“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced” – Vincent Van Gogh

Self-doubt is a crippling inner voice that holds you back from becoming the best version of yourself.

It holds you back from achieving your goals and makes things look harder than they actually are.

And yes, a little self-awareness can be useful as it helps you see your limitations with clear eyes. But once self-doubt starts taking over your mind, inner darkness ensues.

So what can you do to get around that?

In this article, we’ll look at 5 powerful tips that have helped many in your situation to silence that destructive inner voice.

1. Practice self-compassion

If self-doubt is limiting your ability to take risks to achieve your goals, it helps to remind yourself that we are all human and, as such, we naturally make mistakes. And that’s okay. When we doubt our abilities, it’s because we don’t want to experience the consequences of making a mistake. But mistakes are also how we learn what works and what doesn’t… and that is how we grow. So don’t worry too much about making them, and keep on marching forward with your head raised!

2. Elevate your self-awareness

Self-awareness is a key factor to success in life. You must use it to understand what causes you to doubt yourself. Are there any particular situations that you’ve noticed trigger self-doubt? If it is a lack of expertise in an area, work towards mastering it. For example, it may be a fear of public speaking or anxiety at having to make cold calls. Anything can be learned. Just go out and do it in spite of the anguish you feel inside. It will go away with practice. You can be sure of that!

3. Talk to someone about it

When you bottle up your thoughts they can become distorted, exaggerated and drift away from reality. And this is very much the case when it comes to thoughts of self-doubt. In order to remedy this, you need to start talking about it. Talk to your loved ones and bring your thoughts of self-doubt into the light. Even just saying them out loud can help you greatly in understanding how inflated they actually are. And by talking to someone in your support group about it you can get a change in perspective.

4. Stop comparing yourself to others

Spending too much time comparing yourself to the rich and successful will do you no good. If you’re doubting yourself because you fear that you won’t be as much of a success as someone who’s at the top you can cripple yourself on the inside. We all face life’s challenges in our own ways and what we can control and focus our energy on is our own unique path, regardless of where others are standing or what they have done.

5. Stop asking for validation

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help from time to time, we all do it. But if you’ve made a habit of constantly asking other people what they think before you make an important decision, all you’re doing is weakening belief in yourself. For example, if you’re working on a new project or pursuing a new career path, changing course mid-way just because someone advised you to, might cause you to end up doing nothing of substance and losing your voice in the process. If you need advice, take it, but at some point, you must learn to trust yourself more than you trust others. That is the only true way forward.