I think it’s quite human to doubt yourself sometimes, it’s not the greatest thing to do but it’s very common. Let’s say you have a presentation coming up, you worry that you’re not going to do a great job or you’re not going to remember everything. You have a lack of confidence in yourself that the presentation is going to go well. Today, I will talk about why self-doubt sucks and if you are an old reader, this is just a continuation of my unofficial series of “blank” sucks on my blog haha. Before anything, a quick definition of self-doubt. According to Good Therapy:
“Self-doubt can be understood as a feeling of uncertainty regarding one or more aspects of the self”
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This always reminds me how powerful the mind is because you literally put yourself into deep thinking if you are good enough or if is that going to go well. The funny thing is, from my experience, the things I would have self-doubt about would usually work out fine and I would just waste so much time stressing. But yet again, I would go again and self-doubt something else and you would think after a couple of times realizing things would go well, the self-doubt would stop. I started to wonder if they can be other factors that are connected to self-doubt and these are a few a found out:
Depression
Low self-esteem/confidence
Now, this wasn't a surprise to me and this just confirmed to me that self-doubt isn't just worrying about something going wrong but the mental health of a person can be the reason for how they treat tasks. Now as self-doubt can be recurring, I’ve discovered a few tips that I found helpful, whether through a bit of research or just figuring out myself.
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Remembering when things went well
As I stated above, thinking about the times when your self-doubt was a waste of time can be helpful. Remembering when that presentation went well or that serious task at work wasn't as hard as you thought can ease the mind a bit about any new tasks.
Pay attention to your mind
Overthinking and developing negative thoughts can increase self-doubt in one’s self but it is possible to recognize them. I find slowing down and questioning myself about what thinking about can calm me down about my lack of certainty about whatever task I have to do.
Be okay with things going wrong
Now, this might seem scary but everything isn't going to be easy or go the way you want. This is quite normal though and there is no need to stress about what went wrong but how can I improve myself for the next time? Learning from past mistakes can help prepare you for the next task in the future.
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Don’t compare yourself to others
Remember that you have your own path and you should only focus on that path. What someone else is doing shouldn't concern you or influence how you should do things.
Learn to be kind to yourself
Remember that you are human and not everything is not going to be perfect. Once you try your best, that’s something worth celebrating.
Write down your thoughts
This can be a really good way of emptying your mind of all the thoughts of self-doubt and maybe reading over can make you realize that your doubt is not as bad as you thought.
Well, this is my first post in a good while and it feels good writing again. Wanted to come back with a post I had on the back burner for a while and that I relate to. I hope this post can be beneficial to anyone reading! This is a bit shorter than my older posts but I’m slowly getting back into my writing so I promise the new posts coming will be longer. Like always, I have some questions for you:
Have you ever dealt with self-doubt?
If yes, how did it affect you?
Do you have any tips to help with self-doubt?
If you have any other thoughts on today’s topic, feel free to leave them below, I’ll be reading and replying! Also, I’ll be leaving a few links that helped me write this post today and I also linked a few of my old posts above that I think could be helpful as well. I hope everyone is doing well and remember to take care of yourself!
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I hope you're at your happiest if not, it's okay...I hope you're starting or working on reaching the highest peak of happiness.
- Anissa (TheQuietGirl)
