Self-doubt and fear interfere with our ability to achieve or set goals. Self-doubt and fear are the voices in our head telling us, “You’ll never succeed, so why try?” and “who do you think you are?” Self-doubt and fear are also what make us listen to those voices and decide to give up before we get started.

Self-doubt and fear are also what make us listen to those voices and decide to give up before we get started.

When we let self-doubt and fear rule our lives, we miss opportunities. We predict and believe that nothing good will happen to us, so we don’t try anything new, and refuse to take even low-level risks. This leads us to discount people or situations that could help us reach our goals. While self doubt and fear can come in different forms and from different sources, we can learn to break through them. the vicious cycle of self-doubt and fear

I know what it’s like to live with self-doubt and fear. For years my life was ruled by these feelings. I grew up in a lower income family in the Bronx, New York. I heard over and over again that people like us could never really be successful. As early as kindergarten my teacher told my mother I was slow and not to expect too much from me. I was put in the slow-learners class. In reality, I was very smart but bored. My next teacher recognized this and moved me from the slow-learners class to the the advanced class. But I still had my voices telling me: “You’ll never make it. You’ll never be popular”. I felt I wasn’t as good as other people because I didn’t have the money and nice clothes that some of the other girls had. I was also shy and not in the popular crowd. I internalized outside messages.