When Self-Doubt Rules the Show
When was the last time you experienced self-doubt? My hope for you is that it was recently. Self-doubt is a natural response to stepping out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself beyond where you currently are. And although self-doubt feels like a recoiling, it is a marker of growth, evidence that you are pushing forward toward your goals.
Unfortunately, some people don't see self-doubt in that way. They think their doubt must be true. They think it's their intuitive knowing of their limitations and what they're capable of. They use doubt as an excuse to hold themselves back from trying for fear of failure.
It sometimes happens that women go out of their way to book and confirm discovery calls with me only to be a no-show at our scheduled time. Maybe they binged the night before, maybe they scanned their recent past and saw all the times that they didn't follow through on promises to themselves, maybe when push came to shove they decided they didn't believe in themselves enough to bet on their own success and so resigned themselves to their struggles for a while longer. Regardless of the details, the commonality is self-doubt (n.): lack of confidence in the reliability of one's own motives, personality, thought, etc.
But let me tell you. No one starts out how they end up. The person you are now is not the person who will accomplish what you want to accomplish. You become that person on the way. Each new step in the direction of your goal creates a new you who is better prepared and more qualified to take the step that follows. But to initiate this climb, you must courageously push past self-doubt and make a commitment to your own growth.
Self-doubt is a temporary state that can occupy a disproportionate amount of time in a person's life when one indulges in it. But indulging in it simply delays the inevitable because your goals and dreams will never give up on you. Every time you push your dreams away for fear or failure or lack of ability, you're simply buying time at a high cost.
When self-doubt rules the show it robs you of your opportunity to evolve into the you who knows your power. When self-doubt rules the show it creates a painful stagnancy that perpetuates more self-doubt. It's in your brave and bold action where you'll prove self-doubt wrong. It's in standing up to the fear and facing the discomfort where you'll uncover your own power.
Doubting your ability to grow and evolve and overcome struggles is contradictory to the basic laws of nature. Growth is your birthright. Claim it. And stop letting self-doubt rule the show.