The Voices Behind The Power Of Self- Belief: Book 46 in The A Journey Of Riches Series

A Journey of Riches is a global book series and collaborative project founded by John R. Spender, featuring real-life inspirational stories from more than 450 co-authors across 50 countries.

A book about self-belief could easily become a collection of advice. The Power of Self-Belief, the newly published Book 46 in the A Journey of Riches series, takes a more personal route. Its 15 contributors do not simply explain why people should believe in themselves. Instead, they share the moments when belief was difficult, uncertain, or tested by circumstances they could not control.

The result is a collection of personal experiences shaped by doubt, fear, identity, survival, intuition, leadership, motherhood, health, and change. Among the contributors are David Ostrand, Susan Clawson, Ronald Davis, Marie Crawford, Dr. Amanda Fernandez, Tracy May, Dr. Tania Ash, Sophie Breslin, Stuart Kerslake, Tracy Webster, Jamie Quisumbing, Amar Khanderia, Shawnalee McDonough, and Samantha Calvani. Their chapters approach self-belief from distinct perspectives, giving each contributor an identifiable role within the book's broader exploration of courage, resilience, and transformation.

Rather than offering one definition of self-belief, the contributors reveal how it can emerge through very different circumstances. Sometimes it begins with questioning the voice inside your head. Sometimes it means choosing yourself, confronting fear, listening to your body, or taking action before certainty arrives.

When The Noise Becomes Too Loud

David Ostrand contributes Listen for the Sound and Ignore the Static, a chapter examining how doubt, fear, outside opinions, expectations, and the inner critic can interfere with self-trust. Using the idea of “static,” Ostrand explores the challenge of distinguishing external noise from one's own inner voice and reclaiming a clearer sense of personal direction.

For Ostrand, developing self-belief involves learning to distinguish that noise from one's inner sound. The shift involves becoming more confident, reclaiming ownership of personal direction, and recognizing that the voice worth listening to may sometimes be quieter than everything around it.

Susan Clawson contributes What Self-Belief Taught Me, approaching the subject through her experience as a single mother navigating difficult circumstances involving her daughter. Her chapter considers how self-belief can involve pausing, reassessing, adapting, and continuing forward even when there is no obvious answer or predetermined path.

Ronald Davis contributes Being Okay With Myself: A Personal Reflection On Self-Belief. Drawing on his perspective as a counsellor, life coach, and counselling tutor, Davis turns his own initial uncertainty about contributing to the book into part of the chapter's subject. His reflection examines the inner critic, feelings of being an impostor, and the possibility of developing self-belief without first eliminating every doubt.

Choosing Yourself When The Path Is Unclear

Marie Crawford contributes Belief: Within, a perspective rooted in confronting fear through action. Tracing her relationship with self-belief back to her teenage fear of public speaking, her story follows how leadership opportunities and difficult personal circumstances gradually challenged that fear. Her contribution explores the idea that confidence can develop through taking opportunities and acting despite uncertainty.

Dr. Amanda Fernandez contributes Waypoints of Belief: Navigating the Gap Between Who You Are and Who You Need to Be, bringing crisis, motherhood, identity, and unexpected life decisions into the book's exploration of self-belief. Her chapter explores the possibility that belief does not always precede a major decision. Sometimes, choosing a direction while the outcome remains uncertain becomes an expression of self-belief itself.

Tracy May contributes You Always Had The Power, My Dear, examining the influence of other people's opinions and expectations on self-perception. Through themes of appearance, self-worth, external approval, and personal transformation, May's chapter explores the movement from seeking validation from others toward developing greater internal acceptance.

Dr. Tania Ash contributes Doctor, Heal Thyself, drawing together her lifelong health experiences and career in medicine. Her chapter challenges the assumption that self-belief must always mean pushing harder. Instead, her contribution considers regulation, listening to the body's signals, rest, boundaries, and trusting one's own experience as different expressions of self-belief.

