Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s normal to go through times where you doubt yourself or don’t feel very confident. However, if you consistently struggle with self-doubt, this can negatively impact your life. One of the hardest things a person can do is transform themselves from a person full of self-doubt to a self-assured person who believes in themselves. The truth is, no matter how many mistakes you’ve made, opportunities you passed up, or circumstances in your life, it’s never too late to overcome self-doubt. Even if you have a troubled childhood and past, it is within your power to change the trajectory of your life.
What Is Self-Doubt?
Self-doubt is described as a lack of confidence in yourself and your abilities. Can you think of a time in your life or career when you did not have complete confidence in yourself or your abilities? How did that affect your life? Were you able to overcome it?
While we are all human and don’t always feel confident in every aspect of our lives, keep in mind that self-doubt is a learned behavior. We are not born with self-doubt. In fact, children often have a lot of confidence when they are younger. As they move into the teenage years and young adulthood, their natural confidence is often undermined by the opinions of others and experiences that shape their beliefs about themselves.
Since self-doubt is a learned behavior, you can overcome it by changing your behavior. While this is easier said than done, it’s not impossible. Keep in mind that persistent self-doubt can hold you back from the happiness and success that you deserve. It will keep you stuck instead of moving forward in achieving the goals you set for yourself and your business. Take a look at the six ways self-doubt can impact your life if you continue to allow it.
Self-Doubt Damages Your Motivation
Self-doubt holds us back in life because fear is behind it. Fear drives your thoughts when you think you can’t do something or don’t trust yourself to do it right. Maybe you don’t want to look like a fool in front of others. Fear of failure is a common fear that can hold you back from achieving your goals. This can lead to a lack of motivation, and you don’t even want to try. Instead, you do what you need to do to get by. If you continue to allow this pattern in your life, it can impact your relationships, job, and satisfaction in your quality of life.
Self-Doubt Causes Procrastination
Do you ever wonder why you tend to procrastinate when it comes to certain tasks? While it’s true that we often procrastinate when we have to do something we don’t like doing, procrastination can also be a sign of self-doubt. If you lack confidence in your ability to do something, you may be overthinking it or trying to be perfect. You may put it off until later because you know you will need more time to research. You might even ruminate with thoughts of limiting beliefs instead of just getting the courage to start! However, you might find that you really do know what you are doing once you get started and don’t need to fret so much about it.
Self-Doubt Leads To Regret
We often pass up opportunities because of self-doubt and lack of confidence. We think we aren’t “right for the job,” so we don’t apply for the promotion. Or we stay stuck in a job we aren’t happy at instead of pursuing our dream of owning a business because we don’t really believe we can be successful. If you miss out on opportunities, it leads to regret. And regret left unsolved can cause chronic stress and anxiety.
Self-Doubt Causes A Defeated Attitude
When you allow self-doubt to continue, it can lead to limiting beliefs that nothing will work out for you or nothing good will happen to you. If you expect failure, you will get failure. When you learn to believe in yourself and your abilities, you can make almost anything happen for your GOOD!
Self-Doubt Stunts Your Self-Improvement
When you lack faith in yourself, it’s hard to even think about self-improvement. You may feel defeated and lack the motivation to try. Perhaps you believe that there is too much to improve yourself, or it will be too hard or take too long. This comes from a victim mentality and is often just an excuse not to make changes to improve your life because of fear. Again, fear is often what leads to self-doubt and keeps you stuck. It’s a vicious cycle.
Self-Doubt Stifles Inspiration
When you don’t believe in yourself, it’s hard to feel inspired to do anything new or create a better life for yourself. When you learn to believe in yourself, you will begin to feel inspired and ready to level up in your life.
Check back here in the blog each week as we continue to explore self-doubt. This is the first in a series on how we can overcome self-doubt and find a more positive outlook in life.