Many people think that because someone is confident and doing well in life that they never have any doubts. They assume that every decision a person makes is decisive and they never have any regrets. The truth is everyone second guesses themselves from time to time. It’s a human response to dealing with life’s challenges. Starting a business can bring plenty of doubts, but as a new business owner works on completing their goals, they can learn new tips and get help along the way. Check out our free webinar training to gain confidence in starting a new online business and keep reading for some helpful tips below:
Don’t worry about what others think
Entrepreneur recommends not worrying about what others think, and we couldn’t agree more! Sometimes it’s easy to let what others consider to get the best of us. Don’t give up on your dreams – you’ve got this!
When you spend all your time and energy trying to manage other peoples’ perception of you, you'll get stuck in an inadequacy loop. There will always be someone who appears to be doing better, getting further or having more. Do not benchmark yourself against others’ accomplishments and possessions.
Realize you’re only human
As we mentioned at the very beginning, you are only human, and everyone has doubts. Forbes says to recognize that you’re only human and use that to your advantage. Embrace your doubts and regain power. Only then will you be free to move forward and make wise decisions.
As you think about the things you’d most love to achieve or change in your life right now, just know that self-doubt is there to protect you from the humiliation of falling flat on your face. So follow the advice of Dr Kristen Neff, self-compassion expert and “Don’t beat yourself up for beating yourself up.” Far better than beating up on your inner critic is to befriend it; to acknowledge that it's just trying to keep you safe and spare you humiliation. Embracing self-doubt as an intrinsic part of the human experience is crucial to reclaiming the power it has held over you… until now. You are human. You will mistakes. You will doubt yourself. It's what you do next that matters.
Don’t overanalyze
Everyone overanalyzes things from time to time, but Medium reminds us to stay away from getting trapped in that cycle. Stick to your guns and follow through. Only you are holding yourself back.
When you overanalyze your ideas, you doubt yourself. Overthinking deteriorates conviction. That’s why you get stuck. And become part of a startling statistic: 92% of people fail to achieve their goals.
You are the only reason why you fail. When you let self-doubt cast a shadow over your dreams.
When self-doubt casts its shadow over your dreams, everything becomes blurred. What seemed a great idea is now full of flaws. You change your mind constantly feeling confused.
Pause and reconnect with yourself. Deep in your heart, you know what moves you. Stop fooling yourself. You don’t need to do a pros and cons analysis to discover what makes you tick. Grab a piece of paper. Write down what you want to achieve in life. Now.
Interpret things differently
If you’re stuck on one way of thinking perhaps you should change your perspective. Psychology Today provides excellent advice on how to become more aware of the negative thoughts you are feeding yourself. It won’t happen overnight, but if you consciously work on seeing things differently and more positively, it should become more of a regular habit.
Ask yourself: Is there another way to make sense of what’s happening? If they did care or value your efforts, how would you make sense of their actions? With your supervisor, you might say, “I appreciate your feedback and will make those changes to m report. But I’m wondering if think I’m essentially on track or whether there are specific areas where I should be working to improve.” (This approach has the distinct advantage of offering you the possibility of praise or direct feedback about how you can improve and be even better at report writing.)
Greater awareness of how you feed your insecurity may not make it go away, but it will loosen its grip on you. You can then build more security and confidence by actively choosing to attend to, remember, and think more positively about feedback. However, this takes effort and a willingness to challenge yourself.
Pay attention to positive feedback
Psychology Today just mentioned listening to positive feedback and Entrepreneur agrees! Don’t dwell on the negative because that’s easy to do. Focus on what you’re doing right and build on that.
In a Psychology Today article, psychologist Leslie Becker-Phelps advises paying more attention to positive feedback than to negative responses. Take time each day to remember accomplishments, even small ones and actively choose to view the world around you in a positive way.
Always look for alternative interpretations of situations that didn't turn out the way you wanted. Things happen that are outside of your control, irrespective of your involvement.
Distract yourself
If all else fails and you can’t get out of your head, take a break and distract yourself. Go on a walk, watch a favorite television show, or call a friend. It's better to distract yourself then allow your negative thoughts to overcome you. Often that just allow more self-doubt to fester and you don't want that. Entrepreneur says that’s better than getting stuck in a woe is me cycle.
It's all too easy to become overly caught up in negative thoughts, which left unchecked can spread to all aspects of your life. Break the cycle immediately. A few ways to try to exit this self-destructive mental loop include taking a walk, moving on to another project or doing exercise. Experiment and find the technique that works best to quell pessimism before it consumes you.
Build confidence by taking action
Self-confidence is the opposite of self-doubt. Unlike what most people think, it’s not a chip that comes implanted into your body. Confidence is a skill you build through action.
Social psychologist Timothy Wilson applies a psychological intervention that dates back to Aristotle: “Do good. Be good.” You become what you do. Start by changing your behaviors first, which in turn will improve your self-perception.
When you start acting, you stop thinking.
If you feel afraid to take the first step, follow the five-second-rule. Instead of staying silent or becoming paralyzed by overthinking, practice everyday courage. Count down 5–4–3–2–1, then act brave. You just need five seconds to make a decision. As you are counting down, use this technique to beat your inner-fear. Take a deep breath and jump into action.
Listen to your gut more often than not. Relearn to trust your instinct and your passion. That doesn’t mean to stop listening to your brain, but rather hear all the voices, not just the logic one.
Doubt your doubts
Who are your doubts to tell you what you should think and feel? Don’t allow them to have power over you! Forbes puts it perfectly by stating fears are not the truth. Remember that to be true!
Self doubts are just your fears made manifest in order to protect you from loss. Yet the irony is that, to paraphrase Shakespeare, doubt often makes you lose out on what you may have gained by fearing the attempt. Your doubts are not the truth. Rather they are fear-fuelled stories you create about who you are, what you’re worth and what you’re capable of achieving. So let me repeat just one more time to make sure you got it:
Your doubts are not the truth.
In fact, more often than not, they’re just the opposite. So the next time you start to doubt yourself, take a moment to challenge that thought; to doubt your doubts! Ask yourself “What if just the opposite were true?” What if, in fact, you were more than prepared for a bigger role? If you had everything it takes to build that business? If what you had to say was extremely important? If you were more than talented/worthy/clever/(fill-in-the-blank) enough to pursue this goal?
If you are going to doubt anything about yourself to achieve what you want or change what you don't, doubt your doubts.
If you’re doubting how you’re going to make your online business work, you’re not alone, but don’t let that deter you from doing something you were born to do. We can help you find the confidence you need to succeed! Join us during our free webinar training, and we’ll help you learn the ropes on how to make an online business excel and make money.
Sources: Entrepreneur, Psychology Today, Medium, Forbes
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