Every seaworthy ship must have an anchor.
An anchor is a heavy metal object attached to ship by a chain
When the captain of the ship orders the anchor away, the anchor is lowered to the sea bed.
The purpose of the anchor is to keep the ship in one place.
Without the anchor, the ship would drift away from its current position.
The anchor keeps the ship steady in one place until it’s time for the ship to sail onto another destination.
Many times when I’m doing something that takes me out of my comfort zone, I experience self-doubt.
At times the self-doubt can become so intense that I allow it to paralyze me.
I start running multiple scenarios through my mind of what I should or shouldn’t do.
I start calculating the nightmares that will result from pushing myself beyond my comfort zone.
These self-doubts can be quite vicious at times.
I question my original intentions on doing something that makes me uncomfortable.
These self-doubts become more potent with each moment I let them dwell in my mind.
The surest way to get past the self-doubt is to do the thing that I am doubting.
When I take action, I usually am glad that I take action.
Despite knowing that taking action is the surest way to get past my self-doubts, I don’t always act immediately.
The self-doubt tends to go round and round and become more intense with each rotation.
In order to break the cycle of self-doubt, I must interrupt the thought patterns and redirect them towards more productive thoughts.
I’ve started applying a new strategy to my self-doubts.
I start using an anchor from my past to help me move past the self-doubts.
I’ll ask myself questions to change the thought loop that goes through my head.
Here are some of the questions I ask myself.
When was a time in the past I was successful?
What is the worst thing that can happen when I take action?
What occurred the last time I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone?
By asking myself these questions and answering the questions, I start to point my thinking away from the doubts and towards times when I was successful.
By pointing my thoughts towards my past successes, I add some confidence to my thinking.
I also change the emotions I’m currently feeling.
I’ve found that this anchoring process is changing the way I look at self-doubts now.
Now when I feel self-doubt, I’m viewing that as a signal that I’m pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.
Self-doubt is now becoming an anchor that I’m doing something that will improve my life.
Growth in my life only occurs when I push myself outside of my comfort zone.
Growth only occurs when I allow myself to become vulnerable.
When I enter that land of vulnerability, I become much like a ship that is facing a storm.
I need to lower the anchors so that I don’t drift away when the fierce winds of the storm pound down on me.
By anchoring my thoughts to past successes, I give myself stability in the storm of self-doubt.
Recent Comments