self-doubt never goes away
As creative beings, we need to get this one thing right in our heads: Self-doubt never goes away. It will always be nibbling at us as we continue our artistic journeys. But instead of looking at it in a negative light, it’s important that we look at it through a positive lens.
No one is an exception to this truth. Even wildly successful writers, artists, musicians, entrepreneurs and performers go through phases where they doubt themselves and their genius.
Self-doubt was there before we ever thought of becoming a creative whether it was being an artist, a painter, a writer or a filmmaker.
Self-doubt is actually good for us. Even though it cripples us and makes us weak, it is good for us because it helps us grow.
As Steven Pressfield writes in his book The War of Art, “Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are.”
He further adds, “The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”
In simpler words, self-doubt is a sign. It’s the proof that we’re pursuing something that’s going to help us in our personal expansion. The emptiness that we feel inside when it surfaces is an indicator of the fullness we would experience when we finish a particular creative project.
Whether it’s a book, a movie, or an entrepreneurial venture, the more important its realization is to us, the more Resistance we’ll feel within.
To put a spin on Newton’s Third Law of Motion, for every instance of self-doubt that we feel, there’s an equal and opposite instance of self-belief that grows within us. While we are completely aware of the self-doubt that we experience, the self-belief keeps building within us unconsciously.
Our self-doubt is nothing but a present reflected reality of our future creative dream. The bigger our dream is, the bigger our self-doubt would be. And the further we aim to go, the more Resistance we’ll have to overcome.