Sophie Breslin contributes The Moment She Chose Herself, a chapter centered on trusting her instincts and pursuing possibilities capable of changing the direction of her life. Leadership, motherhood, career, and acting without certainty intersect in her contribution, which frames choosing herself as a defining expression of personal courage.

Looking Beneath The Surface Of Self-belief

Stuart Kerslake contributes one of the collection's more philosophical perspectives through Which Self Do You Believe In? Rather than limiting self-belief to confidence in personality, skills, or achievements, his chapter examines different understandings of the self and moves the discussion toward intuition, inspiration, and a deeper sense of Self.

Tracy Webster contributes Emergenesis: Self-Belief From The Inside Out, using the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly as a metaphor for personal change. Her chapter considers the possibility that transformation does not always require becoming someone entirely new, but can instead involve recognizing potential that already exists beneath fear, anxiety, and doubt.

Jamie Quisumbing contributes From Survival to Self-Belief, examining how control, resentment, and self-protection can develop in response to difficult experiences. Her chapter considers how patterns that once served a protective purpose can later complicate trust and openness, framing self-belief as part of a movement from survival toward greater self-trust and internal safety.

Shawnalee McDonough contributes Yoni Steams to Burpees, exploring how childhood experiences, judgment, trauma, and negative self-talk influenced the way she viewed herself. Her chapter centers on the decision to stop waiting until she felt ready and begin showing up for herself, presenting self-belief as a choice that can precede confidence or external approval.

Trusting Yourself Before You Have All The Answers

Amar Khanderia contributes Self Doubt to Self-Belief on the Mountainside, exploring the relationship between uncertainty and action. His decision to begin The Journey Home while he was still finding his way becomes part of a broader reflection on how taking action before certainty arrives can contribute to greater belief in oneself.

Samantha Calvani contributes Whispers of the Universe, bringing intuition and inner guidance into the collection's discussion of self-belief. Her chapter traces a connection with the unseen world beginning in childhood and considers how loss, misunderstanding, and uncertainty affected her ability to trust that inner knowing. Her contribution ultimately presents intuition as another way self-belief can take shape.

Together, the contributors give The Power of Self-Belief its range. Ostrand examines the challenge of separating one's own voice from surrounding noise. Clawson considers adaptation through motherhood and difficult circumstances. Davis addresses the inner critic and self-doubt. Crawford explores confidence through action, while Fernandez examines identity and decision-making during uncertainty. May considers external validation and self-worth, Ash brings attention to health, boundaries, and listening to the body, and Breslin explores the courage to choose oneself. Kerslake approaches self-belief philosophically, Webster through transformation, Quisumbing through survival patterns, McDonough through the decision to show up for herself, Khanderia through action despite uncertainty, and Calvani through intuition and inner guidance.

Taken together, these contributions show why the book does not settle on one definition of self-belief. Across the chapters, it can involve listening to the body, separating one's own voice from outside noise, confronting fear, questioning old survival patterns, trusting intuition, or acting before confidence arrives. The differences among the contributors are therefore central to the collection, allowing self-belief to be examined through multiple lived experiences rather than a single prescribed formula.

A Book Built From Real Turning Points

The Power of self-belief, Book 46 in the A Journey of Riches series, was published by Abundant Publishing in 2026. Its 15 contributors explore self-belief through experiences involving health, family, identity, leadership, survival, intuition, and personal change.

Their stories do not offer one simple formula. Instead, they show how self-belief can grow through uncertainty, fear, loss, difficult decisions, and the choice to trust your voice.

For readers facing change or questioning what comes next, the book offers something relatable: fifteen real perspectives on learning to trust yourself and take the next step.

Discover The Stories Behind The Book

The Power of Self-belief invites readers to experience self-belief through the lived experiences of its contributors rather than through a single prescribed formula. To explore Book 46 in the A Journey of Riches series, discover its authors, and learn more about the wider project, visit A Journey of Riches and explore the book through its published listings.