6 Tips To Overcome Self-Doubt And Unlock Your Full Potential

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Self-doubt can be a complicated and serious obstacle to get through in life. However, there are solutions to overcoming it and unlocking your full potential! Here are 6 tips on how to overcome self-doubt once and for all!

Self-Doubt Definition

Self-doubt is defined as a lack of confidence in yourself and in your abilities and actions.

It can hinder performance, decisiveness, confidence, etc.

What Causes Self-Doubt?

It’s normal to feel self-doubt when faced with something you have never done before, however, it becomes problematic when it surrounds your life and hinders your ability to live freely.

Self-doubt can stem from childhood trauma, anxiety disorders, traumatic experiences, criticism from friends, family, others, etc.

If left untreated, it can become part of your daily inner monologue and dictate how you live your life.

Self-Doubt Examples

Low self-esteem
Low confidence
Feeling self-conscious
Criticizing yourself
Putting a great focus on your weaknesses
Afraid of challenges
Fear of public speaking, performing, etc
Feeling of unworthiness
Feeling of not being enough
Seeking validation from outer sources instead of within
Giving up easily

6 Tips On How To Overcome Self-Doubt

1. Rewire your mind from the source of the problem.

The main cause of self-doubt is the way you think and speak to yourself.

You have the power to alter the way you speak to yourself by replacing negative and self-limiting statements with positive and empowering ones.

Think of it like this: When you came into this world, you were a blank canvas. As a young child, you thought the world was limitless. You didn’t know what fear of failure was or judgment.

Throughout your life journey, either through experiences, friends, family, or childhood trauma, etc, you picked up certain beliefs, such as the belief that you aren’t good enough and maybe even will never be.

These beliefs engrained themselves into your mindset and created a harmful program that has been running on autopilot unless you do something about it.

In the same way, those self-limiting beliefs entered your mind, they can exit your mind. Pretty straightforward right?

Here is a simple exercise that can have an immense impact on your life immediately:

In a notebook, make two columns.
In one column write down all the negative, self-limiting beliefs you have about yourself. Be honest and don’t hold anything back.
In the other column, counteract those negative beliefs with positive ones. For example: “I feel like I am not good enough.” counteract with: “I am good enough. I have always been good enough and always will be good enough.”
Print this list out and read it twice a day, once in the morning and once before bed. At first, it might feel like it has no effect but if you do it consistently I promise you, you will feel the difference in just one week.

Download the Self-Doubt Exercise Template here

2. Practice self-compassion.

We tend to be our worst critics.

While some people believe that that’s the way to build character, I am here to tell you that that’s how to tear down your character.

From now on, practice loving yourself and caring for yourself as if you were talking to a small child or a good friend.

Refrain completely from making negative self-harming statements and instead embrace yourself and your journey as your own personal project.

Understand that you are a human being living a life without an instruction manual and you will make mistakes. That is simply how you learn and grow!

Look at yourself in the mirror and love every little bit you see not because of your achievements or your friends or your possessions.

Love yourself unconditionally because you are simply you and you are enough.

3. Shine a light on how far you’ve come.

Most well-known in entrepreneurship, there is a well-known term called, “The Reverse Gap.”

We tend to always look toward where we want to go, ex. our goals and their fruition.

By doing so, we forget to look at how far we’ve come.

There is a lot of strength and resilience between you and your past self, it’s what has brought you to this present moment.

Remember how far you’ve come, what obstacles you’ve surpassed, and what difficulties you’ve endured.

This will make you realize you have no reason to doubt yourself because you have been giving it your best this entire time.

You just have to pause and appreciate it!

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4. Practice makes perfect.

Is there a dream you want to pursue but your self-doubt is holding you back?

I’ve been there too.

Changing the way you think and speak to yourself is the first step. The next step is boosting your confidence through practice.

–Do you want to perform but stage fright is holding you back from unleashing your inner singer? Start performance and vocal lessons.

–Do you want to write and publish a book but you have no faith in your grammatical skills? Take a course on how to properly write a publish-ready book.

See where I’m going with this?

The answer is much simpler than you think. You have been given a brain with the capacity to grow and learn for your entire life.

You have everything you need in that powerful brain of yours. All you have to do is take action.