You may be a physician beginning your medical journey or seasoned faculty with years under your belt. No matter our experiences, we have all encountered uncertainty and self-doubt when faced with personal or professional challenges.

Unfortunately, many of us will default to feelings of self-doubt when we are faced with these challenges. 

Self-doubt can be that troubling, gnawing voice in your head that holds you back. It is the feeling that you are not good enough. It leaves you second-guessing yourself. Left unchecked, self-doubt will triumph over getting things done. It prevents you from achieving your goals. Or even worse, it prevents you from having big goals. Always playing safe by allowing that voice to rule over you will never lead you toward success.

So how do we move past these feelings and move forward, rather than let self-doubt hold us back? What changes can we make to empower us to be our best both at home and at work?

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/pskUABQIG7U” height=”300″ title=”Ep 109: 7 Actions That Will Conquer Self-Doubt”]

1. Accept (and Embrace) Self-Doubt

All successful people have or will experience self-doubt, but what sets them apart from others is they embrace it and use it as fuel to look at their present performance to learn and improve.  

To embrace your self-doubt means to accept it and be aware of it. When you are unable to face your feelings of self-doubt, your focus and energy may be used to distract yourself, minimize your situation or force yourself to stop thinking negative thoughts. 

We resist when we can’t face or are unwilling to deal with negative experiences and our negative thoughts. If we focus all our energy on avoiding what we feel, it will only grow in power and come back stronger, keeping us from making any changes and moving forward.  

Acknowledging your self-doubt is merely addressing it but not getting stuck by it. It’s realizing that your self-doubt may be there to try and help you and to protect you, but letting it know that it will not scare you or paralyze you. You can then choose to move forward and focus your energy on something that will help you make positive changes in your life. 

2. Accept that Failure Will Happen

When you are doing well in your life, it seems that you are unstoppable. However, we must anticipate and accept that there might be roadblocks and obstacles along the way. We are going to be faced with failure at certain times during our lives. Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow from our mistakes. It is an opportunity to try again, only this time with more experience and insight.  

Billionaire Sara Blakely was asked by her father daily during dinner, “What have you failed at this week?” This caused her to see failure as something that is just part of life and something that propelled her to keep trying.  

When she had an idea for an undergarment after cutting holes in the feet of her pantyhose, she took the idea to several manufacturers and was rejected. They laughed at her idea and refused to create it. She continued her search until a manufacturer who had refused her idea told his daughters about it. They persuaded him to develop her vision, which is now a billion-dollar brand called Spanx. She never let this rejection signal failure, discouraging her from trying again.  

3. Stop Comparing Yourself 

An essential step toward achieving wellness and preventing burnout is recognizing and living your internal scorecard. When we compare ourselves to others, we usually compare the best of their traits to the worst of ours. This simply is unfair, and we do this to ourselves regularly. Perhaps a colleague is better procedurally than you. Maybe a colleague is more efficient with documentation than you are. Whatever it is, ask yourself, “Am I comparing myself to a colleague to improve?”

Sometimes comparing ourselves to others is meant to motivate, but many times this behavior is destructive. Make sure you know the difference. Don’t let other people’s behavior drive yours. 

4. Be a Better Version of You Instead

The only game that you can win is being a better you–a better version of you. Begin to compare yourself to who you were in the past instead of other people. This changes your focus to one of progress. It’s not about what you lack but rather how far you’ve come.  

As I see it, we have two choices–you can continue to be someone else’s best, or you can focus on becoming your best, focusing on becoming 1% better every day. Many of us understand the concept of compounding. The term is used in finance commonly. Even Albert Einstein appreciated the power of compounding in a widely referenced quote “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it earns it…he who doesn’t…pays it.”

In 1 year, if you worked on getting 1% better every day, you would have improved 3800%. This concept is not new. In fact, this concept came from a depressive era where business management experts were challenging industries to look for small improvements on existing jobs rather than spending time and resources on overhauling a department. The Japanese were leaders in this and created the philosophy of Kaizen, which is the Japanese word for continuous improvement. 

5. Journal

The reality is, though, your self-doubt didn’t just start. It has been months and years (if not a lifetime) of doing this to ourselves. We can be our own worst critics, so take the time to incorporate some time to journal at the start and end of your day. 

For me, free form is best. My journaling tends to focus on contentment, gratitude, and visions of future success. I have also experimented with writing down negative thoughts and physically discarding them. 

Let me explain…

We all go through negative or difficult times in our lives. It can be from a bad (or hurtful) patient encounter. It could be from a strained relationship. Heck, it can be from just having a bad day. It’s the dwelling in the negative thoughts that hurts, though.

First, grab a piece of paper and write down your negative thought or experience. Start with a prompt such as “It was really hurtful when…” or “I felt down today because…”

Next, free write. Don’t censor yourself. Don’t correct grammatical errors…just write.

And finally, tear the paper up and throw it away! Yes, throw it away.

On some level, you may think this is silly, but research supports this. Dr. Richard Petty of Ohio State University did research that showed just that. By physically throwing away your thoughts, you mentally discard them as well. 

6. Action Beats Self-Doubt

According to Russ Harris (the author of The Confidence Gap: A Guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt), “The actions of confidence come first; the feelings of confidence comes later.” He mentions how the definition of confidence is “an act of trust or reliance” instead of “having a feeling of absolute certainty or assurance.” In other words, waiting for a feeling of absolute certainty may not happen at that moment, but trusting in your abilities creates space for you to take action when needed. Once you take action, you’ll bypass any thoughts or barriers before they block you from reaching your goals. 

He suggests trying these steps to help you move past your self-doubt and have confidence in your actions: 

1. Practice the skills
2. Apply them effectively
3. Assess the results 
4. Modify as needed 

These steps will help you move past self-doubt and create more confidence to act. 

He goes on to say that with action, “the key to peak performance is total engagement in the task.” Peak performance calls for us to practice skills with full engagement and focused attention. This requires us to be more mindful. It’s acknowledging your thoughts and discomfort yet focusing your energy on staying engaged in the present moment. When our actions are mindful, and our attention is focused, our performance is optimal.

7. Seek Support

Lastly, seek support from close friends and family. A shared burden is always lighter. You will be surprised that many of your close friends and colleagues share the same stress. Be open and honest and let them know you are going through a tough time and need some help. There is no need to face these challenges by yourself. Seek the support that you need.

Sometimes we may distract ourselves from self-doubt by constantly striving to prove ourselves to those around us. This often puts us around the wrong people who perpetuate this pattern. Your support system should free you to be yourself. It’s easier to support ourselves when the people we spend the most time with believe in us and support us.  

Start Today

Rather than let self-doubt hold us back, let’s conquer self-doubt by learning to accept and embrace it, focus on progress, and find solace in the people that bring out the best in us.   

Until next time, be good to yourself and each other.

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