The theme of the day for me is “self-doubt”. Why? Because today I am doubting myself. What am I doubting? Well actually it has been about this, writing a blog. It is uncomfortable feeling self-doubt, for me it feels like butterflies in the stomach and a slight uncomfortable anxiety in the chest. Blogging is new to me and I am so keen to write a blog that comes from the heart as well as from my professional experience that it makes me nervous at times to write!
So this has been the subject of my ponderings today, why do we doubt ourselves so much? Our thoughts are the biggest influence. Once one thought pops into our head we can begin to start ruminating and allowing thoughts to come up that feed that self-doubt and cloud the mind. This morning whilst looking at my blog one doubt popped into my head, then another. Then before I knew it I was feeling anxious and nervous.
So I stopped and asked myself, why do you doubt yourself? One of the first things that came up for me is that when I self-doubt it is normally because something is important to me. I want to do something well and therefore, I start to doubt about my ability to deliver this. But when I look at it from a more positive light it is because I care about this. When I think of it that way, it throws a more positive light on it.
Trust was another word that came up. Not only trust in myself but to trust in the process and the experience of starting to write a blog. As time goes on my writing should improve and it will feel more natural to me to express my blog from my heart. I realised that Rome was not built in a day and I need to be patient and stick with it!
Self doubt always feels a bit like somebody is being a bit tough on me and that person happens to be me! So today I realise that I need to show myself a bit more self-compassion and know that I am doing my best. Life seems to feel that bit easier when we are gentle on ourselves.
So here is my quick summary of things we might want to consider when we doubt ourselves:
1, Self-doubting can be just a sign that you care!
2, Recognise that thoughts of self-doubt and ruminations are sometimes a sign we are being a bit too hard on ourselves. It could be a sign that we need to soften and show ourselves a bit of self-compassion.
3, Sometimes we have to “trust” and carry on! This is not to say self-doubt won´t raise
it´s head from time to time. But we should not let this stop us from doing the things we care about. If you believe and love what you are doing then carry on and try not to think too much about the outcome.
4, We are all good enough! Sometimes self-doubt comes from comparing ourselves with others. But the truth is we are all different and we all have something to bring. It is not about comparing ourselves with others, but about being true to oneself.
Whilst I was writing this I received an email from a local Psychiatrist, at the end of the email he congratulated me on my blog! A sign from the universe maybe?