3 Steps to Overcome Self-Doubt

Let’s talk about self-doubt.  UGH. I envision self-doubt looking like a grumpy little troll that gets crumbs in his beard when he eats and farts a lot. I know...gross.  This is EXACTLY how I feel when self-doubt creeps into my head, GROSS!

We often allow this little troll to tell us if we can cross the bridge or not. Maybe on the other side of that bridge is an amazing new habit, a new job or a life change! But we stop at the sight of this scary, hairy (throwing hairy into the description) troll and we never move forward.  

OH HECK NO!

Self doubt sounds like:

“Who am I to be doing this?”

“I’ve tried this before and it didn’t work, what is different now?”

“Why would anyone want to be with me?”

“Why would I get hired for that job?”

“I don’t have the skills to do that”

Should I continue?  

I KNOW this sounds familiar to you because...we’re human. And self-doubt is part of the life game.

Our brains keep us safe. True story. This is why we have the primal response of fight or flight. On the flip side of that, in our modern day society, our brain doesn’t realize that we no longer have to run away from dinosaurs. SO, it thinks a “change” is life or death regardless of how big or small it is.

What does that mean?  When you set out to do something different, your brain will do everything in its power to keep you safe, which means...not changing.

YOU: “I want to start eating better”

BRAIN: “Broccoli? Hard nope”

YOU: “I need to start spending less”

BRAIN: “Sounds shady...nope.”

YOU: “I want to start working out 3 times a week”

BRAIN: “Hmmm...sounds dangerous. Nope.”

You getting that?

So what do we do??

We have to push back and that means, we have to reframe our thoughts. 

When you find yourself battling with self-doubt, try these 3 steps to kick that troll to the curb.

STEP #1: Name the self doubt

And by name I mean say out loud what that self-doubt is really saying. For most of us, it’s going to point towards the fear of failure (Read here how that’s also stopping you from creating a budget).

STEP #2: List 5 reasons why it isn’t true

You’ve made up (keyword: MADE UP) reasons why you will fail. TRUTH! This is true because it hasn’t happened so instead of thinking of how you will fail, think of how you will succeed.  Most of us do not have any hard proof of failure, we only have proof of why we should be doing it.

STEP #3:  Name the worst that could happen

There is something about saying the worst scenario out loud that takes the edge off.

Self-doubt...that troll is gonna live for years and years, but that doesn’t mean you have to allow him to stop you from making progress in your life.  If anything, he helps us reaffirm WHY we need to move forward.

Do you want to cross the bridge to amazing new things or hang out with a grumpy, troll who farts?

Livin’ & Lovin! 

B

P.S. What self-doubt are you struggling with today? Tell me in the comments.