What is Self-doubt?

Everyone struggles with self-doubt at some point, even the most successful people.

Self-doubt means not having enough confidence in yourself.

It usually shows up in different aspects of your life like in your academics, your career, your pursuit of a goal, your relationships with people and yourself, the way you see and address yourself, your health, and so on.

How do you know you're experiencing Self-doubt?

Self-doubt can be experienced in form of :

♦Procrastination or lack of motivation.

♦Low self-esteem.

♦Emotional Instability.

♦Anxiety.

♦Depression.

♦Difficulty in making decisions.

It could also be reflected in statements you make such as

♦There's no need for me to try that, He/she is going to beat me at it.

♦He/she is way better than I am.

♦This is really difficult, I'll pass.

♦That looks way better on you than it could ever look on me.

One of the aspects of my life where I experience so much self-doubt is in putting out my work. I usually write articles and blog posts that I know are helpful and relatable.

I like the feeling of being able to help people through what I do, I like the feeling of my creative juices flowing and I am happy whenever I get to pen some good stuff down.

I sit in this good feeling for a while and start to publish my work. I go halfway and then that feeling fades. I might then decide to take a look at other people's work to probably find inspiration to continue (which by the way isn't a good technique at all) and then I see how good and really clever their work is and now I'm discouraged to even continue mine.

Rather than finding the inspiration I wanted, I end up comparing my work to theirs and I start to mentally beat myself up about the fact that I don't think I'm progressing and I don't know if I'll ever get to where they are.

I get sad and hesitate on putting my work out there. I try to make it better and if I can't find the tools to do so at the moment, I procrastinate. This goes on for about a week or more and I get tired of trying so I shut down and give up.

I have come to realize that procrastination is actually perfectionism in disguise.

Self-doubt makes you feel like there's always something that you aren't doing right, and in turn, continuously makes you question yourself.

What causes Self-doubt in a person?

It may stem from previous negative experiences or attachment style issues.

Sometimes, it could also gradually develop in a person who is often criticized about the decisions they make concerning themselves.

Self-doubt is also a trait that could be implanted in an individual who is frequently looked down on or bullied.

These actions result in Imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome feeds off these negative thoughts implanted in your head that tell you that you aren't worthy of the place you are or that you won't produce good work.

Roy T. Bennett once said, "Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.

Believe in yourself, your abilities and your potential. Never let self-doubt hold you captive. You are worthy of all that you dream of and hope for."

How can you overcome Self-doubt and Inculcate Self-Confidence?

Self-doubt is linked to poor or no knowledge of a person's self-worth and value.

These are some ways to do away with these feelings of unworthiness and become more confident in yourself and your abilities.

♦Be kind to yourself: The earlier you realize that you are your own harshest critics, the better for you. You tend to criticize yourself, your thoughts and your actions more than any other person does.

Practising self-compassion is key.

When you doubt your abilities, it's often because you don't make any room for your mistakes.

♦Learn to celebrate yourself: Celebrating your small and big wins subconsciously boosts our morale to do more. We should be able to remember our achievements and be proud of how far we've come even if we don't feel fully fulfilled.

♦Think positively: Disciplining ourselves to have a positive mindset isn't so easy but is really important. We should learn to not focus on our past failures but rather extract the lessons from them and move on.

When we set out to achieve a thing, sometimes we get scared especially if it's not producing results as we desire from the onset but it's important to understand that progress is not always speedy at the beginning. This helps us develop patience and staying power.

♦Avoid Comparison: Comparison is the thief of Joy. Joy is important to anyone who's going to be productive. When we are sad or bitter on the inside, we feel stuck and our creative juices rarely flow. This in turn increases our self-doubt as we are not making any progress towards what we set out to accomplish.

♦Keep a good circle of friends: Surrounding ourselves with like-minded, helpful and supportive people is important. In those moments when we are down, discouraged and unable to push ourselves forward…they provide the energy, strength and atmosphere for us to keep pushing.

♦Develop an attitude of Gratitude: This means intentionally being thankful for the progresses we make no matter how small they look.

Finding adventure in the small things and being happy about them.

This attitude helps us to not undermine the value of things and in turn the value of ourselves.

You could start by keeping a gratitude journal where you write down the little things that you're grateful for.

♦Find Validation within yourself: While it's okay to accept compliments and gratification from others, if we don't believe in ourselves…it's never going to be enough.

We have to build that confidence and validation from the circle.

♦Rest: Prioritise resting. We are usually not able to unlock our creative outlets under immense pressure

Being busy always doesn't show that we are equally productive. We need rest for our creative juices to flow.

It's okay to be human and it's okay to slow down sometimes, you don't always have to be on the go.

You've lived with Self-doubt for too long, from now on, IT'S DANG!! I GET TO BE ME.

KNOW YOURSELF, KNOW YOUR WORTH AND KNOW YOUR VALUE!!