It’s a painful truth that we all have to face: self-doubt never goes away. Sometimes it can seem like a shadow, always hovering in the background of our minds, ready to rear its ugly head at any moment. Other times, it feels like an active force within us, destroying our capacity to move forward confidently and successfully. But no matter how big or tiny your own self-doubt is, there are always methods to overcome it—and those solutions start with admitting the problem. From there you can get down to tackling the issues making self doubt less of a factor in your world.
6 Steps to Overcoming Self doubt
Acknowledge your feelings
- Acknowledge your feelings.
- Don’t be afraid of them.
- Do not criticize them or yourself for having them.
- Don’t try to ignore them, push them away, or make them go away by rationalizing them away (e.g., “I am not feeling self doubt!”).
- Don’t give in to the temptation to rationalize yourself out of the situation (e.g., “I am a fraud and I don’t deserve this opportunity”).
Talk back to your self doubts
When you’re facing challenges, it’s normal to doubt yourself. In reality, self doubt is a natural aspect of the human experience. Even if you are an expert in your field, there will always be areas where your skills are deficient or your experience is insufficient. Self doubt can help make sure that when we try something new, we know how much effort and time we need to put into it before taking on something bigger and more challenging.
Self doubt is not a sign of weakness or incompetence; it is a sign of intelligence! People who don’t have self doubt tend not to challenge themselves as much as those who do because they lack the openness to new ideas and ways of thinking about things (i.e., feedback).
Take action, even if you don’t feel ready
Despite conducting extensive study and knowing the necessary steps, you may still feel unprepared. You may even be unsure where to begin. That’s okay! Jump in and do something, even if it’s not ideal. The most essential thing is to take action and keep moving forward.
Here are some tips for getting started:
- Take one small step at a time—and then another step after that! Don’t try to think of everything at once or everything will feel overwhelming. Simply take one modest step toward your objective every day (or even an hour) until it becomes second nature to do that work on a regular basis.
- Ask questions if anything feels unclear or confusing along the way so your self doubt doesn’t creep back up again later down the line when things get more difficult for Whatever the reason (for example, lack of experience).
- Communicate with people who understand where they’re coming from too—this will help reduce feelings of isolation or depression-related issues down the road when feelings like these inevitably arise anyway due as part of normal human experience over time!”
Reinforce positive thoughts about yourself
There are several ways you can do this. For example, when you think about yourself, remember how resilient and resourceful you’ve been in the past. When someone offers help, make sure to express your gratitude. In addition to recognizing all of the good things in your life, it’s also important to keep an eye on what could go right tomorrow: focus on possible solutions instead of problems. It is not as difficult as you may believe to shift your mindset to one of optimism. It just takes practice and awareness.
If a friend has a problem with another person or thing (like a difficult boss or an unreliable car), try offering solutions or options that have worked well for others in similar situations. Finally, take time every day to focus on the positive aspects that surround us—the sun shining through trees as we walk down our street; rainfall falling as they drip off leaves onto the sidewalk; the cuisine we like eating with friends over dinner—and remind ourselves that these moments do not last forever (but they are important).
Write yourself a letter of recommendation
Write yourself a letter of recommendation. This is an exercise in which you write about yourself from a different perspective: mentor, friend, family member, or even stranger. Consider what they might say about your strengths and limitations, talents, and development opportunities.
Try to picture how they will react to your resume/CV or application form. You might also send this letter to your future self (what do you hope to accomplish in the following five years?) or your prior self (how did you feel when you first started?). Finally, try writing this letter from your point of view, drawing on all of your experience and knowledge.
Remind yourself that you can do it
Remind yourself that you can do it. You’ve faced many problems before, and you’ll be able to overcome this one as well. You are capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to, so don’t underestimate your abilities to tackle this problem!
No matter how you approach it, acknowledging and facing your self doubt is always the first step to overcoming it
Recognize your sensations. Recognize your feelings of self doubt and do not be scared to admit them. If you can get over the initial agony of realizing this, I promise it will help you conquer your self doubt.
Face your fears straight on. After you’ve acknowledged them, here’s the next step: confront them! Do not let fear prevent you from doing anything else in life; instead, take action regardless of how uneasy or afraid you feel at first—they are just temporary. Getting over them could turn out to be one of the nicest things ever, if only because it involves facing something terrifying but ultimately worthwhile for things to go easily (and even better) further down the road:)
Wrapping up
As you can see, there are numerous approaches to overcoming self doubt. The important thing is to acknowledge it and take action, even if that action is just talking back to your self-doubts. Even if your first step is acknowledging that you have some negative thoughts about yourself, then it’s a start. It’s an important first step toward facing your fears and reaching new heights in life.
Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!
