Have you ever grappled with those feelings where you have been unsure about yourself?
Or do you sometimes find yourself second-guessing your choices or beliefs?
Perhaps maybe you question now and again whether you’ve made the right decisions?
If this sounds familiar, chances are you are battling with bouts of self-doubt.
Self-doubt involves feeling uncertain about various aspects of ourselves, such as our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, opinions, or decisions.
It can make us feel as though we’re on shaky ground, constantly questioning our own worth and abilities (Braslow, Guerrettaz, Arkin, & Oleson, 2012).
When you’re battling self-doubt, it’s common to swing between expecting you are going to fail and hoping you are going to excel.
This means you might find it hard to confidently judge your own skills or to overcome self doubt effectively (Braslow, Guerrettaz, Arkin, & Oleson, 2012).
To overcome self doubt, it’s important to recognize these patterns in our thinking and actively work on shifting our mindset towards a more positive and confident self-view.
By doing this, we can start to embrace our potential and make decisions with greater assurance.
Do You Have Self-Doubt?
Wondering if you’re experiencing self-doubt?
Here are some straightforward questions (Oleson, Poehlmann, Yost, Lynch, & Arkin, 2000) to help you determine if self-doubt is affecting you:
If you answered yes to any of these, you’re probably dealing with self-doubt.
Do you often feel uncertain about yourself?
Are you worried about whether your efforts will be successful?
Do you question your ability to handle tasks competently?
If you answered yes to any of these, you’re probably dealing with self-doubt.
Understanding this can be your first step to overcome self doubt and grow more confident in your abilities.
3 Ways We Handle Self-Doubt
Common Responses to Self-Doubt
Self-doubt can be a tough feeling to handle, and quite often, we respond to it without even realizing it.
Here are some typical ways we might try to manage it, each with its own set of challenges:
Self-Handicapping: This is a protective tactic we use to muddy the waters around our failures.
For instance, turning to drugs, alcohol, or even procrastination allows us to point the finger at these issues rather than admitting our own shortcomings.
Sadly, this approach can lead to even deeper self-doubt (Braslow, Guerrettaz, Arkin, & Oleson, 2012).
Overachievement: To avoid mistakes and failures, we might overdo our efforts.
When plagued by self-doubt, we might think that our usual effort or skills aren’t enough to succeed, so we end up working much harder.
However, this can still leave us in a bind, wondering if it was really our extra effort or our actual skills that brought us success (Braslow, Guerrettaz, Arkin, & Oleson, 2012).
Imposter Syndrome: This occurs when we believe that our achievements don’t truly reflect our abilities.
Even if we’ve succeeded, we might fear that we won’t continue to do well or match up against others at our level.
Often, we might attribute our success to luck, timing, or other external factors, rather than our own competence (Braslow, Guerrettaz, Arkin, & Oleson, 2012).
Understanding these patterns can be a significant step in learning how to better manage and overcome self-doubt.
How to Overcome Self Doubt
Overcoming self-doubt involves several key practices that can enhance your self-esteem and strengthen your confidence:
Unconditional Self-Worth
It’s vital to recognize that your value doesn’t change based on external circumstances, like whether it’s how others treat you, the decisions you make, or how much money you earn.
Building a sense of unconditional self-worth is essential to overcome self doubt.
Unconditional Love
Make it a goal to consistently love yourself deeply and genuinely, no matter what the circumstances are.
Growth
Focus on enhancing your personal qualities and strengthening your abilities.
This continuous improvement can boost your self-confidence a lot.
Use Positive Self-Talk
Speak to yourself with kindness and encouragement.
Replace critical or negative thoughts with supportive and positive ones.
Use Affirmations
Regularly affirm your strengths and capabilities with statements like, “I am strong and capable,”
“I am doing my best and that is enough,” or “I am capable of anything I put my mind to.”
Additionally, consider these reflective questions to further solidify your confidence:
• How might you maintain confidence in yourself even when you make mistakes or face failures?
• How might you maintain confidence in yourself when others treat you poorly or you don’t receive unconditional love?
Answering these questions and adopting a mindset that upholds your self-worth can be powerful tools in preventing self-doubt from dominating your thoughts.
In Summary
Self-doubt can be a challenging and often distressing experience.
Fortunately, there are effective strategies that can help us overcome self doubt and progress with greater assurance.
By understanding and addressing the causes of self-doubt, we can start to build a stronger, more confident sense of self.
Engaging in practices that affirm our worth and abilities is a vital step toward this goal.
References
● Braslow, M. D., Guerrettaz, J., Arkin, R. M., & Oleson, K. C. (2012). Self‐doubt. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(6), 470-482.
● Oleson, K. C., Poehlmann, K. M., Yost, J. H., Lynch, M. E., & Arkin, R. M. (2000). Subjective overachievement: Individual differences in self‐doubt and concern with performance. Journal of personality, 68(3), 491-524.
