Trusting Myself is the Most Underrated Business Strategy

We’re constantly bombarded with advice on how to pitch, how to lead, how to grow, scale, pivot, exit.

One thing I’ve learned on this journey is no strategy matters if I don’t trust myself first.

Trusting my gut instinct made the difference between failure and success, and not trusting myself has backfired on me more times than I can count.

When I launched Parkdale Centre, and even now as I’m embarking on my journey with Canada Innovates, I constantly have to remind myself that I’m the most familiar with my business, and my work.

I’ve put more thought into it than anyone I’ll ever talk to about it, except my cofounder. This fact isn’t something that we remember often, because we’re always faced with ideas and people that will try to invalidate and discredit the work.

Here’s where it’s so important to trust myself. I learned that trusting myself doesn’t mean I have all the answers. It means knowing that I’ll work and find ways to figure them out.

It’s the difference of taking that meeting when I have imposter syndrome. It’s choosing to rest and prioritize my goals, when the world glorifies burnout.

It’s leading and standing by my values, even when strong forces go against it.

For many entrepreneurs, trusting yourself might be seen as a “soft skill” component and not necessarily “business sense”.

Trusting yourself though is everything from being a confident business owner, knowing what you want, making a decision when you need to, and understanding the difference between something you want and something you need to say no to.

There were many instances in my business journey when I felt like I wasn’t trusting my instinct, and I went against it because of external pressure.

Whether that’s a partnership I didn’t want to turn down, or a way to work and do things, I look back now, and I have a stronger conviction to be able to understand when I need to trust myself and make a decision according to that feeling. No explanation needed.

Perhaps, that is what having a good business sense means.

Trusting myself isn’t about ego or perfection, it’s about showing up, deciding to take a leap, try again when things don’t work out, and knowing that I am the best person to lead my vision forward.

How does trusting yourself show up in your daily life?