Discover ways to overcome self-doubt and build self-confidence with practical strategies and mindset shifts. Learn to challenge negative thoughts, set achievable goals, and celebrate small victories along the way. Embrace self-compassion and recognize your worth, allowing yourself to grow and thrive despite doubts. Remember, self-doubt is a common experience, but with determination and self-belief, you can conquer it and reach your full potential.
Overcoming Self-Doubt
I don't know about you, but I have certain times when I will be going about my life, and I feel confident and sure of my decisions and then everything changes. All of a sudden, I start to doubt my every decision. I start to question my ideas. I feel like I am lost in the world, and I am falling apart. If you feel this way at times to, I want, you to know you are not alone and it's okay to feel this way. It is even sometimes good to question yourself. We just can't live in this place. Here is what I learned.
I used to think that when I doubted myself that it was a sign of weakness. It can be sometimes, and it probably was for me in my past. However, now I view my self-doubt as a kind check up on myself, my beliefs, and choices.
It is okay to have self-doubt. But don't dwell on it and live in the self-doubt. Recognize it and use it to evaluate your choices. Self-doubt is a part of being a human being. As a female I know I have the most self-doubt when I am going through premenstrual syndrome. It is important to be self-aware of your own tendencies. If I am not feeling confident, I tend to self-doubt as well.
What do I do when I recognize I am experiencing self-doubt and have lower confidence? I recognize it and tell myself that I need to do something about it. I don't want to live in self-doubt. I want to move forward and be confident. For me, I have to think about what I have been doing and make some easy changes that make a huge difference. For instance, the last time I felt this way I realized I needed to get up earlier in the morning and put on makeup. I needed to fix my hair instead of just throwing it up in a ponytail. My roots were beginning to show so I bought the die to color my hair. I also had stopped doing a workout that made me feel good and was just walking instead. The point is, do whatever you know makes you feel more confident. If you don't know what makes you happy and feel more confident, I have another post to empower you with that as well. Once I recognize the things I can easily change to feel more confident I EVALUATE the things I was doubting about myself.
If I was questioning a decision I had already made, I think about the reason I made the decision. Did I make an emotional decision? Did I make the decision feeling rushed? Was the decision really my own or did I follow someone else's suggestions? Do I only doubt-myself when I am around certain people? These are important decisions I ask myself to evaluate and identify the reason for self-doubt. Once I have identified the reason for the self-doubt, I address the doubt.
Addressing the doubt is key to your peace of mind. Life is short and I am realizing that more and more. Don't waist a moment on anything that is going to cause or be connected to drama and take away your peace. In the beginning this will not be easy, but it gets easier and more automatic with practice. If you want to know more about how to address each question read on.
I do my best to ask myself all of these questions before I make any decisions, I know I will maybe doubt later. I also write down the reason I made my decision. I am a paper pencil kind of gal but, I also like making notes for myself in Google Notes. I use the date as my title and maybe a little bit of what the decision has to do with and type myself a little or long note. The notes are searchable, and I can remind myself of my reasons for making the decision anytime. I also use a paper planner and will write notes on my calendar so that I can see the timeline for my decision and it's a little reminder of what was going on in my life at the time. You know you and what works best for you to be able to recall your reason for the decision you made.
Sometimes we make emotional decisions. If you realize you made an emotional decision and it was not the right one, fix it, apologize if it is needed, and move forward. This also applies for, if you made the decision to quickly. How to deal with the last two of the questions is a little more complexed. If you made the decision and it was really a suggestion from someone else, think about what you do and do not agree with. No one is control of your life except for you. Your whole life is made up of choices you make. Don't let anyone control your life by making decisions for you. You are an adult. Your name is attached to your life.
Allowing others to make your decisions for you is something you may do because you feel you are not capable of making right decisions. Maybe you have had bad decisions you made in the past and you are afraid of making more bad decisions. Maybe you go with the decision or suggestions of others because you don't want to be fully responsible for your decision if it was the wrong one. Whatever your reason, recognize it and be real with yourself. It is your life to live. You are responsible. Think about your problem and make your own decision. I have a template to walk you through this process if it is new for you. With practice it will become automatic, and you will not have to walk yourself through each step. You will be less likely to doubt-yourself when you make your own decisions.
Listening to other suggestions or advice is good, if you can handle it. Just remember, you can gather points of view and weigh the pros and cons, but YOU are the one making the decision, not anyone else. This is your life, and you are the one living it.
This leads us to do you doubt yourself only when around or communicating with certain people? I have had this trouble when I am around people that do not respect my boundaries. We can't choose our family, but we can choose our friends. My mother is one of the main people that cause me to doubt myself. I am not sure she knows what she is doing but she will ask me things like, "Are you sure you want to do that? Is that really how you feel? You were raised to...I don't think you really feel that way." Maybe it is a coworker or hopefully not but maybe your spouse. Whoever the people are that make you doubt yourself it is important to recognize who these people are in your life. Limit your exposure to these people. Get them out of your life completely if you can. If this is a big issue in your life you will always have self-doubt in your life until you address this issue. Life is hard enough we don't need others making it harder for us and taking away our peace. Maybe you don't realize that you need to work on your boundaries. Knowing your boundaries is important for you to make solid decisions. I have another post addressing boundaries if you find that is something you need to work on. The point is my mother, coworker, children, spouse, or friend does not live my life as me. I am me and I have to live with whatever decisions I make. This is why I write down my decisions. Anytime I feel self-doubt creeping in I go back and remind myself of why I made the decision I did.
Following these guidelines and to address myself doubt has helped me tremendously. I hope it empowers u to be YOU and live your best life. If you ever need me to listen and guide you through this process, go to my website and make an appointment. I am happy to listen without judgement and help if needed.
Your Partner at Empoweringuhub,
Emily
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