Here is the mantra. Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. When you accept this, when you accept that life is not in our control, and everything that happens is part of making you the greatest you can become, that is when your strengths can come to light.
The Talmud tells us, in the story of R’ Eliezer Ben R’ Shimon, that he once insulted a man for his appearance. The man responded, ”Go tell the Craftsman who made me”. (Taanit 20 a-b) This lesson teaches us, that if you ever don’t believe in yourself, in the talents and skills and strengths G-d has given you, go tell the Craftsman who made you. G-d crafted you, and G-d is only good. Don’t let the thought, G-d has favorites, and I am not one of them, ever get into your head. Each and every person, is a portion of G-dחלק אלו-ק ממעל , and has tremendous strengths. If you don’t recognize this, it is because you don’t believe in G-d, or you don’t believe G-d is good to all, or you don’t believe that G-d knows what he is doing. Sometimes, we need to shift our thinking to see this truism.
In career coaching, we learn about helping people find their strengths and develop those strengths. When we’re faced with life’s crossroads, the temptation to choose the easiest path can be overwhelming. It feels safe, predictable, and familiar—like stepping into a family business because it’s “what’s always been done.” But is the easiest path always the best?
Stepping into the family business or following the easiest track in life might seem logical, but it often limits growth. Studies on family businesses reveal that while the first generation builds, the second often struggles to sustain, and the third may undo the legacy entirely. Why? Because true success is rooted in passion, talent, and a willingness to innovate—not just inheritance. But people get into the trap of familiarity. And then they get stuck there, for too long. As the saying goes, Family is easy to hire, and hard to fire. We choose the easier option, the one that is familiar. But the easy track can keep you locked in mediocrity, ignoring your unique strengths and the potential for something greater. This reminds me of the words of Warren Buffett. “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
Yosef stepped out of the family business. He never reached his father to tell him that he is okay, because he knew that if G-d was not telling Yaakov through Ruach Hakodesh, then Yaakov was intended to go through not knowing where Yosef was for all those years. This was a Kaparah for Yaakov not doing the Mitzvah of Kibbud Av Vaem, for the exact amount of years that Yosef was away from his own father. Yosef looked at life, that the way things are, are the way things are supposed to be. So why tell Abba?
When Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, he told them twice, “I am Yosef.” Why did he repeat himself? According to the Sfat Emet, Yosef wanted to reassure his brothers. They were overcome with guilt, thinking, “If Yosef is so great now, how much greater could he have been if we hadn’t sold him?” But Yosef countered this by saying, “No, I am Yosef because of what I’ve been through. The pit, the slavery, the false accusations—those aren’t detours from my greatness; they’re the reasons for it.”
The obstacle is the way. Teach this to your children and students, and show them that you believe in them no matter what. Many grow up disconnected from their true selves, unsure of their unique contributions to the world. This creates a cycle of frustration: we label people as “failing” or “not fitting in,” when the real issue is that we’ve forced a circular soul into a square system. As Sir Ken Robinson famously said, “We are educating people out of their creativity.” : Embrace the differences that make people stand out. One of my favorite quotes by Albert Einstein is, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”
Education systems and communities often operate like assembly lines, focusing on conformity rather than individuality. They prioritize the needs of the institution, the leaders, or the “status quo” over the unique voices and talents of the individuals within them. Education is not about filling a bucket but lighting a flame. Each person’s flame burns differently, and it’s the educator’s role to help ignite it.
Sometimes, the road less traveled, is less traveled for a reason. Pioneers get shot, while settlers survive. It is scary to be out there, in the wildness of innovation alone on your journey. But just because you are alone on your journey, alone on your road less traveled, it does not mean you are wrong. Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams, as long as you are connected with your strengths and talents. The reason why most people did not travel on your road, is either they did not have your strengths and talents, or they were afraid, or they were lazy,… but not because they failed. Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.
Imagine. Commit. Believe.
