Have you ever experienced your self-doubt, asking yourself questions such as, “Do I have the guts to do this?” “Am I good enough?” “What happened the last time I tried doing something similar,” when you are planning or about to do something remarkable.

But you know what, it’s not just you, everybody experiences something similar from time to time. I do, you do, and that random person strolling in the street does too. That’s because self-doubt is quite natural and it happens to everyone. Even people like Olympians, magicians and actors who have practiced their art and skills for hundreds of hours, end up doubting themselves.

Nothing could be far from the truth if someone exclaims that they don’t doubt their abilities, skills and talents at all. It’s there, it has been there and most probably it will stay there, you just need to know how to tame your self-doubt.

So, one might ask, if everyone has self-doubts, then what sets top performers apart from the rest? The answer is simple, they have doubts but they just don’t let it paralyse them and know how to deal with it.

Now the point of discussion is what are those techniques or ways that one can utilise to try to silence the inner self-doubt. Well, there are numerous such techniques, but not every technique works for everyone because everybody has different circumstances and a different set of experiences.

I’m sharing three techniques that I personally believe come in handy in this regard and you can try them too.

Do it anyway

Like mentioned earlier, everyone has doubts, the ones who succeed are not the ones who have conquered it but the ones who just did it even though the doubts were there. Being full of doubts is completely normal, but letting it stop you is a choice. You just need to master the art of not being bothered by those doubts during the process.

It has been observed that when you endeavour to do something, knowing that the doubts are still there, they tend to blur and not get in your way. So, you don’t need to crush them, but learn how to dance with them.

Don’t feed it too much attention

Self-doubt overtakes you when you feed it excessive attention. It in fact grows to be a bigger monster when given more consideration. So, try just to ignore it or listen to it partly.

Intentionally divert your attention to something else and don’t give your mind enough time to multiply these doubtful thoughts. Eventually, you will observe that the doubts no more serve as a hindrance in your way.

Don’t focus too much on results

Most often, you are too concerned about the results and that’s where self-doubt makes its way to the surface. For instance, you are more likely to doubt yourself when you are uncertain — you worry whether you will be able to pass that test, win that game, or complete a certain task. What you need to do in situations like these is to put your best work in and leave it there. Don’t just dwell on the outcome. Engage yourself in some other activity and try not to ruminate about the result.

Finally, I would say it’s completely normal to doubt ourselves. All of us do that, especially during this pandemic time when everything is uncertain. But, letting it cripple you and stop you from getting what you deserve is of concern. However, the good thing is we can vanquish this inner voice and stop it from serving as an obstacle in our way by implementing the right techniques at the right time.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 18th, 2021