Dealing with the D-word

One moment things were going swimmingly. And then the next, doubt stepped in and changed everything.

I’ve been working on a new project recently that has challenged me to be flexible and agile-I’ve had to rethink my process for a task that I’ve known how to do for years.

With routines having shifted dramatically due to the COVID pandemic, we’re all having to be flexible and agile in our approach, even for work that we may’ve been doing the same way for a long time.

From a professional perspective, the project was going quite well. But I had a personal problem that caught me by surprise: I was dealing with the dreaded D-word.

Doubt.

You know, that pesky internal critic? Yes, that’s the culprit.

One moment things were going swimmingly. And then the next, doubt stepped in and changed everything.

“Why aren’t things working the same way? Why aren’t people responding like they used to? Do you even know what you’re doing?”

Suddenly, my confidence was replaced by questioning and my creativity covered by criticism. And it was all my own doing. It was all in my mind.

Then it got worse.

At one point, my doubts squeezed my brain so tightly that it completely shut down my creativity all together. I was running purely on tactical logic.

It was then that I knew I was in trouble.

Knowing that doubt is a form of fear and that fear is a natural signal that I need to pay attention to something, I wanted to understand why my doubts were lingering so long. What were they trying to tell me?

And then, finally, my internal coach kicked in. It was time to take action.

I decided that I’d had enough stinkin’ thinkin’ and started meditating every morning-something I had done regularly in the past but had let fall by the wayside.

I knew from experience that whenever I’d start my day from a quiet place, I was able to hear the truth that came from my heart and not the fears coming from my head.

After a few days of morning meditation, my chronic thoughts began to subside along with my doubts.