Defeat the Doubts: 4 Helpful Things That Will Make You More Confident

You are reading an excerpt from The Challenge, a newsletter where I discuss self-improvement, goal-setting, habits, time management, and health tips and tricks.

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• a challenge to pursue to improve your life
• an infographic to track it.

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Most of you probably know and follow Thomas Frank.

He was one of the first YouTubers I followed before starting my own business. And although his channel has almost 3 million subscribers, he hasn’t reached overnight success as many think.

He started his journey as a college student seeking to improve his productivity and study habits. But he wanted to help. So, he created a website in 2010 (College Info Geek) where he shared simple tips on the subjects he liked and researched. And it took him time and dedication to find the success formula.

• He was almost always consistent with his video schedule.
• He experimented with many topics until he found what worked for him. And then he replicated it.
• And most importantly, he never gave up in front of failures.

For me, it was an example.

I’m 28. But I learned to deal with my insecurities only a few years ago.

After giving up my writing habit three times, I noticed I would always get back at it. And that made me understand I have to keep doing it.

It might look like an overnight realization. But it wasn’t.

Every time I failed with writing, I felt like I had nothing left to fight for. I was insecure about my skills. And I often asked myself: Do I suck at this?

Yes, I do. And even now, I know I have to improve. But that doesn’t mean I won’t succeed one day. I know I will. It is just a matter of time. And that’s how my paradigm shifted.

Here are 4 things that made me (and will make you) more confident about my passion.

Remorse doesn’t allow you to get ahead with your life. And for some people, it brings so much pain they get stuck .

Yet, remorse can give you a motivational push. But you have to use it preemptively.

What do I mean by that?

Many times, I thought I would give up. After the 100th failure, nothing seems to work anymore. But then, I asked:

• How would I feel if I knew I would have reached success in two more months?
• How would I feel knowing I left my passion when I could have grown the most?

I would feel remorse. And the power of remorse keeps me going.

Many things that could go wrong in my life scare me. But failing in public has to be one of the scariest.

It might be the impostor syndrome. But I am scared there will be a moment when people realize I am not good enough. Giving up would be the perfect assist for haters to speak badly about me. And I don’t plan to help them.

But let’s not focus on the negative part. Building in public is great because people will give you instant feedback.

If you plan to work on a book for two years without showing anything to anyone, you better do your damn research. Otherwise, you’ll probably fail and throw two years of work. But if you practice in public, you will know from the start if it might work.

• Write a few posts first to gather people's reactions.
• Then, write an ebook and try to sell it.
• And then, you can write a two-year book.

That’s how you can become more confident in your work.

• It’s fearful — so you will probably keep doing it.
• And it gives you tons of value with instant feedback.

I would probably have left if I hadn’t gotten any results from my writing.

Hobbies are great. But if I have to do something for free, I’d better not do it. It might be the wrong mindset, but that’s what I think.

Luckily, a little money started to kick in from my writing. (And that’s props to you partially, so thanks!) And those small results that grow over time keep me hooked on this habit.

If I can convince one person to subscribe to get more value from The Challenge, what keeps me from convincing ten and then one hundred?

Small results will defeat your doubts and make you more confident.

• First, you will think you have been lucky.
• Then, luck over time becomes mastery.
• And soon, you will realize you can do it.

That’s how you become more confident through small results.

Setting big goals feels awesome only because of one thing — the rush of dopamine you get from reaching them, the delayed gratification.

But there’s one thing you need to consider. Otherwise, it will never work.

The goal you set must be valuable. So, find a purpose that drives you.

• Why are you doing it?
• What does it mean for you to achieve that goal?
• Why does it matter so much?
• And then, what will you get when you’ll reach your goals?

You better switch goals if you don’t have strong answers to all these questions.

Money wishes can only push you that much. But you need much more to achieve greatness and defeat the doubts rushing in your head.

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