Self-doubt is a feeling of doubt about one’s own abilities or actions” . It appears as a voice of our inner critic in our day to day life.
Who doesn’t struggle with some self-doubt ? The thing is .. most of us do. Self-doubt beyond control is indeed vicious, pernicious, and potentially crippling and it hides away in the darkest recesses of our mind, seemingly asleep, but always ready to leap out at a moment’s notice and stop us.
To address self-doubt and move forward, we need to first of all view it as a behaviour and be able to recognize it when it appears. After all, if we aren’t aware of our inner critic that puts us in a state of self-doubt, how can we move past it? Self-doubt and our inner critic has many characteristics that can help us recognize them. First and foremost, our inner critic definitely isn’t nice. That’s obvious. However, this voice tends to go beyond just being unkind. It can be downright mean. When we notice having thoughts that are particularly harsh, it’s probably our self-doubt.
Self-doubt makes unfair Comparisons. Our inner critic is also fantastic at comparing our abilities, possessions, and life to those of other people. These comparisons are never fair or just. Rather, they always tell us that someone else is better than us or that we shall never measure up. Again, these messages don’t do anything to serve us and should be ignored.
Self -doubt prompts repetitive, harmful messages: When we find ourselves ruminating on a thought , we need to find a way to interrupt those thoughts. We need to stop our thought-process, take a break and take a few breaths and then try to look at things more realistically and objectively. Our inner critic repeats these harmful messages as a way of sabotaging us. The more we tell ourselves these words, the more likely we are to believe them. This is definitely a chance for reframing a negative message to a more positive and empowering one. Finally, it’s important to realize that our Self-doubt is not speaking up for our best interests. It’s not a tool that works to help us do better.
These tips for recognizing our inner critic will serve us well as we pursue this journey of becoming stronger and more in charge of our thoughts.
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