What You Can Do About Self Doubt Right Now

I look at self-doubt as a habit. 

A subconscious cycle of thoughts and questions that can come to have a tight grip on our individual realities. 

Self-doubt will have you questioning yourself, questioning your ability and questioning your worth. 

It will cause you to have thoughts such as:

• It’s too much for me to handle right now.

• What if I fail? I can’t handle another failure.

• I don’t have the qualifications and knowledge to do such a thing.

Self doubt will easily have you deciding against whatever it is that you really want to do. The problem is, there is a guarantee in listening to your self doubt.

That guarantee is disappointment. 

I know we’ve all probably heard it - self doubt often originates somewhere in our childhood. And yes, sure. That is honestly probably true.

I just don’t care. 

To be honest, I’m more concerned with the now. I’m more focused on how we move forward. 

If you struggle with holding yourself back because of self-doubt, then I have a few pointers for you.

Embrace it.  Yep, embrace the self-doubt. When we ignore how we are feeling, we deny ourselves the ability to feel. Just say ‘hi’ to it and let it feel acknowledged. 

Use it as your guide. Self doubt can be a sign that points you to what you need to do. Self doubt is so often paired with fear, and I truly believe fear is just telling us which way to go.

Question the validity of what you’re telling yourself. I mean, is what your brain telling you even true? Do you have proof? Supporting facts? If not, thank those thoughts for their time and keep it moving. 

Create a rebuttal thought. Whenever you start to tell yourself that you can’t do something or that you (insert whatever put down you say most often), try saying something to the opposite. For example, if I tell myself “oh my gosh, why did I say ‘yes’ to that, I don't have the skills for that”, I flip it and say “Um. Excuse me? Yes TF you CAN do this. Just start. Do it. Now. Just do it.” And then I do the thing. Do the thing.

Remember why you’re even pushing yourself. What is it you're trying to achieve? Who are you trying to be? What kind of life are you writing for yourself. When self doubt creeps up, remember what you’re going for. Let that be bigger than any doubt you have.

Look at your close circle. What are they doing? Who are they? What do they care about? How does that align with what you want? You can’t get to where you’re going if you have people around you pulling you down.

List your accomplishments. Keep them as a reminder when you need the self esteem boost. List them all. Big. Small. Medium. Every win matters.

Grace. Gratitude. In order to change your perspective and move towards the life you want to live, you’re going to have to lead with grace and gratitude. Start your day with gratitude. Give yourself grace at all times in all ways.

And also. Just do. Smash your excuses and see what happens.

You’ve got this.