For any task, confidence is a pre-requisite, so to say. Just like how this very confidence has the potential to achieve the unattainable, the lack of belief on self can destroy a person. That this is one of the first lessons in personality development is well-known.
Now, it is practically not possible to be confident all the time. So what happens when self-doubt creeps in and threatens to play spoilsport? This is the issue that is addressed by Isa Adney, a writer and TV host, in her recent write-up, "Why Self-Doubt Might Be the First Step to Success?".
Adney's experience with celebrated writer Elizabeth Gilbert, is an inspiring take on how to tackle self-doubt.
Excerpts from the story:
"Elizabeth Gilbert is a few feet away from me. My heart is pounding (I might even be sweating a little bit) and I can feel my hands shaking. My shortness of breath is partly due to my first time being in the presence of a female New York Times best-seller (something I aspire to be), but also because below my mouth is a microphone something I haven’t used in a really long time".
The author who describes herself as 'exposed and scared', puts forth her nervousness in asking Gilbert, a question that has been on her mind for two years now.
Motivating herself to 'show up, afraid', she eventually manages to take up the mic and ask the said question "Lin-Manuel Miranda (actor-composer-writer) said that self-doubt is like ‘rocket fuel’ and that it can blow up your ship if you don't channel it right.
Have you ever felt like self-doubt was about to blow up your proverbial ship, and if so how do you channel it right?”
The author says, she was awe-struck at Gilbert's reply to the query, and that it had brought a profound change in her views that used to be, "Try less. Don’t care anymore. Put away unbridled enthusiasm. Choose cynicism. That’s what adults are supposed to do".
According to the report, Gilbert's answer which made Adney refer to the line in Hamilton, a musical- “When you've got skin in the game you stay in the game, but you don't get a win unless you play in the game."
So what exactly was Gilbert's reply to Adney's self-doubt?
According to her, "self-doubt is not a sign you are doing things wrong that the nasty voice is not speaking truth, but that also (even with the kind of wild success she’s had) it doesn’t ever go away".
With the revelation, Adney says, she was in awe of the way the senior author had put her views across on the sensitive issue. While trying to figure out the inner meaning of 'skin in the game', Adney says she "started to reframe her own self-doubt.
She starts to see it as a sign that she is taking off protective armor. That maybe her self-doubt is actually a sign of bravery".
Once she realises what the metaphor actually meant, she begins to self-analyse on the other crucial aspects of doubting oneself. Each time a person feels dejected and down by the belief that he or she is not worthy, Adney says, the feeling is, "really just a lie to distract you from the amazing thing you’re trying to do".
When one understands this, the next step, she says is to face the challenge head-on. Calling 'vulnerable' as 'powerful', she states, "The key to success is showing up, despite fear. And that this fear is not a sign that we are doing it wrong. It's a sign to tell us that what we are doing is exactly right".
And it is this belief on ourselves, that makes us 'risk the cuts, scrapes and bruises' for the 'warmth of a hug'.
Courtesy : www.success.com
