I Have Such Doubt!

So, I suffer from doubt. 

Doubt is an insidious thing, sort of like a cold that turns into pneumonia. Like a virus that infects your body, doubt will infect every part of your life if you let it.

Unlike an illness, doubt can disguise itself as comfort. It grows slowly over time, often without notice. Bringing out the worst in every situation, doubt convinces you to stay where it's safe, until your comfort zone becomes a comfort cage. You don't realize that the cold has become pneumonia; doubt has become fear. Afraid to make new friends, afraid to go new places, afraid to try new things, afraid to try for the things you really want.

Most of all, doubt was keeping me from doing what I loved; writing books. I would get halfway through a promising story and a great idea, then get uncertain about the ending. I didn't think anyone would like it as much as I did. When I did finish a story, I was unsure about every edit. If I did finish something, the real doubt sunk in. I was terrified of telling other people about it, much less trying to actively market or advertise the book.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was approaching everything with doubt, always wondering what could go wrong and all the reasons not to do something, instead of reasons to do it. However, there is a cure for doubt. Or, at least a treatment. I just try to take it one step at a time. 

1. Approach with confidence. Before writing out that difficult conflict, getting into the editing zone or going to a book event, remind yourself of the things you're good at to set a positive stage. Think about something you wrote that you're proud of, think of the effort you've put into learning editing and tell people about what you loved when you were writing the book. It's not enough to just think about it; you have to believe it.

2. Remember why you do what you do. Do you do it for fun? Do you want to express yourself? Do you have characters that are clawing their way out of your head (or is that just me?)? Focus on your purpose and not the goal to relieve the pressure.

3. What are you getting out of it? If doubt is all the reasons not to do something, optimism is every reason to do it; meet new people, challenge yourself, show the world what you've made—there's usually a lot of good reasons you wanted to do it in the first place.

4. Get some support. Bring friends along for moral and emotional support. Positive energy flows between positive people. 

5. Continuous effort. Don't let doubt win! Put a cap on that evil genii before he gets out of the bottle. Remember, there is no magic cure. It requires continuous effort, like everything that's truly important.  

Most importantly, mindset is key. No one can instill doubt in you, you have to let it in--and you can keep it out.