Do you struggle with self-doubt? Do you find yourself listening to your inner critic? Perhaps you often wonder if you’ve made the right decision to launch your business while working full-time. Or maybe your mind is filled with negative thoughts that keep you from stepping out on faith.

Know the worst thing about self-doubt? Your fears often become self-fulfilling prophecies.

On the other side of the coin, when you take action to overcome self-doubt with positive thinking, more things in your life automatically turn out better. When your self-confidence is high, your decision-making skills are strengthened, others are drawn to you in social situations, you produce higher quality work, and you’re more able to create the life you desire.

Here’s how you can silence your inner critic and negative thoughts, reboot your self-confidence, and be ready to receive the opportunities awaiting you:

• Stop and think. Reflect on why you’re experiencing feelings of doubt. Think about the events that triggered feelings of insecurity. Being faced with a challenge that you don’t feel you’re capable of successfully completing can be a major cause of self-doubt.
• Do you have a habit of putting yourself down? You may be subconsciously replaying negative thoughts about past failures and rejection that prevent you from moving forward. Thoughts like “I can’t do this” and “I’m not good enough” become excuses to hide from new experiences and opportunities that could benefit you and your business.
• Realize that making mistakes doesn’t make you a bad or incompetent person – it simply makes you human. Often, when you feel insecure about your abilities, you start berating yourself. Beating yourself up over something you feel you did wrong only leads to a damaging cycle of frustration and procrastination.
• Make a decision to accept that while you’re not perfect, you are someone who strives to do the best job possible. Consider that every challenge in life is an opportunity to learn something and grow as a person.

The next time you have a self-doubting thought, take a few moments to think about why you believe this is true. If insecurities are getting the better of you because of past failures, you must resolve to live in the moment. As they say – your history does not determine your destiny.

As soon as you catch negative thoughts clouding your vision, replace the defeating self-talking with positive thinking. Remind yourself of how you can do it and you are good enough. Make the switch each and every time you have a self-doubting thought. Soon you’ll develop a habit of thinking positively about yourself and your abilities.

Your Next Best Move

Make an appreciation file. Keep track of those kind words of appreciation you receive from others. When moments of self-doubt cast a shadow over your brilliance, it’s easy to forget about the wonderful comments you’ve received for doing things that made other people’s lives better. When you hear the voice of your inner critic whispering to you, take out your appreciation file and read all the positive messages.

In Closing: Self-doubt and negative thoughts can rob you of the opportunity to live on purpose, work your passion and deliver your gifts to those waiting for your brilliance to show up. We all struggle with self-doubt once in a while – the key is to quickly confront your inner critic using positive thinking. Implementing the ideas above will enable you to push through your self-doubt, boost your confidence, and open the door for you to create more prosperity aligned with your passion and purpose.

 For more support in getting rid of your inner critic, we recommend:

• Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way

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