Why Not You?

We have all been there - plagued with self doubt and feeling down on ourselves. Whether you are at the top of your game or just starting out, you’ve dealt with self doubt of some kind. Self doubt is even more dangerous than failure, because it can stop you from reaching our goals before you even start. 

Asking yourself why you or why you’d be a good fit, will get you nowhere. It’s time to start thinking why NOT you? Self-confidence and the power of taking action is a game changer. If you start to convince yourself that you can do this, that you have a shot, you’ll start to actually make progress. Fear doesn’t ever go away, you just have to learn to live with the fear and act anyways. 

It’s time to start to train yourself to act in spite of fear. This doesn’t sound easy and it’s not, but just like any habit, you can build it over time. 

Start Small. 

If this sounds like too much to you, then take baby steps. Instead of launching right into your big, hairy, scary goals, start with something simple. The point is to start to get used to acting in spite of your fear. Reach out to that person on LinkedIn you’ve wanted to chat with for months despite the fact that you are nervous they’ll say no or won’t reply. 

Enroll in that class to learn more about photography even though you’re afraid you’ll be bad at it. When you start small, you build confidence as you achieve these small tasks. Remember, the action is the goal, no matter what the result. If it doesn’t work out, that’s the learning experience. 

Embrace Positive Self Talk.

When you shift into a growth mindset about yourself, you start to internalize that you can get better at anything you put consistent effort into. Stop inwardly doubting yourself and stop outwardly minimizing your accomplishments. When someone congratulates you or recognizes a big accomplishment, say thank you! Don’t diminish your efforts by saying, “oh it was nothing” or “oh I’m sure it wasn’t”. 

Be confident in yourself, who you are and what you are good at. People want to be on the team of someone who believes in themselves. If you don’t believe you can do it, no one else will either. 

Create the Vision and Break it Down

When you are ready to push fear aside and dive into those big, hairy, scary goals, that’s when your confidence in yourself and your motivation matters. Just dreaming up and quantifying those goals on paper is a huge step. 

As we talk about a lot, the way to actually accomplish these goals is to break them down into small bite sized chunks and keep knocking them off one by one. Don’t let fear have a say. Yes, it’s going to be scary, but if you keep moving forward, and keep making progress, you will reach your goals. The bumps in the road, the no’s you get and your failures are the learning experiences. They are how you get better and grow stronger. 

So the next time you think you can’t do something, stop that thought process right there. You absolutely can. It will take a lot of effort and hard work, but you can do it. When you feel self doubt coming on, remember, why NOT you? You got this. Believe in yourself and others will too.