I need you to know that I know what self-doubt feels like. I know it too well actually, which is why I’m sharing with you to encourage you as you walk through your own moments of self-doubt … I truly believe that you can replace self-doubt with self-belief. Let me explain….
Self-doubt is a silent enemy that keeps too many people from living the lives of their dreams, from having freedom in being who they really are, and from living out their full purpose. The sneakiest thing about self-doubt is how isolating it feels. It convinces us that no one else feels the way we do, that we are mere impostors, bound to be found out, and that it is safer to stay complacent than to step outside of our comfort zone and to embarrass ourselves. The truth is that self-doubt is universal. Everyone feels it, but not everyone listens to it. When you can learn how to turn the volume of the doubt down in your mind you will be empowered to leverage self-belief and self-esteem in ways you never imagined possible before – and you will start living with more happiness and impact. This post will teach you how to turn up the volume of self-belief in your mind in five easy and powerful ways through simple self-esteem activities that anyone can do.
I spent half of my life believing the silencing lies of self-doubt, and the doubt did just that: it silenced me. On the outside I was outgoing, seemingly confident and filled with belief about my abilities and efforts. What people didn’t know is that on the inside I was insecure, battling a seemingly never-ending eating disorder, and second-guessing every relationship and friendship I had. Worse than that, I convinced myself that I was average, forgettable and replacement, and I certainly didn’t believe that anything I did could really make a difference in the world. The inner doubt I battled stole my voice, my effort and my true happiness. I thought I was the only one who felt so isolated and helpless and I was certain I was the only one who battled doubt the way I did, making me keep it to myself even more and put even more effort into my perfectionistic efforts at living – committed to making people think I was perfect and had it all together on the outside so that they wouldn’t discover how lost I was on the inside.
Everything changed for me when I learned that just because I heard the voice of self-doubt in my head didn’t mean that I had to listen to it. I hadn’t realized that I had the power within me all along to choose to believe the doubt or to push it again and believe something different. I committed to practicing self-esteem and belief-building activities in my personal growth and over time I learned to destroy self-doubt, but not for good. Self-doubt is simply part of our natural internal dialogue, and so it’s a daily activity to destroy it and to choose to not listen, and the more we practice doing so the easier it becomes to do. The following are a few simple self-esteem activities I have employed over the years to help me successfully turn my mindset of doubt into one of belief. These activities have helped me overcome an eating disorder, redefine myself and my purpose, have more joy and happiness than I ever thought possible, have the perseverance to climb the corporate ladder as high as I wanted, have the courage to become an entrepreneur and create my dream lifestyle, and to have the endurance to keep showing up as my full self in all aspects of life, no matter the ebbs and flows I might be experiencing. Try engaging these quick-fix activities for yourself the next time you feel overcome by self-doubt. Each activity takes only a few minutes to activate results and a turnaround and I think you’ll find that implementing these into your life in a variety of facets will reap you similar benefits to what I experienced myself. (This list is by no means exhaustive, I just picked my top five most frequently used self-esteem actives to help you realize that you do in fact have more power over your doubt and your belief than you think and that gaining power of belief in life can be a simple process that you can engage in daily.)
Self-Esteem Activity #1: Working Out.
The act of moving your body does more than just burn calories, it sets you up for major psychological benefits thanks to the endorphin release that happens when you push yourself physically. Not only will working out or moving your body help you feel mental clarity, but it provides an emotional release as well, both contributing to a significant decrease in stress reduction. Furthermore, the act of having a goal when you work out, and pushing yourself to reach that goal, provides longterm psychological benefits for self-esteem and self-belief. Fitness is an opportunity to practice pushing your limits, and when your body is able to do more than you thought it could, it changes what you believe is possible about yourself, about life and about belief. That belief translates into a crazy amount of momentum and confidence and annihilates self-doubt from your brain.
Self-Esteem Activity #2: Intentionally Building Up Someone Else.
When we are in the depths of self-doubt our minds become hyper self-focused, and the best way to get out of that pit is to transition our focus elsewhere. The more quickly we make this shift, the more quickly we can bounce from self-doubt to self-esteem. One example of an activity that will do this is to simply reach out and put your full effort into loving on someone. You could write an email of encouragement, make a quick phone call or even go out of your way to have a heart-to-heart conversation about the greatness you see in someone – anything small or big that you can do to make someone’s day through affirmation, encouragement and praise will in turn build your own inner self-dialogue up as well.
Self-Esteem Activity #3: Writing Yourself a Two-Minute Power Note
Consider this your personal pep talk. When you are feeling discouraged or in the dumps of self-doubt, one quick fix is to stop everything you are doing, take a pen and paper, or a text message on your phone, and take two minutes to write to yourself. Write as if you were writing a letter or note to a friend. Use your name in the salutation and say to yourself what a mentor would say to you. Keep the sentences short and powerful, even if you don’t believe them to be true at the moment, write them anyways and allow the belief to come after you write the note. Reread the note three times to let the truth and power of it sink in and then move on into the rest of your day with confidence and a reset mindset.
Self-Esteem Activity #4: Taking Action Immediately
Self-doubt is especially perilous because it causes delay and hesitation. Doubt ignites procrastination and over-thinking and saturates our minds with fear, making it very difficult to take action on anything meaningful to us. To overcome this paralysis, the simplest way to boost your belief and kick doubt to the curb is to take action anyways. The action you take doesn’t have to be big, it can be small, it just needs to be some sort of forward movement. Movement leads to more movement (an object in motion stays in motion) and the more momentum you build, the more empowered you will feel. The more empowered you feel, the more results you will see, the more results you see, the more confident and filled with self-belief you will be, and you won’t even remember those nagging whisperings of doubt that tempted you to not take action in the first place.
Self-Esteem Activity #5: Creating a Reset Mantra
This self-esteem activity is simple and powerful. It is based in understanding that we often simply need a mental reset. So, the next time you feel overwhelmed by self-doubt, imagine having an internal button, an emergency button so to speak, in your brain that only you can access. When you push this button, you reset not only the way you think, but also the state of which you feel at that moment. To erase self-doubt, visualize yourself powerfully pressing the reset button and as you press it, think the following mantra: I am reseting everything. I am turning down the volume of doubt and am turning up the volume of belief.
You can maintain a high level of self-belief when you understand that self-doubt will always be a suggested voice that exists in your subconscious, but simply one that you don’t have to listen to. The key to believing in yourself isn’t that you live completely free of self-doubt, the key is that you have the power to turn the volume of the self-doubt up and the volume of the self-belief up. Furthermore, when you understand that self-doubt is a universal struggle, you will stop internalizing it so personally and will find the power within yourself to stop the bully of its voice when it arises. When you decide that you will choose to believe in yourself, you decide to live fully. You make a decision for a life of full-engagement and happiness. For more in-depth coaching on this topic, and to hear me really dive deep into the five self-esteem activities, be sure to catch the full conversation on the Confidence on the Go podcast at www.trishblackwell.com/217 … I can’t wait to share even more with you on how to powerfully destroy self-doubt and to live with unstoppable confidence.
PS > The ultimate place and self-esteem community for anyone looking to destroy self-doubt for good is The College of Confidence. In The College of Confidence you will have full access to self-paced, high level coaching, as well as connection with an electric community of go-getters who are as determined as you are to thrive in life. Come pull up a virtual chair with us and take your ability to believe in yourself and follow through on the dreams in your life to the next level >>> www.trishblackwell.com/college
