This past February I celebrated my 10th year in business as Alter Ego Fitness Experience. Time sure flies when you’re following your passion. I wanted to share with everyone one of the most common pitfalls I’ve come across, in that time, during training with friends/clients – training the mind and overcoming self doubt.
It doesn’t just happen during training, I also find this type of negative self doubt when talking with prospective clients wanting to start an exercise program or even participate at what they feel is their “level”.
So, with that in mind, I wanted to share with you some of what worked for me when I was training for various events (running, paddling, MOMAR) and also share with you some thoughts I’ve gleaned from the experts in the field of “mind training” and other athletes who’ve encountered these doubts themselves.
We all have them. They can hit us any time – self doubts. Sometimes, when we don’t stop them soon enough, and work on training the mind, we can self sabotage or scare ourselves into a fear that stops us from going forward.
Self doubt is like a thief – it steals the possibilities from your life. It makes your experience of being alive much less rich because you don’t take risks; it takes away your desire to achieve anything much of value, and it lessens the joy you could have from living a full life, leaving you unhappy and poorer in spirit because you really know you could be more, do more, and give so much more.
So, how do we stop self-doubt from sabotaging our goals and ambitions? Here are a few techniques and tips for you to try out next time it appears:
First… Believe in Yourself
Want to know something, a fact you might have forgotten because no one’s told you for a while? You are a unique and talented person with the potential to be successful. Sounds cheesy? I don’t mind, because it happens to be a reality. Accepting this as a statement of truth is the foundation of beating self doubt. Believe it.
The first step in defeating self doubt is not to ignore it or pretend it will go away. It’s impossible to defeat a problem unless you acknowledge it exists and bring it out into the open. Instead, we need to face our self doubt full on and see it for what it is – a form of fear to be conquered. It’s only by recognising this fear that we can get on with what needs to be done, in spite of it.
The most effective antidote to self doubt is to take action. That might sound obvious, but it isn’t quite so simple when you don’t believe in your abilities. The solution to this is to devise a plan on how you’ll reach your goal. The key is in the preparation: you might need to study and gather further information or train and practice with a new skill. By preparing yourself, when self doubt appears you can be reassured that: “I’m ready for this moment. I can do it”.
When you do start off on the journey to achieving your goal, take small steps to ease yourself in. Rome wasn’t built in a day so don’t take on too much. As you start seeing results your confidence will increase and you can tackle larger parts of your plan. Nothing breeds confidence like a little success!
Appreciate Your Accomplishments
Whenever I’m confronted with self doubt, one tactic that helps me is to devote some time and space to reflect on the things I’ve already achieved and succeeded at. I let the positive memories play around in my mind until my mood changes and I start feeling better. These don’t have to be on a grand scale to matter – those little “wins” count too.
Keep a Record of Achievement
It’s useful to have a ready supply of “feel good” reminders at hand. Try keeping a diary or journal in which you write down a list of all the things you achieve on a daily basis. Looking back over this will help you keep track of what you can do, rather than highlighting what you didn’t do.
Surround Yourself With Supporters
It often helps to discuss your fears and doubts with people you are close to. Other folks are much more likely to be objective about your feelings, and their advice and encouragement can help cut through your insecurities. Along your route to your goals, you will have found the friends/colleagues/tribe that has supported you in all the right ways by adding new found supporters and eliminating some of those who haven’t been the best at helping you achieve your goals.
Stop Being So Hard on Yourself
Finally, here’s the bottom line – you’re only human! So, there will be times where you’ve succeeded and/or where you have had bad experiences. I don’t use the words “failure” or “mistake” or “regret”, these are negative words that bring up negative feelings. I have experiences and decisions that I learn from and if I can dissect these experiences and decisions I can learn a great deal from them. One of the greatest runners of all time Gary Robbins (of the infamous Barkley Marathons), said it best: “I make the best decisions I can with the information I have access to in that moment. If at a later time that decision is shown to be flawed then I step back and take a lesson from it and move forward.”
You can’t avoid self doubt as it’s a natural reaction to pursuing your dreams and stretching beyond the limits of the life you’re accustomed to. But, self doubt shouldn’t be the reason to stop trying to live as fully and as breathtakingly as you can.
When you next come face-to-face with self doubt, recognize it and take a few minutes to readjust your focus using the tips and techniques suggested above. Then, you can stare it down and still have the confidence to move onwards to achieving your goals.
In finishing I would like to share with you one of my all time favourite quotes (I also use this as a mantra for myself when the training or the experience gets tough) “When the body is strong and the mind is weak, the result is insubordination. Train your mind as well as your body.”
Take yourself to your next level by overcoming your fears and training to the best of your ability. Join Alter Ego Fitness Experience and let me help you overcome any doubt and achieve those goals!
Loreli’s company, Alter Ego Fitness Experience, offers Personal Training, Group Fitness (boot camp) and YogaFit training options. Her passion for overall health and wellness, and her innate ability to sense a client’s personal struggles, enables her to assist them to get to their next level and to, ultimately, find their “alter ego”!
“Overall health and fitness is a journey, not a destination!“