4 Things To Do When You Start Doubting Yourself
Am I doing this right? Am I good enough? What if it doesn't work?
We've all been at the point where we've hit a wall and start wondering if we've made the "right" decisions? When life seems to be handing you blow after blow and that inner voice starts creeping in to plant little seeds of doubt.
This happens to me when I've been working too much and too hard. Where I begin to feel overwhelmed by the endless amount of things that require my attention and my time. Followed by never feeling like I have enough of either.
When I'm this rundown, I'm at my weakest and sometimes my meanest when it comes to how I treat myself. These destructive thoughts start revealing themselves only to feed my self doubt.
When this starts happening here is what you can do to take back control over your own thoughts.
TURN THE TABLES ON YOURSELF
I actually learned this from my therapist and it's become a helpful tool to drown out the negative thoughts. I was telling her about how I bombed an audition and I wasn't feeling very good about myself, my capabilities, and started questioning if I should be doing this at all?
Her question to me, "What would you say to someone who said, 'Yeah, you're right, maybe you shouldn't be doing this. You gave it a shot and you just aren't good enough.' Would you believe them?"
My reply, "Well first off who are they to tell me that? I've only been doing this for a brief period of time. This career choice takes a long time to see through. I'm working and competing with actors who have been at this a lot longer than me. Plus look at all I've accomplished in such a short amount of time!"
Turning the tables on yourself has squashed out many of my self-doubting tendencies and you can see why. The point of this is to think about how you would react if someone actually said to you all the mean things you are saying to yourself. I bet you start realizing the victories (even the small ones) you've managed to accomplish.
REMEMBER THERE ARE NO MISTAKES
I've always told myself I never want to live with the regret of knowing I had the opportunity to do something I wanted to do but didn't take it. In the same breath, I also remember saying I hope I'm not going to wake up at 50 years old and regret making the decisions I've made. A true contradiction I know, I'm only human.
When fear of making the "right" choice starts creeping into my head I remember another point cleverly made by my therapist.
"I've had more people come to me full of regret over what they didn't do verses what they did do. So trust me when I say you're doing it right."
Now if anyone is gonna know regret and how it effects people we know damn well it'll be a therapist
WHY DID YOU START?
When the road begins to get rough and you start loosing strength to keep yourself going remember why you started the journey to begin with. No matter where you are along the path to get to where you want to be you will be tested. You will fail, you will hit breaking points, you will start to loose your faith but if you remember why you started I guarantee you will find your momentum again.
Sometimes we all need a reminder why it's worth it.
SLEEP
Never underestimate the power of some good ole fashion SLEEP! I find after getting some much needed rest I'm able to easily push out the negative thoughts and feelings that arise when things get difficult. When you are rested you have the power and strength to see situations clearly without the "do or die" lens that an overworked mind sees.
The power of sleep isn't stressed enough. I know in today's society it's seen as a badge of honor that people operate off of less and less sleep but in all honesty it's proven that the less sleep you have the less productive you are. And trust me being productive is way more important than being busy.
I'm for sure guilty of being apart of Team No Sleep but I also notice that I don't operate as efficient as I do when I've gotten enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is still something I'm working on but we are making progress.