Somebody believed in you before there was any proof. Keep that in the front of your wallet.

Belief that arrives after you succeed is easy to come by. Somebody backing you when there was nothing to point at was risking their own judgment, and they did it because of something they saw before you could. That kind of confidence is rare, and it does not renew automatically.

Name the person, actually name them, and hold on to that for the stretch where you doubt yourself. Tell them what their backing did, if you get the chance. Then do it for somebody who has no proof yet, now that you know what it costs and what it buys.