Transforming Self-Doubt

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

~Sylvia Platt

I love leading creativity workshops! It is such a joy to cultivate a nurturing and safe space for women to come together to be creative in community. I have found that being creative often requires courage and a willingness to stretch outside our comfort zones. Creativity is vulnerable act of self-exploration and self-expression that is not always easy to do alone much less in a group. So I love when women are willing to come together and share their process and what they create.

Last weekend I led a Spirit Illumination Card Workshop where the process was as important as the product. We began the workshop by introducing ourselves, picking an intention word and then sharing what inspired each person to attend. We had a beautiful group of creative women who were authors, composers, singers, musicians, knitters and artists of all types who embraced creativity in many areas of their lives. Nevertheless, they shared that self-doubt continued to challenge them.

Throughout the week I also heard many individuals identify self-doubt as the habit they most wanted to leave in 2016 in order to make room in their lives for new and positive growth in 2017.  I found it fascinating that this was the most common answer to my question in five different groups and workshops that I led last week. Self-doubt is not only the worst enemy to creativity as Sylvia Platt asserts but it is also the ongoing fuel of regret and the fear that stops us from living into our true purpose and infinite possibilities.

So how do we transform self-doubt and not allow it to undermine our creativity and positive choices in our every day life? Well like with all change it starts with self-awareness. To begin the process, bring awareness to when you doubt yourself and notice what you say to yourself in these moments. Then bring self-compassion to the experience and acknowledge your feelings, how difficult it is act when you are doubting yourself and choose to be kind and compassionate in your response.

Next turn down the volume of your inner critic and listen to what is really happening within you. Breathe in and out a few times and ask yourself what you are really afraid of and then spend some time writing it out. Once you can see what is feeding your self-doubt, you can then challenge its validity. If your doubt tells you aren’t good enough to do x, y, or z, remind yourself that the only way you will improve is to take action. Self-doubt thrives in ambivalence and inaction.

To support your process of transforming self-doubt create an empowering affirmation to replace it. For instance if your self-doubt says you will never be able to “fill in the blank”, your response can be “I am learning and growing every day.” Another powerful tool is acknowledging all the growth you have had in your life. The more you focus on how you have overcome challenges and grown, the more evidence you have of your capabilities and the less you will be limited by your self-doubt.

Finally stretching outside your comfort zone on a regular basis increases your ability to tolerate being uncomfortable and reminds you of your resilience, strength, courage, and creativity, and over time it builds your confidence in your own capabilities – the ultimate transformer of self-doubt.

Choosing to transform self-doubt is an empowered act of self-nurturing. Each step I recommended is an act of self-love. This practice is revolutionary and has the power to create powerful change in your life with endless ripple effects. Remember that the more empowered each of us are, the more permission we give to each other to be the most empowered, confident, authentic, creative expression of ourselves we can be. We truly need more empowered and compassionate people on this planet at this time. So will you join me?

May you transform your self-doubt and limiting beliefs to express the most authentic, empowered person you can be and may you nurture peace in the world from the inside out!