9. Enlist The Support Of Mastermind Groups, Mentors, Friends And Family
“A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.”— Steven Pressfield
When in self-doubt, find the evidence to the contrary of what your self-doubt is making you believe.
When you reach out to people and enlist their support and mentorship, you are getting a valuable new perspective on how to get through self-doubt.
However, you need to be very picky on who you allow to give you advice. Only pick the people that you cherish to be around and who you aspire to become. People who criticize and judge you may have something to teach you also but in the fragile state of self-doubt, it is best to limit the naysayers.
When you feel self-doubt, you may gravitate towards saying no to opportunity and new experiences. What is a great way to get beyond that? If you say: “yes, I can do it” instead of saying no and nipping everything in the bud, you have a better chance at getting beyond self-doubt.
“Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no.” – Richard Branson
The staff at Virgin have a name for Branson and it is “Dr. Yes.”
Branson explains that the reason they call him that is because he is not willing to take no for an answer and refrains from saying no to things.
Branson’s strategy is simple and it is to find all the reasons to do something rather than not do them.
In the book, Screw it, Let’s do it, Branson says that the little word “cannot” or “can’t” should not be something that stops you from doing what you really would love to do in your life.
His motto in life that he practices abundantly is “screw it, let’s do it!”
He says:
“If you don’t have the right experience to reach your goal, look for another way in. Keep your eyes open. Look and learn. You don’t have to go to art school to be a fashion designer. Join a fashion company and push a broom. Work your way up.”
Action Tips:
Enlist the support of mentors and others who uplift you when you are in self-doubt by being shining beacons of encouragement and example.
Do not gravitate towards saying no to everything. Say “yes, I can do this.”
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