Self-doubt
Hi, Thinking Out Loud here :D
Mindful Monday Week 17
Here is the link for this week's playlist. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qfa0bYWXe63QRhojyLVZv?si=54c8e8443a614a7a
I hope you enjoy listening to it whilst you read, and I hope you find the music relaxing.
If an ad plays during listening to the playlist, please stop reading and wait for the playlist to play again. Hopefully, the playlist will be timed for you to read to the end of this blog post, with maybe one song running over after reading.
Get a drink, maybe even a snack, and find a comfy seat so you can relax. Let go of all worries and enjoy the next five deep breaths. If you have breathing problems, please take an extra mindful moment here. For those joining me in the breathing exercise, breathe out.
Now time for your first deep breath; take one deep breath in through your nose for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. breath out through your mouth for five 1..2..3..4..5.. Hold for 1.. Breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. Breathe in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. two more to go; breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. last one deep breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. And out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. now go back to your regular breathing pattern. I hope you feel calm and relaxed.
It's easy for me to sit here and say that I never go through self-doubt, but we all know that isn't true, I doubt myself regularly, and I know I shouldn't. I could come up with hundreds of reasons as to why I do it and that it's easier to self-doubt. But I'm not going to use those excuses anymore, and here's why. I'm tired of not only me but people, in general, putting themselves down for things we are capable of doing. Why do we put ourselves down? It only ever leads to other people thinking it's ok to doubt us, and that's not ok. It's bad enough to doubt ourselves, but allowing it to be ok for others is a line that stops with us self-doubting.
It is so easy to say stop self-doubting until you put it into practice and begin to realise how hard it actually is, but without starting, nothing will change. So let's start by changing a few simple words; instead of saying I can't, say let's try; instead of saying that's too hard, say how can I break this down to make it easier. Instead of saying I'm not smart enough for this, try saying, what do I need to learn to be able to do this. These three examples are simple ways; of course, there are many more ways we can change our vocabulary to stop self-doubting. Try these the next time self-doubt starts to creep in; maybe even come up with your own ideas and share them in the comments below; I would love to read your suggestions.
Over time I think self-doubt has become part of day-to-day life, something that we have either learnt or, in some cases, been taught. For some, it might be so ingrained; I can imagine how hard it will be to change your viewpoint, but know that you are not alone. As wrong as it sounds to say, everyone goes through self-doubt, and I'm under no illusions that with one blog post, that will change. I know I still have moments of self-doubt though I am making a promise to myself and to you reading this blog post that I will do better and self-doubt less.
I hope today you make the same promise to yourself. I was going to say and make the promise to someone close to you, but making a promise to ourselves should be better than making a promise to another person. It should mean more if we break a promise to ourselves, as our lives will stay the same if we break that promise. So make the promise to you; make it mean more than it would if you were making it to a loved one.
Believe in yourself more than anyone ever could because you deserve to believe in yourself. You deserve to have so much self-love and awareness and be assured that you are capable of so much more than you think. Being proud starts with us, ourselves; stopping self-doubt or any other kind of doubt starts with ourselves; for it to grow to other people feeling the same about us, we have to believe wholeheartedly in ourselves.
When we believe in ourselves, what others say won't matter because we are strong within our own being; we don't need reassurance from others. Yes, it's nice hearing it from someone else, but when we have it in us already, hearing it from another person should be a bonus and not something that we need or that is anticipated or even expected because we were so used to not believing in ourselves because now we do believe in ourselves. We don't doubt ourselves because anything is possible. Anything can be broken down into stages or made easier if need be. Positive words are only a google search away if you struggle to find a way around doing something. Remember, there might even be a video tutorial for whatever you doubt yourself about on YouTube, so don't forget to look on there if you need to.
Let's finish with a three-deep breath breather.
Take one deep breath in through your nose for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. breath out through your mouth for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. and out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1.. final breath in for five 1..2..3..4..5.. hold for 1..2.. last breath out for five 1..2..3..4..5.. no hold here you can now go back to your regular breathing pattern.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this week's Mindful Monday. I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read them and listens to what I have to say.
Love always
Thinking Out Loud xx :D
Believe, try and don't give up. You can do so much more than you realise; put your mind to it and see what you can achieve when you believe in yourself.
