Everyone wrestles with self-doubt once in a while, even successful business owners & celebrities. A little amount of self-doubt is not only normal, but it’s healthy. It is absolutely normal to experience feelings of doubt when we are faced with challenging situations. Self-doubt is characterized by doubt regarding one or more aspects of the self. It is something we all may experience at some point in our lives. However, we may require more techniques to overcome self-doubt when it becomes incapacitating. In today’s article, we will discuss How to Overcome Self-Doubt.
Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt
1. Reflect On Opportunities
Self-doubt can frequently make us diminish a situation to fit our emotional state. We may be afraid to fail, look bad, or take on more than we think we can manage. We become experts at making excuses for why that opportunity is not a good choice.
The main culprit is our chattering brain, which, if we let it so much as a second, will start making excuses, alibis, obvious self-justifications, & a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we must do.
Think back on the chances you turned down. What reasons did you offer yourself? Were these genuine reasons or just excuses? Excuses are mental blockades we erect that hold us back.
2. Practice Self-Compassion
One of the best Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt is to practice self-compassion. If self-doubt is stopping you from taking a leap with your career or in another area of your life, it helps to remember that we are all human. We all make faults along the way & it is normal to do so.
When we doubt our capabilities, it’s frequent because we don’t want to make any room for errors. However, mistakes are also a way to learn & grow. We can alleviate self-doubt & fear of failure by practicing showing kindness to ourselves, no matter the situation or outcome.
3. Raise Your Self-Awareness
Self-awareness can be one of the most potent personal development tools. Utilize it by understanding the root causes of your self-doubt. What precise situations trigger sparks of self-doubt? If it is a lack of skill in some area, be determined to do something about it.
For example, it may be a fear of delivering a presentation or making cold calls. Just remember, anything can be learned. Go out & get the training you need, or get a mentor to help you.
4. Remember Your Past Accomplishments
Remember when you may have been afraid to do something in school, college or work, but it ended up going really well? It helps to reflect on tangible accomplishments where something difficult for us turned into something great. A lot of achievements are born out of primary ambiguity or doubt. It really helps to remind ourselves about the things we did right, as the same thing could happen in the current moment.
On the contrary, it is advisable not to focus too much on the past or past failures we have had. The present moment presents a new opportunity to do well, even if things don’t go right on the first try.
5. Think for Yourself
Looking for others’ input & advice can be useful. However, if you constantly ask others about their opinions before making decisions, you might be deteriorating your faith in yourself.
For example, suppose you are working on a presentation, setting up a website, or managing a new project, & you continue to change it based on the feedback of others. In that case, you may end up losing your voice & the end product can become a thinned version of your vision. It is wise to consider some advice, but finally, make the decision that feels right for you.
6. Trust Your Values
In the book, Disrupt! Think Epic! Be Epic!, author Bill Jensen describes the 25 successful habits of 100 modern heroes: people who found ways to cut through the intricacy of today’s fast-paced, ever-changing situations to do extraordinary things.
The characteristic driving the majority of these 100 entrepreneurs is “trusting your guts & values.” More & more, we are implored to make quick decisions with very little information & time. When you know what you stand for & what’s significant to you, it becomes easier to make decisions that line up with your values. Self-doubt can weaken our capacity to make vital decisions but knowing yourself & living your values is one of the best Ways to Overcome Self-Doubt.
7. Do Not Compare Yourself to Others
They say that comparison is the robber of joy. This saying seems true in many ways. It can be an undermining feeling if you are experiencing self-doubt because you are afraid you won’t achieve something at the same level as someone else. Everyone’s journey, experience & ideas of success are different.
What we can control & concentrate on is our path & where we want to take it, apart from where other people are or what they have done. If you compare a rhinoceros to a dolphin by the ability to swim, that is not fair at all.
8. Make Your Mission Bigger Than Your Fear
Why would you bother to speak up & risk upsetting a calm situation or being rejected? Why would you place your reputation at stake? Why would you think to take a chance on that dream? When you are clear about your big ‘Why,’ you can find the guts needed to step through your doubts & risk failing.
You need to be capable of finding a clear & convincing answer to the question, “For what am I willing to be brave?” Doing so will help visualize why you must take action irrespective of your doubts, recognizing that if you let them win, you will face the more significant risk of one day looking back & wondering, ‘What if I’d tried?’ Allowing self-doubt to sit in the driver’s seat is a definite recipe for regret & antipathy.
9. Find Validation from Within
While it’s excellent to feel reassured by others that we are doing a good job or are competent in accomplishing a difficult task, it is equally significant to have faith in ourselves.
Continuous reassurance from others doesn’t mean much if we still don’t believe in ourselves. Even if we are not confident about where we are, it is good to practice acceptance of our strengths & all that we have to offer.
Conclusion
Self-doubt is one part & parcel of the human experience, as it must be. We can see that too little, or too much self-doubt can be dangerous. Yet left unchecked, the dread that fuels our doubt can drive us to be over vigilant & keep us from taking the same actions that would help us.
Far too many competent & talented people are selling themselves short because they fear they don’t have what it takes to be successful. Doubt becomes triumphant. Actions go meaningless. We can learn How to Overcome Self-Doubt & apply it in our lives.
