Wouldn’t it be nice if moving from self doubt to self confidence just came naturally?
What if we knew we could do all of the things that we want to do in our lives without self doubt?
Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could strive and reach all of our professional goals with ease?
For some, all of that does come naturally and those people have confidence that leads them to accomplish whatever that they set out to achieve.
For others, even everyday tasks can feel tough. Moving from self doubt to self confidence can feel like Mount Everest!
Moving from self doubt to self confidence is a practice you can adopt. . . with practice.
Before you take action, it’s important to pinpoint what’s at the root of the self doubt in the first place. When you are able to identify where your insecurities lie and what’s stopping you from feeling confident, you can then start the process of moving from self doubt to self confidence. You will be able to work on eliminating the blocks that are keeping you from moving through life with assuredness.
Here are some of the culprits for the patterns of self doubt and ideas for what you can do about them:
1. Your Mindset May Need a Reset
One of the first things that you may need to address, is your mindset. This can be hard to do when you feel as if you’re held back by low self-esteem and a lack of confidence. It can be the one big step, however, that changes the course of your professional growth. If you know that you have a pattern of negative thinking where you are telling yourself that you can’t or that you are not good enough it’s important to catch those thought patterns in their tracks. When you are able to shift into having a positive mindset you will be able to develop a new belief in your own potential and worth This is a spring board that gets you closer to your goals, reinforcing all that positive believing in yourself which in turn grows your confidence. Positive psychology is based on the belief that all people yearn to lead meaningful lives and by actively cultivating positive thoughts and beliefs, we create more positive experiences.
2. Social Pressures May Be Holding You Back.
One of the biggest culprits may be social pressures. When you find yourself frequently looking at social media, comparing yourself to others this can lend to insecurity. You are not alone in this case of comparisonitis as many people are adversely affected as a result of social media. What we see online is typically only the parts of what people want us to see.. Be selective about how much time you spend on social media and when you’re there, be purposeful. Don’t scroll mindlessly. Use it to share your own accomplishments, to connect with real friends, to network for your career, to find and read enriching articles or videos that will bring a laugh. Every once in a while take a break from social media altogether. Do a social media “fast” and take time to get out and make face to face connections with people you care about, feel the grass under your bare feet, go to a social gathering at your local community center or place of worship.
3. You’re in Need of Some Deep Self Care.
Self care is something many professionals neglect. There may be a lack of solid role models or maybe you’ve gotten caught up in the hustle of building your business self care has just fallen off of your radar. Thankfully, there are practices you can observe and specific actions you can take to actively love yourself. Go read more here for 48 ways to love and care for yourself now.
4. Stress Happens.
We all experience stress of course. But when your stress levels seem insurmountable you may find that it’s impossible to even imagine moving from self doubt to self confidence. If you find your stress is overwhelming, you’re going to want to work on finding a balance in your life and create ways to de-stress. If it’s your career where you are feeling the build of your stress there are some strategies I provide in this article. The first step to managing your stress is to recognize signs of stress in your body and mind and then identify what are the stress triggers. You can then begin to make changes wherever possible to shift away from those triggers or mitigate the stress if the triggers are unavoidable by learning how to relax in body and mind. You can pick up a 20 minute free downloadable guided meditation for deep relaxation I created HERE.
5. Consider the Company You Keep.
It is said that you are the average of the 5 people you spent the most time with . Whether this is absolute truth or not I’m not certain. But I know that we are definitely influenced by the people with whom we hang around. Take a close look at whether the people you are spending the most time with are encouraging you or bringing you down. Are they optimistic or pessimistic? It may behoove you to develop some new relationships with people who lift you up, believe in you and bring positive energy into your life and work.
6. Fear Can be Paralyzing.
Fear is at the root of everything that stops us from feeling positively about ourselves and moving from self doubt to self confidence. If you know what you want to do with your life, but you have never taken a step towards the career, the relationships, or the home you want because you’re scared of it not working out, It’s time to realize if you never face those fears you may stay stuck in that self doubting place you now find yourself in. To get you started check out this list of 68 ways to move beyond fear.
7. You Might be Stuck in the Comfort Zone.
Finally, you may find that the reason you are holding yourself back, is because you don’t want to leave your comfort zone. In a lot of ways, this is connected to fear. Most of the reasons we hang out in the comfort zone (even when the comfort zone is miserable) is because it’s what is familiar. And humans tend to gravitate toward staying with what is familiar even when it’s painful to do so. But nothing transformational ever happens in your comfort zone. If you want to change your career or the way that you live, you have to take action steps to bring about change. So just start. If you really do want to change, take one step. Make a call to schedule either counseling or coaching. Shake up your daily routine. Turn your thoughts around from negative to positive.
8. You’re Missing the Attitude of Gratitude.
The dedicated practice of feeling a palpable sense of gratitude is something a lot of people are missing. When we are able to notice and focus on what we feel grateful for we begin to experience a comfort and confidence in the potential for all good things to spring forth in life. You can begin by making it a practice to look around and find five things you see, hear, feel, smell or taste that you feel thankful to be experiencing. Then, you might consider five people in your life for whom you are grateful to know. Feel that gratitude on a regular basis intentionally and express genuine gratitude to others as often as possible. Gratitude has a powerful effect on our ability to move from self doubt to self confidence because it tends to grease the wheels of the way we think and interact with the world around us.
Moving from self doubt to self confidence is a practice and a process you can embrace with dedication and mindful intention. After you have identified what’s getting in the way that process doesn’t feel so much like a block or a confusing maze and you’ll be better able to map out a plan for moving forward.