Sometimes, despite how confident I might feel, I keep thinking that what I am doing or about to do is the wrong thing. It whispers at the back of my mind. It keeps me tossing and turning at night. It will leave me paralyzed to the point where I will miss out on whatever it is I'm making a decision on.
It kind of sounds like when I'm worrying about something. In fact I would say that doubt and worry are very similar feelings under the right circumstances.
It's a times like these I need to talk to someone. I have a few people I talk to (and a few people who talk to me). Sometimes these people will say things I don't want to hear. They are most likely right, but that doesn't mean I want to hear it. Sometimes I say things they don't want to hear. It's a vicious (and quite possibly necessary) cycle.
The best way to beat doubt is to weigh the pros and cons (and hope the pros win). I tend to look at the worst case scenario and build a plan to counter act it. If I can't come up with a counter plan, then I walk away. If the worst case scenario doesn't seem that bad, I throw caution to the wind and jump right in (hopefully feet first).
From my own personal experience, they only way to beat doubt is to not dwell on it. I find something else to focus on (like writing a blog about all the crazy things that happen to me) or work on minimizing any damages that could result in a worst case scenario. Anyway you slice it, I'm doing something productive with my time.
So here are my top five ways to stop doubting myself:
1) Write - doesn't really matter what. It could just be what has me doubting myself or something else completely unrelated. Just write it out and maybe I'll solve one of my problems.
2) Talk it out - doesn't matter with who. Heck I don't care if someone talks to their lamp (though that might raise a few eyebrows). Talking helps...and so does listening.
3) Exercise - Wanna know what makes me feel good (other than eating my weight in mac and cheese)? Running around like a maniac! It helps clear my head and let me think. It also helps with the long office days where I'm stuck in an office chair for eight hours straight.
4) Go out with friends/family/significant others - humans are social creatures and even introverts need to get out once in a blue moon. Going out with a group of people can help relieve stress which will also help stop me from worrying and doubting myself. So turn off Netflix and go out on the town
5) Do something unexpected - I often doubt my abilities. I'd say everyone does, but I can't speak for everyone. One of my favorite ways to get myself out of a self doubting funk is to spontaneously do something. If I can tell myself that I did something unexpected then I can tell myself that I can do anything.
If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Until next week.
Great advice! I am like you. I often doubt my choices or worry about what will happen if I choose a certain path. What I have learned over the years is that there aren't too many choices we make in life that we can't get out of down the road if we need to. And often what we look back on as "mistakes" turn out to be the things that helped us to grow the most. The biggest thing that has held me back from making decisions is fear. Hopefully you can set your fears aside and trust that whatever choice you make will be the right one for you in this moment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that mistakes do help me grow in ways that I don't expect. I often find myself looking back and laughing histarically at some of my "mistakes" and other times finding a new opportunity.
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