doubt part 1: self doubt

Whew.

Self doubt.

Trying to shut the whisper of shut the whisper of self doubt out is often one of life’s biggest challenges.

Here is some free advice.

Doubt is like your shadow. It’s always there. Especially on sunny days. Just accept it. It goes wherever you go.

But.

Next piece of advice.

So what.

It’s just your shadow.

So.

With that cryptic piece of advice out of the way here is what made me think about self doubt <and I have written about what I call ‘others doubt’ as a companion post>:

Jamie the 20something says:

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It’s like you want something so badly that it becomes a part of every single second of your day and you want it so badly that you feel like you’re walking this very thin tightrope without a net below you. Like, you’re so vulnerable and so empowered and so on fire that it’s frightening, but, I mean, what else are you going to do? Stop wanting it? Er, pretend to stop wanting it? Stop wanting something because you want it so bad that the worry of potential disappointment is stronger than the hope of potential success?

I mean, what the hell do you do?

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So.

Without even using the word doubt Jamie talks to us about it.

The pressure to want ‘to do something’ and the vulnerability that comes along with the actual doing (okay … maybe better said … the ‘trying’).

Often the difficulty is discerning the amount of truth in your own self doubt.

It becomes important to discern the true amount … because slivers can look like entire houses if you are not careful.

But truth is difficult because … whether you like it or not … not everything in life is possible <no matter how those inspirational posters tell you so>.

Hard work and focus can solve some things and cannot solve some others.

For example … if you don’t have the hand-eye coordination to hit a 100mph fastball you just cannot be a baseball player.

If you don’t have a natural gift of speaking at best you will always have that unnatural stiffness of practiced speaking.

‘Modest doubt’ is a good thing.

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“Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. “
William Shakespeare

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Sometimes self doubt is a reality check. Just make sure you don’t ignore a small dose of reality.

The next level of self doubt is separating doubt from fear of the attempt and fear of failure.

Whew. This is really difficult.

Doubt has a nasty habit of sneaking in as you assess ‘what to do’ based on your self perceived strengths and real strengths <or weaknesses if you want to take that road>.

This is where self doubt gets tricky <or challenging>.

Self doubt can freeze you into inaction. And inaction can take place in a variety of ways because it is a sly little devil.

Be careful ‘inaction doubt’ doesn’t hide itself somewhere in the ‘I don’t have enough information yet’ or ‘I will do it when I gain some more experience’ or even ‘I don’t know where to start’ phrases of fear of attempt.

Sure.

Some of the ‘inaction doubts’ have a shred of truth … but if you are waiting for everything to be all lined up to say ‘go’, well, you may as well decide now it ain’t ever gonna happen.

Anyway.

I imagine the best thought may be that rarely does something really bad happen because of the attempt.

You can’t hide from life.

You can’t really hide from self doubt.

You have to live Life and accept <some> self doubt as a partner in crime as you live Life.

Especially if you ever want even a chance to reach your dreams or aspirations.

And the attempt will almost always be despite the doubts <for 100% certainty is simple foolishness>.

So.

In the end how do you deal with self doubt?

Keep moving. Do. Do stuff. Take action. Stagnancy breeds doubt <just like stagnant water breeds mosquitoes>.

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“Action will remove the doubt that theory cannot solve”

Pehyl Hsieh

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Oh.

One last thought (in a post strewn with quotes):

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“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.”

Francis Bacon

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Hmmmmmmmmmmm … maybe, in the end, a little self doubt isn’t bad.

Just a little.