“Why do I doubt myself?”
Have you ever wrestled with this question? Everyone with a dream, a sense of destiny, has struggled with this at some point on their journey.
I have wrestled with self-doubt, even as I started to make progress toward realizing my dreams. But through that struggle, I realized that doubt is a liar and that I could push past it to unleash the champion in me.
I believe that you can, too!
Refuse to doubt yourself. Reject the lie that you are not enough and choose to believe that you have what it takes to live the life for which you were destined.
I love this quote by Walt Disney: “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Adding to that, I believe that our dreams are just fantasy if they are only held in our minds. We must take a step toward making those dreams a reality.
Dreams are seeds for the future. They prepare you for amazing opportunities, and this is what doubt tries to keep from you. But you can turn your dreams into reality and release the champion in you!
Today, get ready to act by expanding your dreams! Specifically, start by determining the resourcesyou need to overcome self-doubt holding you back from your dream.
What do I mean by resources? Webster’s Dictionary defines “resources” as a source of supply or support, an available means.
Often when we talk about resource, we equate it with money. Money is just one of many resources that enable your dreams to become reality.
Here are four resources available to you:
1. Time
Time is one of your most valuable resources.
Often, we do not realize how we are spending our time. Because of this, one of the first items I do with new clients is have them track every minute of their day for a week.
Most think they have their time under control—until they have kept the log for a week. Then, they realize the five minutes they spent viewing Facebook or Instagram was thirty minutes, and they were doing it three or four times a day.
Or they recognized that their forty-hour workweek was really fifty hours per week.
Please, hear me. there is no judgment in how you spend your time.
This is your choice. However, most of us do not realize the amount of time we spend on something!
At first, I was just as guilty of not knowing where my time was going. It took me years of wasting time to understand how I work. But now, I make it a habit to keep my eye on the clock when scanning my Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook accounts. I quit at the allotted time.
It is the same when I decide to stop by Marshalls and see what’s new. I give myself a time limit for how long I can browse.
Recently, I was asked to serve on the Board of Directors for a company. My first questions were, “What is required of me? Not only in skill, but also in time?”
With my full schedule, I have learned that if I say “yes” to something, that means saying “no” to something else. Learning to say no help me release any self-doubt I had about the task because I had the time and brain space to focus on that main thing.
This carries over to my coaching. I set a limit on the number of clients I accept to ensure that they get my best, which makes their investment even more valuable.
Do you have an accurate account of your time?
Take this challenge! Spend the next week logging every minute and then calculate the categories at the end of the week. See how you spend your time.
This is important if you want to have as much time as you can for your life, dreams, family, and fun.
You may have to make some tough choices.
You may need to release some time commitments that are good but are not the best for you.
When you are convinced that you are spending your time on the best, doubt does not have a chance.
2. People
People are a great resource. You cannot do without them.
Think about who has inspired your life. Was it a parent, a teacher, a leader?
My mom is the person who inspired me the most. She was a champion for me and others, encouraging us in our gifts and dreams for the future.
There are others out there who have forged the path for us, and we can learn from them.
Richard Branson, the entrepreneur who started Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, and now Virgin Group comprised of four hundred companies, is worth 4.9 billion, according to Forbes.
Here is what most do not know about him:
Branson is dyslexic and had poor academic performance. On his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson, told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire.
Talk about an opportunity for doubt to overtake him!
But instead of listening to the doubt put upon him by others, he pushed past it and released a champion.
He chose to dream above a millionaire—he chose BILLIONAIRE.
You can accomplish anything—regardless of your challenges.
Listen to Branson’s words:
“My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them…from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it.”
He started with a magazine called Student. After interviewing several prominent personalities, including Mick Jagger, this venture ended up leading him to start his record company.
One of Branson’s early employees suggested the name “Virgin” because they were all new at business.
Branson’s first successful entry into the airline industry was during a trip to Puerto Rico. His flight was cancelled, so he decided to charter his own plane and offered a ride to the rest of the stranded passengers for a small fee to cover the cost.
He ended up selling his record company to support his airline, Virgin Airlines.
Branson is a high-risk taker. He set his sight on a dream and sought out the right people to help him make it a reality.
People are an amazing resource you cannot do without, and they are all around you. You will discover amazing people around you just by asking questions.
When you connect with their expertise through books, podcasts, and blogs, you grow in the skill and confidence needed to overcome self-doubt and reach your goal.
3. Opportunity
You never know when an opportunity will present itself.
Richard Branson had a need after a cancelled flight, so he chartered a plane. He saw an opportunity: the other passengers also needed a ride. The door opened for a whole new thought: starting an airline.
