m e t h o d 3 1

I came across this article in my inbox today:

HOW TO MOVE PAST SELF-DOUBT AND DO THAT THING ANYWAY – the blissful mind

What Catherine had to say:

We constantly hold ourselves back from doing the things we believe would bring true meaning and purpose into our lives because there’s this constant fear that we’re not good enough.

I can’t think of a more timely post… The thing is… I feel like a fraud. That is my method of self-doubt.  I constantly live in this grey area of trying to help others improve while I’m still not sure of where I want to be.  You can even see it in my very first blog post where I wrote something like “Who am I to tell anyone about anything…?”

And it’s still true. I feel like there can’t be anything worthwhile in me to share. On top of that, I’ve been so undisciplined and thus unsuccessful with changes I’ve tried to implement in my life that I tend to feel like I’m not being true to myself when I do make a change for the better.  I’ll be doing really well for a week or two with my routines and productivity until I suddenly start to feel like I’m living in a fantasy world and that I can’t possibly have really made a change… That being said, I have recognized that it’s definitely Stinkin’ Thinkin’. And I’m pretty sick of it.

So I think I’ll actually try doing what I hoped to do with this blog: Try out different methods and let you know what works.  I’ve posted a few things along these likes such as a glimpse or two into my efforts with the konmari method and you can view them here, here, and here; but I want to move forward.  Even if that means failing forward.

So without further ado… here are my thoughts on the most recent post over at theblissfulmind.com

Step 01/ TRUST IN YOURSELF

Catherine tells us to believe that we’ll end up where we need to be even when we’re unsure.  Okay.  Dealing with the unknown is scary! Mistakes are one thing, and not a thing I’m terribly afraid of.  What I really worry about is that I can’t do something well enough to satisfy a client.  WOW.  I said it.  There it is.  But most of the time, my clients are fairly satisfied and if not, very willing to work with me to improve the situation.  So to eliminate my self-doubt, I will work towards trusting that

I can meet the individual needs of my clients or else work out a more achievable solution when the clients’ needs fall outside my capabilities.

Step 02/ ADJUST YOUR MINDSET

Many entrepreneurs face the challenge of never really knowing if something will work out and while I usually have a Tina Fey mindset ….

… I’ve got to remember to give myself credit for what I have accomplished. And this is soooo difficult for me, as I tend to focus on the negative or the next hurdle or what I could have done better before I even acknowledge that I’ve accomplished anything at all. This is actually something that my dear friend, Rachel, recently pointed out to me.  Oops.

Step 03/ TAKE BABY STEPS

I think it’s fair to say that I’m taking a step here just by going forward with responding to this encouraging post.  However, Catherine reminds us that you have to keep taking these baby steps every day…

Just one small step every single day is what it takes to get you past this fear and doubt.