#27: the integrity to self-trust pipeline

Welcome to Part 3 of the Self-Trust Series.

In Part 1, we talked about what it looks and feels like to live life without a strong foundation of self-trust. We talked about self-abandonment and the sneaky ways it can show up in our lives.

In Part 2, we unpacked the truth that you cannot trust someone you do not know. Developing a strong sense of self – understanding your needs, core values, and boundaries – is the first step to creating an unshakable relationship with yourself.

This week, in Part 3, we’re diving into the actual trust-building process: how to cultivate self-trust through the integrity-to-self-trust pipeline.

Radical Self-Acceptance

Self-trust starts with radical self-acceptance. You cannot embody integrity if you are still denying or disowning parts of yourself.

Living in integrity means:

• Your thoughts align with your words.

• Your words align with your actions.

• Your actions reflect your core values.

Radical self-acceptance isn’t about making excuses for ourselves – it is about owning every single part of who we are. Integrity doesn’t require perfection, but it does require honesty and awareness.

When you stop hiding from yourself, you can finally stop abandoning yourself.

Quick check-in: Are there parts of yourself that you have not yet claimed?

The self-trust pipeline

Self-Acceptance → Integrity → Discipline → Self-Respect → Self-Trust

Once you’ve accepted yourself fully, the next step is aligning your behavior to your values.

This creates a natural pipeline:

1. Self-Acceptance – Owning every part of who you are.

2. Integrity – Saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

3. Discipline – Following through on the promises you make to yourself and to others, even when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable.

4. Self-Respect – The deep satisfaction of knowing that you show up for you and the people you love.

5. Self-Trust – Built over time, as evidence stacks up that you can rely on you.

There is a saying I love:

Easy decisions, hard life. Hard decisions, easy life. 

Every time you choose the hard-but-true path, you strengthen this pipeline.

The courage to be misunderstood

I opened this series with a passage from Emerson’s famous essay Self-Reliance, in which he contemplates what it means to truly “trust thyself.”

Another famous passage from the same essay goes as follows:

When you start honoring your Self, not everyone will understand. Some will question your choices and push back against your boundaries.

But here is the important truth: self-trust isn’t built on external approval. It’s built upon the knowing that you approve of your choices, even if no one else does.

Getting comfortable with being misunderstood is one of the bravest acts of self-reliance and a critical component of true self-trust. Remember: your actions do not have to make sense to everybody else – they only have to make sense to YOU.

Here’s a video I shared on one of the earliest lessons I received about true self-reliance:

Showing up for you

The mind-body connection is a powerful teacher here. Every time you prove to yourself you can do hard things — whether that’s showing up for a workout, having a difficult conversation, or following through on a commitment — you reinforce the message: 

I have my back.

This is what it means to put yourself on a pedestal, not from a place of arrogance, but from a place of respect, reverence and true self-reliance. You are worthy of your own loyalty.

This week, I got to host the first ever The Well Path x [solidcore] event at the Solidcore studio in Sunset Harbour.

During class, I spoke about the connection between the body and self-trust: how intuition is something you feel in your body, and how building physical strength is about so much more than aesthetics or even confidence. It’s about grounding into the truth of who you are and connecting with your body — the vessel through which you experience life and the seat of your inner knowing.

In addition to strengthening your mind-body connection, strength training is also the perfect training ground for self-trust. When you prove to yourself that you can do hard things physically, that truth naturally echoes into every other area of your life.

💭 Full episode & closing thoughts

ICYMI, watch/listen to this week’s episode:

Watch on Youtube:

Journal Prompts:

• Where in your life do your words not match your actions?

• Where in your life are you struggling to set and stick to a standard?

• Do you trust yourself to keep the commitments you to make to others?

• Do you trust yourself to keep the commitments you make to yourself?

That’s all for now. Thank you so much for being here.

Love, Brooke

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