Self-doubt is scary.
Sometimes when I’m working on a project, I start to question my abilities. There are times where it only takes me a second before I go back and remember to get my confidence back. There are other times where it takes me longer to get my confidence back and I am filled with self-doubt.
Everyone goes through this. Everyone experiences self-doubt. Yet, not everyone has a good coping mechanism.
My journey with self-doubt is one that I am still at war with, yet I am thankful for how far I have come. I think my greatest inspiration has come from seeing others that I am close with succeed. As once said by Bruna Martinuzzi, “Highly successful people don’t let self-doubt derail them from what they set out to accomplish.”
This is true. I know so, because of my friend. My friend is a stellar 3-sport athlete. He dominates every time he plays football, basketball and baseball. This year he sacked the quarterback multiple times and, in football, that is pretty impressive. I remember thinking, if he even for a split second had a doubt in his mind, he wouldn’t have gotten to the quarterback in time. He had no time for self-doubt if he wanted to make a successful play.
Of course there were times where he wasn’t as successful. There were times where he missed the quarterback. But, he never let it get to him, he always moved on to the next play. I think this is a great analysis for life. When we make mistakes we often doubt ourselves the next time we try. We think that if we fail once, we are going to fail again. Or even times where we haven’t failed, but are granted a new opportunity. An opportunity out of our comfort zone. Maybe it’s a new position on a sports team, a promotion at work, a new job, or a role we are uncomfortable playing.
How can we stop our thoughts from rolling down the hills of self deprecation? How can we get ourselves to move on to the next play? It’s not going to be the same answer for everyone. We all need different outlets. I used to look at myself for the answers. Yet alone we can only do so much. Sometimes we need to look towards others for inspiration.
I have found myself looking towards my friend. Watching him make plays and find success has inspired me to be more like him. He inspires me to move on to the next plays in my life. When I get a bad grade I have learned to move on. When I lack confidence at work I have learned to move on.
Everyone has someone that they can look up to. It can be a sibling, a parent, a coach, a teammate, a coworker, a friend, it can be anyone. Regardless, it is up to you to surround yourself with people that help you grow in confidence . It’s up to you to follow people that guide you to the next steps needed to move you on to the next play.
