Month: October 2019

Self doubt can affect us all at some point or another.

That feeling that you get when you’re about to do something new, that gives you thoughts like:

‘What are you doing this for?’ 

‘What will other people think?

Am I doing this right?

Although at the time it can feel rubbish, and even cause you to back away, it’s actually there for a reason.

You see, your subconsious brain is trying it’s best to keep you safe. That’s its primary function, and it does this by keeping you in your comfort zone, as it know’s that you’re safe there.

The thing is, that even though knowing this is helpful, we’re not actually meant to stay stagnant.

So what can you do to overcome self doubt, so you can keep moving forwards?

1. Keep a celebration journal

This is such a simple tip but works an absolute treat.  Here’s how it works – Get a notebook and pen and put them at the side of your bed. Then every night before you go to sleep, write down at least 3 things that have gone well that day. These could be big or small it doesn’t matter as long as there’s at least 3.

What this does is start to help you to focus on the positives that are happening all the time, and not just the negatives. PLUS as a bonus benefit you’ve also got something to look back on when you need a pick me up.

2. Look for the next small step

Often when we’re struggling with self doubt it’s tricky to move forwards as you’re thinking about the ‘what if’s’ and ‘maybe’s. By looking for the next small step that you can take it doesn’t feel as overwhelming and it still moves you forwards.

3. Tell your fear to take a back seat

As Elizabeth Gilbert said in her book Big Magic: “Your fear should always be allowed to have a voice, and a seat in the vehicle of your life. But whatever you do — don’t let your fear DRIVE.”

Have a word with your fear and lay down some ground rules. Yes it’s got a purpose, but it’s not there to hold you back – and then look for that next small step that you can take.

4. Change your inner talk

How you talk to yourself really does matter, so have a go at switching your inner talk by creating a positive affirmation. An affirmation is a positive sentence that you say to yourself throughout the day to keep you in the right frame of mind. The best one’s start with ‘I’ and are always in the present tense. For example ‘I am having a great day’ ‘I am safe’ ‘I am feeling great.’

5. Know that you’ll handle it.

As Susan Jeffers says in her book ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’ whatever happens ‘you’ll handle it.’  This is a great affirmation to have in the back of your mind because it’s true, and it really takes the pressure off of what you’re about to do.

I’d love to hear your tips on side stepping self doubt. Let me know your thoughts, questions and tips by leaving a comment and if you’d like to keep working on your mindset, come and join us in the Smash Your Own Ceiling Academy

You know that feeling when you’ve got far too much to do?

When you don’t know where to start, and you feel completely and utterly overwhelmed?

That feeling when you take one look at your to do list and your fight or flight response well and truly kicks in?

You might get annoyed about the fact there’s too much to do, panic and want to run away, or freeze and feel paralysed not knowing where to start.

The thing is that even though you might be feeling this way, at some point you need to do something about it.

So, what’s the answer?

Check out the following 5 steps…

Step 1 – Remove what you don’t have to do.

I guarantee that there’ll be things on your list that if you didn’t do them nothing major would happen – even if you have a feeling that you need to do everything – you don’t! So start here and be brutal. Go down your list and remove anything that you really don’t have to do. These tasks are nice to have’s, a someday task, but certainly not a this day task. You can put these on another list if you want, but get them off your main one.

Step 2 – See what you can delegate or outsource

This is something not enough people do. Seriously, you don’t have to do everything – in fact, you shouldn’t do everything!

Go through your list, and circle any task that has to be done, but just not by you, and delegate or outsource it. Yes, you might want to do it. Yes you might think and feel that it’s quicker if you do it yourself, but in reality it’s not a good use of your time, energy, and brain power, so pass them to someone else.

Step 3 – Put them in order of importance

Go through your list and write down when each task needs to be done. Now, what I’m talking about here is when do they actually, really have to be done. Not when you’d like to have them done by so they’re no longer on your list.

Step 4 – Put them in order of deadline

Re-write your list into a much cleaner version (with steps 1 and 2 taken off) and with all the important tasks in order of deadline.

Step 5 – Get started on task #1

Focus on the first task first, and don’t stop until it’s finished. You’ll feel much better once something is crossed off your list.

BONUS – If you need to, shut yourself off so you can focus on these tasks. This might mean closing your office door for a while. It might mean re-locating to a quiet room or it might mean turning off your phone for a while. If you need to, communicate to your team or the people around you what you’re doing, and get cracking.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on dealing with overwhelm, feel free to leave a comment or share with someone who might need to hear this too.