Many people struggle with self doubt daily. I know that it is something that will hit me out of the blue and prevent me from giving my all. Self doubt can hold you back in many ways. It might prevent you from reaching your goals at work. Self doubt could even cause problems in your relationship. You might even have money problems all because of self doubt.
Before talking about ways to overcome self doubt it’s important to first understand exactly what self doubt is so that way you can overcome it. What is self doubt? Self doubt is not having enough confidence in yourself or in your abilities. The most confident person in the world could struggle with self doubt and you not even know it.
Did you know that child hood experiences can cause self doubt? Whenever a child is subject to a lot of criticism then self doubt can happen or whenever they receive mixed signals and messages from both the caretaker and parents then they might struggle with confidence plus even with purpose. Sometimes all they need is positive reinforcement to help with ensuring that self doubt does not happen but when that doesn’t occur then as they turn into adults they struggle with confidence and much more.
Sometimes self doubt can be linked to a variety of mental disorders such as dependent personality disorder, depression and anxiety disorder. Therapy can really help a person to overcome self doubt. However, while therapy is great you can start working on overcoming self doubt just by following these 10 Ways To Overcome Self Doubt.
10. Start facing your fears and climb your highest mountain
Fears can hold you back and prevent you to grow. When you struggle with fear then you’re creating a sense that you might not be able to overcome the challenge that you are faced with currently. Instead of focusing your energy on being afraid turn it around and start fighting it. If you’re afraid of flying then overcome your fear with doing it. Sometimes all it takes is just for you to try it once and then you can overcome the fear that you have and self doubt.
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9. Make goals that are specific and don’t talk about them to others
There are lots of people who make the mistake of talking about their plans and goals to others. This can cause a lot of problems. People can try and stop you from moving forward because they get jealous. They might not want to see you succeed and tell you hurtful things. Start making goals that are specific and give yourself some kind of direction in life but don’t tell anyone your goals.
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8. Start trusting your own values and gut feelings
Go with your gut feelings and know that often times your gut feeling is correct with something. When you start to doubt your gut feelings and own values then it can hold you back. If you have to make a fast decision then trust your gut feeling. Let’s say that the worst happens and your gut feeling ends up being wrong. Don’t let that hold you back in life. Learn from it and move on but still continue to trust your own values and gut feelings.
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7. Pump yourself up and know that you can do it
Start talking to yourself and say positive things to yourself. A lot of athletes talk to themselves because their performance improves. Staying positive and knowing that you can do whatever comes your way really knocks out self doubt. Start picturing yourself becoming successful at all things in life and overcoming everything that comes your way.
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6. Clear your mind and meditate
It’s important to take time out during a busy day and relax or meditate. Clearing your mind can help you to reenergize and make you feel better. A cluttered mind can cause exhaustion and self doubt. Listen to calming music and picture beautiful images in your mind that might help you to relax better. Picture the ocean or picture whatever calms you down and takes away your self-doubt .
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5. Back away and find a distraction
There are times when we become so focused on something that it starts causing us problems. Do you remember being in school and working hard to solve that math problem? You would spend hours on it. Nothing happened. Suddenly you take a break and talk with your friends. You come back and then within minutes you solved the math problem. I find that when I take breaks and come back it always helps me. So, go ahead and hang out with your group of friends and come back when you feel refreshed.
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4. You don’t always need validation from other people
I will admit that sometimes getting advice is nice and can be helpful. However, other times it isn’t helpful and ends up being harmful. Getting advice from others often can cause your faith in yourself to weaken and stir up self doubt. Let’s say you are working on a business presentation for work. You decide to see what other people think about it and ask a couple of friends. Both friends give you completely different feedback and cause confusion. You stop working on what you had in mind and go towards what makes them happy and in the end, the presentation is completely different from what you had in mind and ends up being a failure. The reason why is because you lost your voice. This doesn’t mean that you should drown out all advice. What it means is that you go with your gut feeling and take on the advice that feels good and right.
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3. Start showing yourself self compassion
Don’t always be so hard on yourself. You might find it easy to show compassion to other people and have a hard time showing compassion to yourself. Be kind to yourself. It will help you with having more of a positive outlook in life and reduce anxiety. If something ends up not going right, try your best to keep all of the emotions you have balanced. If you are suffering, notice it. Do not become cold towards yourself. Imperfection makes us stronger in life and none of us and none of us are perfect. Learn from what happened and let go and be kind to yourself and don’t keep on giving yourself a hard time about it.
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2. Stop trying to make excuses for yourself
When we’re plagued with self doubt sometimes you might find yourself trying to make an excuse to get out of a situation because of it. You might be afraid of looking bad to others or might just be scared of failing completely and start making excuses to not do it. Stop those excuses right now and start moving on towards what needs to be done. You will feel much better about yourself.
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1. Question the doubt that you have
Having self doubt can be so harmful and before you know it you can develop a pattern in your life that will cause you to fail time and time again. Evaluate all of the self doubts that you are having in life. Maybe you’re overreacting to something or perhaps just not being realistic. Write down your feelings and review them. Take the time out to reflect on what is causing yourself doubt and again, clear your mind. Reprogram yourself to becoming positive about everything that happens to you in life and you will start to feel much better about yourself and gain the confidence you need to do it.
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Conclusion
Always make sure that you hang out with people who are positive and encourage you in life. Once you start to think positive about whatever is happening in your life you will be amazed at how things change for the better. Just know that you can do it!