"I see a certain life for myself and I won't stop until I get it." - Unknown
You have the goal of building a business. You may even be in the middle of building that business. But, every time you take a step, there's something inside of you saying "Do you really think you can do this?" Call it your inner critic, your self doubt, or something in between. This is the voice inside of you that keeps you taking lukewarm action (one foot into building a business and one foot on the fence not wanting to go all the way).
What can you do to overcome the self-doubt and finally go ALL IN on your business?
5 Ways to Overcome Self Doubt
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. - Unknown
In my book Own Your Goals: The Ultimate Guide to Setting, Sticking To and Achieving Your Biggest Life Goals, I talk about the importance of self-belief: "The first and most important step to goal achievement is your level of self-belief. Every thought you think, feeling you have, and action you take will be based on the extent to which you believe the outcome of those thoughts, feelings, and actions are leading to your goal being achieved."
It's not simply that self-belief matters. It's also that constant and unceasing bouts of self-doubt hurt your level of self-belief and will keep you at a lower level of effort and productivity on your business dream. In this way, it's important to do what you can to overcome self-doubt so you feel free (and confident enough) to go ALL IN on your business.
Here are 10 ways to overcome your self-doubt:
1. Doubt your self-doubt
Whenever self-doubt creeps in, counter whatever self-doubt is telling by saying "Why not me?" In other words, if other people are out in the world building successful businesses, if other people with fewer resources, fewer talents and even more time commitments than you currently have are building successful businesses, why not you? The counter with that one question goes a long way in at least quieting the self-doubt conversation.
2. Take consistent, daily massive action (DMA)
Doubting yourself is normal; letting it stop you is a choice. - Unknown
Nothing decreases self-doubt like putting all of your focus and energy into taking consistent, daily massive action. Whether you're in the mood or not, whether you feel it or not, force yourself to take DMA (Daily Massive Action). The more consistent you are, the more confident you'll feel about your ability to successfully build a business.
3. Accept that self-doubt isn't going away
One of the most powerful ways to diminish the power of self-doubt comes by radically accepting self-doubt's place in your life. Here's the thing- no matter what goal or dream you're going for, self-doubt is going to be there. Especially when the dream is building a business, self-doubt is par for the course. No matter how much business success you have, every new level of success will require you breaking out of comfort zones, going for bigger things, and failing forward as you do both. In this way, your entire business building journey will involve self-doubt on one level or another. The point isn't to erase self-doubt; the goal is to contain it so it has its place but lacks any major form of influence. Tell yourself "Self-doubt is here to stay and I have to find a way to take action and succeed, even in the moments when I'm filled with self-doubt."
4. Get clear on what not going ALL IN on your business will cost you IF you let self-doubt win
Pain is a much more powerful motivator than pleasure. Because of this, it's important to leverage pain to get yourself to take consistent action. In moments when self-doubt feels overwhelming, think about what giving in to self-doubt will cost you in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 5 years. Are you willing to lose out on the benefits a successful business can bring to your life and the lives of those you love over doubts that, even now, you know logically are not true? Once you feel the pain and loss of what giving in to self-doubt will cost you, you begin to see that going ALL IN, while seemingly painful, is not anywhere near as painful as not living up to your potential.
5. Remind yourself who you are
A powerful way to combat self-doubt comes in reminding yourself of past experiences where you doubted yourself and overcame. Recall prior challenging times in your life when the obstacles felt massive, the odds of you succeeding felt small and you found a way to succeed despite all of it. The same person (you) who managed to triumph then is the same person has the power to do the same with building a business now. Recall three to five prior life experiences where you overcame self-doubt and succeeded... and then remind yourself that if you could do that then, you can do even more now...
At the end of the day, you can choose to live in fear or you can choose to live in faith... but you cannot reside in both at the same time. Yes, self-doubt will be in the car of your life... and there's nothing wrong with that. Just be sure that self-doubt is NOT in the driver's seat...