As much as anyone, I have been plagued by self-doubt over the years, in a range of situations, and this can send my attitude spiralling into anxiety and negativity, troubled by my own sense of being ineffective and my feeling I should be doing ‘something’.
Nowadays, having learned from such experiences, soon after I notice the onset of my anxious or annoyed ‘I should be doing this or that now’ attitude, I remind myself of the times I have shifted my experience and kick started a positive change.
It’s worth us all remembering, a bad attitude tends to be rooted (and justified) in the recent past and is confirmed by (and influences) its immediate likely future. A good attitude tends to be rooted in the opposite, the likely (or intended) immediate future and then justified or confirmed or bolstered by the recent past.
Shifting from bad to good is not easy and depending on our needs and concerns, it’s not always simple but equally it can be. There is lots of great advice out there for coping with self-doubt, here are some attitude shifters that help me to simplify, relieve my self-doubt and re-boot my attitude!
1. Revisit Your True Values - What is it you are aiming to achieve and what is important to you in reaching your goal? Defining your ethics and values and staying true to them will enable you to cut through a lot of the confusion around decision making and give you clarity of purpose.
2. Know Your Stuff- It may sound simple and that’s because it is. The more you apply yourself with an open mind to understanding the intricacies of your line of work, the less reason you have to doubt yourself and the more confident you will become. Research and embrace your place as a continual learner. By accepting that you are always learning you also accept you don’t need to be perfect and you can strive to improve.
3. Nurture Relationships – Take a little time to nurture the right relationships around you - the people we surround us with influence our moods and attitude – positively and negatively.
4. Be Brave - Embrace the reality and humility that you don’t have all the answers and the equal reality that you don’t need to have them. This will help to free you from fear of failure and once you embrace that so you can stop making excuses. It is ok to fail as it is ok to succeed – we should embrace both as opportunities to build upon and celebrate the benefits both can have.
Simply taking a walk outside, with a little peace around you, and visiting the above four shifters can help you to re-locate your positive attitude and diminish some of the rising self-doubt.
Overall, the attitude reboot should lead you to a middle ground - the gap where things are actually just taking place and you are just being. Heightening your self-awareness and giving you an alternate angle through which you can view events. Soon after that, the rest can take care of itself.
Keep it simple.