Challenge Your Self-doubt

Once you’ve decided to work on your important goal, it’s normal for self-doubt to plague you along the way. If you want to make progress, you need to challenge your self-doubt. It’s helpful to notice the ‘when, what and why’ around your self-limiting thoughts. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to move forward despite any doubts.

Observe when you’re doubting yourself.

What are the signs that you’re doubting yourself? Are you allowing yourself to be distracted from focusing on your goal? Are you hesitating? Do you feel a nervous sensation in your body when you’re about to take action towards your goal? Pause for a moment to observe when you’re doubting yourself.

Notice what messages you’re telling yourself.

What is your self-doubt saying? Is it that you’re afraid of failure? Afraid of rejection? Are you making negative assumptions about your likelihood of success? As author and psychologist Dr. Leon F. Seltzer writes, we need to become aware of our overly critical inner voice so that we can start contesting it.

Question why you’re doubting yourself.

Are you hanging on to messages you received in your past around doubting your abilities? Loosen the grip this thinking has on you by not accepting it as truth. Challenge it with a “Says who?” or “How do I know that’s true?” to shake you out of automatically believing these negative thoughts.

Be ready to learn and explore.

Can you adopt an attitude of “no matter what happens, it will be a valuable learning experience for me”? If you view taking steps towards your goal as an exploration, this will relieve some of your self-imposed pressure. Having a few missteps along the way provides you with valuable learning opportunities. While experiencing immediate success is lucky, it doesn’t aid in your growth or self-development. Be flexible about outcomes of your efforts. This will build your ‘keep on trying’ stamina that will help you achieve goals beyond what you thought possible.

Your fears don’t go away once you start working on your goals. Instead, as you continue to take action despite your doubts, new doubts might creep into your head. Don’t dismay; it’s simply a sign that you’re expanding your comfort zone and reaching even greater heights.

Are you ready to put aside your doubt and start exploring?

Image by kieferpix (iStock)

PS: For a helpful list of questions that you can use to challenge your self-doubt, subscribe to the Face Your Fears blog and you’ll receive a link to this handy tool!