The process of going from dreaming to resources to reality is being able to recognize an opportunity when it presents itself and maximizing it.
I started my website, podcast, and blog at the request of my book agent, but it was not long before I realized that this was exactly the venue I needed to reach a wider audience.
Through my podcasts especially, I can help people:
- Live to their fullest potential
- Discover their strengths
- Live their dreams
- Be dynamic, effective leaders
- Thrive through challenges
- Have incredible relationships with their spouse and children
It was an opportunity that began with a different purpose, but it turned out to be a dream that I had been unsure how to launch. But I do not doubt myself anymore.
I LOVE DOING THIS!
4. Courage
We do not think of courage to take a risk as a resource, but if we never step out in courage and turn our back on self-doubt, our dream will never come to life.
John Maxwell wrote a book called Failing Forward. It is a great book that teaches you that when you take risks and fail, do not FAIL BACKWARDS. Let the failure push you forward.
Here is a great quote from his book:
“Determining what went wrong in a situation has value. But taking that analysis another step and figuring out how to use it to your benefit is the real difference maker when it comes to failing forward. Don’t let your failure lead to only knowledge; let your failing lead to action.”
When things don’t go as we planned, figure out where to go from here, and what could have been done to prevent the failure.
Let me tell you one of my craziest failures.
Once I was handling an incentive trip for a large tech company. Their top sellers, the sellers’ wives, and all the executives and their wives won a trip to another country.
My team and I spent a year planning every detail. We arranged parties, contests, and events for all the guests at a five-star resort on the beach. Aside from a few minor glitches that worked out, everything went according to plan.
That is, until the final night.
It was the night when all the awards were to be given out. We had rented a home on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It had a beautiful pool with an expansive deck. We hired a full staff of chefs and waitstaff. Guests were in semi-formal and champagne flowed freely.
It was sheer opulence. Absolute perfection.
The last award was given out and everyone was thrilled. It was time to go back to the hotel.
Little did I know that in the background, my staff was frantically working to replace the transportation that had brought everyone to the house. It turned out that the transportation company we hired had decided to cancel at midnight because it was a holiday and they wanted to party!
How do you transport 100+ people down a mountain and back to their hotel without vehicles?
Finally, we were able to secure a handful of taxis to make runs back and forth, but it was a nightmare!
The company’s president was beat red, and he was furious at me. He and the other execs chose to be the last to leave, and they finally arrived at the hotel in the wee hours of the morning.
I was sick. I could not believe this had happened—everything else had been so perfect. I thought, “This is it. I will never work again.” I think the company’s president told me that too…
The moral of the story is, I did not know how to fail forward. I was afraid of making a mistake again. I spent many sleepless nights trying to rewrite that failure’s ending.
Have you had a situation like I had, where you risked and felt like you failed? Did that perceived failure hold you back from risking again?
In these situations, take small steps. Take one risk at a time and build your courage back up.
We all have different “risk quotients.” Richard Branson has a much higher risk quotient than most of us do.
Find your “risk quotient.” What is the acceptable risk that fits your willingness?
Be willing to try, even if it does not work. Then, learn from what did and did not work. Do not listen to the doubt. Prepare, step out, and risk again!
I challenge you to put the three things we talked about into action:
1. Spend the next week logging every minute, and then calculate the categories at the end of the week. Learn how you spend your time.
2. Begin to dream. Check out my podcasts here, here, and here on dreaming.
3. Take your top dream and brainstorm the resources you have, and others that are needed, for that dream to become a reality.
Remember to:
- List out the time you need to invest.
- Find people you can learn from.
- Look for opportunities, even in failure.
- Discover your risk quotient. What is an acceptable risk that fits your willingness?
Do not let self-doubt steal your dream. Remember, you are the best investment you can make!
If you want to find your passion AND the why behind it, sign up for my 6-week online course, Compelled to Change.
In this class, you will learn practical and repeatable strategies to accomplish your dreams and be unstoppable!
Abundant Blessings, Cindy
Cindy Stewart has a passion for people and helping them connect to their life purpose, discover their passions, and live their dreams. Cindy’s latest book, God’s Dream for Your Life, brings clarity to your purpose while unlocking vision of what is possible in the natural and the supernatural. She is an itinerant speaker, an executive coach, and hosts a weekly podcast on Charisma Podcast Network. Along with her husband, Chuck, they lead The Gathering Apostolic Center in Tarpon Springs, FL.
Please email Cindy with any questions or comments to cindystewartauthor@gmail.com. She’d love to hear from you.
Remember, you are the best investment you can make.