Beware! Self-doubt kills the potential

Photo by Tachina Lee on Unsplash

In order to take up a challenging task and complete it, we should be completely aware of our potential, believe in ourselves, and should not lose confidence in our abilities till we complete the task. If we ever aim low or got a hang-up about attaining the goal, a strong reason could be our self-doubt or lack of confidence in our abilities. The power of self-confidence makes anything possible, while the negative power of self-doubt makes even a possible thing impossible.

A bumble bee can fly even though its body is not aerodynamically structured, though its wings are too small and weak to lift its bulky body, because it doesn't doubt its potential. Hence it focuses only on effort without being anxious about the result. Nature has a lesson for us from this small creature- 'Do not doubt your abilities'.

Photo by Agustin Fernandez on Unsplash

Sometimes, self-doubt may creep into our mind from our surroundings, we can't rule out this possibility. In 1783, when Marquis demonstrated his newly-invented steamboat before a large crowd of people, some person in the crowd made a shout-out, "The boat cannot go forward." In a few minutes when the boat successfully glided on the waters, the person again cried out, "The boat cannot stop." Such black sheep in a situation could try to fill our minds with self-doubt, but we need to insulate against them. It is important to keep our plans away from such negative people until we achieve our goals to a considerable extent. Do not forget the rotten apple principle- negativity can be infectious.

To avoid self-doubt, it is important to surround ourselves by positive people; they are our well-wishers and encourage self-confidence in us. We need also to positively visualize about successfully accomplishing goals in order to build confidence in ourselves. We need to close our eyes and visualize ourselves performing the tasks successfully or reaching the goals, before we actually do them in physical world. Also, very helpful in beating self-doubt is the realistic self-talk. It is helpful to remember our past successes, however small they may be, and feel proud about them. If we could be successful in one thing, why can't we be successful in another thing? We need to build a positive self-image. 

Fully and realistically exploring the abilities in us, we should always affirm to ourselves, "I can do it."