How to Overcome Self-Doubt

At the moment you are struggling with self-doubt because you feel uncertain about something. You might for instance have a goal that you would like to achieve, but the road to accomplishing that goal is somewhat challenging and unknown. This of course creates uncertainty and makes you question whether or not you are capable of moving forward. To overcome self-doubt you need to first get very clear about what exactly it is you are feeling uncertain about. Begin by identifying the goal you would like to achieve, and then describe what uncertainties exist along that path.

It’s time now to step back and take a moment to look at things objectively. Within the previous step you listed down all the things you are uncertain about with regard to achieving your goal. Go over each item on this list and assess why you are feeling uncertain. What exactly is making you doubt yourself in each situation? Now take a moment to question whether it makes any sense to feel uncertain about each of these things. It can of course be helpful here to look for evidence that contradicts your initial interpretations of the situation. You may very well be making assumptions that are leading you astray.

In order to overcome self-doubt you need to strengthen your self-confidence. With a greater level of self-confidence you will develop more self-belief to get things done. One of the best ways to inspire confidence is of course to recollect prior accomplishments. Specifically recollect moments in your life where you struggled with self-doubt, but eventually managed to pull through in the end and accomplish your goal. Recollect what you were initially uncertain about and how this made you feel. Then identify what exactly happened that inspired more certainty and confidence in your ability to get things done.

Clarity is one of the key ingredients needed to help you overcome self-doubt. When you have clarity you also have more certainly, and therefore are less likely to struggle with self-doubt. However, in order to gain this valuable clarity, you will need to take into account what might be required to help you become more certain. Consider for instance the knowledge, skills, support, experience and the resources that could be useful for accomplishing your goal. Specifically, address each point of uncertainty along your journey and figure out what might be needed to help you feel more confident about yourself in each instance.

Having gained a greater level of certainty, you should now feel somewhat more confident in your ability to start working toward your goal. With this in mind, it’s time to draw up your plan of action. This is of course an outline of exactly what you will do, and how you will go about doing those things in the pursuit of your goal. This plan does however need to take into account the possible obstacles you might face along the way. You need to figure out how you can minimize the uncertainty that these obstacles bring. Furthermore, outline how you could potentially turn these obstacles into opportunities to help you move forward in a better way.

The final ingredient you need to help you overcome self-doubt comes in the form of a big compelling reason. This effectively means generating enough motivation to help propel you forward toward you goal. Things are of course less uncertain now than they were. But some level of uncertainty will still exist. The one thing that will drive you forward through this uncertainty is a compelling reason for moving forward. Take a moment to list down all the things you stand to gain by achieving your goal. Then commit yourself to taking immediate action moving in the direction of your objective.