Silence that Inner Critic
Self Doubt is a crippling feeling that eats up the mind, expands and becomes the only thing a person eventually thinks about till the time they lose whatever they wanted to achieve. It is a fear of losing that becomes makes the point we are pursuing so tough it becomes impossible to deal with and we end up not succeeding in that objective.
How to identify that we are having self doubt?
If we find ourself saying these statements constantly. we are having self doubt.
- I wont be able to do it
- I do not have it in me to succeed in this
- I will not be able to answer what they ask.
- I haven’t done enough
- I do not deserve that position
Self doubt is a vicious cycle, the more it is allowed to fester the more larger and stronger it becomes. The more we doubt ourself, the more our time goes into thinking of scenarios that might never happen, which takes away the time from our to actually practice and improve ourself. This becomes the key factor of failure. Once we have failed, we rationalise it by normalising that self doubt attributing that as the reason of our failure, this increases the odds of we going into this cycle again when we have another opportunity.
How to overcome self doubt?
There are a few ways which can minimise the self doubt. Once self doubt thoughts are identified. Immediately pull up a notepad, or phone or paper and pen and jot down all the doubts. This helps the brain to think in numbers and redirects the brain to only focus on limited points instead of constantly switching between issues without resolution.
1. Write down the thoughts and normalise the worst case
Pickup the worst case scenario and normalise that, what will happen if that happens. Eg: what will happen if we do not get that job, normalise that life will not end just because we didn’t get through. Once we are comfortable with the worst case scenario, we automatically start looking into ways that can help us overcome the challenge rather than worry about the downsides.
2. Positive Affirmations
We can tackle it by giving ourselves positive affirmations. The self doubt creeps in because of imposter syndrome and it can be solved by giving ourself the reason why we will succeed.
Note down at least 3/5 reasons why we think we will succeed. This helps switch the mind from negative points to positive points
In the long term extend with exercise for all 365 days and you will have at least 365 reasons why you will succeed.
3. Accept and Build from there
Accept that we are having these thoughts and it means that there is a gap that we are worried about.
Have an honest assessment of ourself what is missing. Create a list of all the possible points that are required to overcome this challenge. Once done, solve each point one by one.
Note:
This requires some point on our part, have there is an exam and we haven’t studied anything over the year and we are having these thoughts on the eve of the exam. It is probably less effective to jot down all the points and start to close them.
Remember:
Judging yourself to be capable of something, VASTLY improves your chances of success
How do you overcome your inner Critic?
~P
