How to overcome SELF-DOUBT (in your career and in life)

In this solo coaching video, Natalie Fisher explains that self‑doubt is a universal, normal response whenever we aim to grow or try something new. She personifies self‑doubt as “Max,” a loud passenger in the driver’s seat who lists obstacles and doubts. Fisher argues that we have a choice: either listen to Max and halt, or acknowledge his concerns, turn them into concrete strategies, and keep moving forward. She outlines five practical points: (1) recognize self‑doubt as normal; (2) decide how to react—listen or act; (3) assess personal capability by examining Max’s objections and choosing to strategize; (4) look for real‑world evidence of others who have succeeded despite similar doubts; and (5) consciously choose the beliefs that will either keep you stuck or propel you forward. Fisher emphasizes that discomfort is inevitable either staying where you are or pursuing growth, and that choosing the latter requires courage and massive, iterative action. She also highlights the role of a coach in preventing quit‑temptation. The video concludes with a puzzle analogy for goal‑building, a call to her 30‑day job‑training program, her podcast, and standard YouTube engagement prompts.
Chapters
All right, welcome to the video. This week we're going to be talking about self-doubt. By the end of this video, you're going to have a really good understanding on what self-doubt is all about, why you have it, what to do about it, and what it means. So stay tuned. All right, so the first thing is that self-doubt is something that everybody struggles with. Everybody struggles with self-doubt when they are going to do something new, when they're going to uplevel, grow, do something that they've never done before, they're going to experience some level of self-doubt. It's completely normal. And that's the first thing that you need to know is when you set a goal or you decide you want to move from where you are to where you want to be, you want to grow in some way, you are going to experience some self-doubt. Okay. So your brain is going to give you some obstacle thoughts. Some thoughts that are going to say things like, "I can't do it," or "Are you sure that's possible?" Or "Why even try?" Or some sort of thoughts that are going to shut you down right away. And that is something that is completely normal. Like, "Can I really do it? I've never done it before." That's how self-doubt shows up. And so the first thing that you need to do is recognize that that is completely normal. That is going to happen, and it doesn't mean stop. The metaphor that I like to use is that. Self-doubt is like this awkward person who is sitting in the passenger seat of your car, and they're very loud, and they sometimes sound like they have some really good points. So I'm going to name self-doubt Max. Okay? So Max is sitting in the front seat of the car, in the front seat of the car on the passenger side. You're driving. Okay? And you decide you want to drive to Las Vegas, let's say, and Max is going to say, Yeah, that's going to be too expensive. There's going to be too many stops along the way. We're going to need to get gas. Can the car really make it? Are you sure you're up for driving that far? We don't know the way. Are you sure? How do we get there? We don't know how to do it. We've never driven that far before. We've never gone there before. Max is going to sit there and he's going to say all those things. And it's in that moment when you choose to listen to Max and be like, yes, Max, you're right. Or you say, we're going to do it anyway. We're going to figure out all those things. All the things that Max just listed are potentially valid obstacles that you might face, right? But instead of saying to Max, you're right, we shouldn't even try, you can say, you can choose to say, okay, let's list all those obstacles out and let's come up with a plan. We'll come up with a plan as to where we're going to stop for gas. How far it's going to be. We'll map it out. We'll decide where we're going to stop, how we're going to get there. And then you decide to turn those obstacles into strategies for yourself. That is how you manage your self-doubt and you can choose it. So point number 2, you get to choose how you react to the self-doubt, whether you listen to the self-doubt or you don't listen to it. Right? And that's the difference between the people who get where they want to go, do the things they want to do, live a bigger life versus the people who don't, because the people who don't are listening to Max. Okay? They're like, yeah, Max, you're totally right. It's not possible. The people who are not listening to Max are saying, okay, Max, you could be right about some of those things, but let's figure them out, right? Let's figure them out. Let's not let those things stop us knowing like, yep, those are all possibly normal things that could happen. So self-doubt is a choice. Okay, so the first step is to become aware of it. Know that it's normal. Know that your brain is going to serve it up to you, and then realize whether or not you want to take that opportunity to have courage and move forward anyway, or stay where you are. And it's not for everybody. Not everybody will move forward, right? So if you don't have obstacles coming up in your life, it probably means that you're not moving towards a goal that you really want to move towards, that you're excited about, that is bigger, that is going to make you grow. Into a better human being or somebody who is going to accomplish more in their life. And that's fine. You don't have to, right? It's not for everybody. But when you're growing, when you're making a decision to grow, self-doubt Max is gonna show up. Okay? And he's going to say something and he's going to be loud and he's going to be repetitive. And that's when you get to choose which way you wanna go. Listen to Max or not. So another point, number 3, is how are you going to find out what you're really capable of if you do decide to listen to self-doubt? That's the thing. So many of us don't really ever realize what we're really capable of doing because we listen to Max and we don't even know that we have the option of not listening to Max, right? So that's what I want you to ask yourself is what are you truly capable of? And how will you know? The answer is your opinion of what Max says. So when Max brings up all the obstacles, what's your opinion on those obstacles? What do you think about what he's saying? If you have all these obstacles that have come up and Max has voiced them really loudly, what are you gonna choose? What are you gonna decide to think about them? Right? So are you gonna decide to turn them into strategies or not? And that's the defining factor on whether or not you are truly going to do the things that you could do in this life and reach the full potential, right? So that, that thing of reaching full potential, that's a real thing, right? And the self-doubt is what stops people from reaching full potential, even close to full potential, right? So you right now watching this video are so full of potential that I assure you, you're not meeting all— like, you're not meeting your full potential right now. You have a lot that you could do if your self-doubt wasn't getting in the way of that, right? If those obstacle thoughts were not something that you had let stop you, right? And so it takes some practice and it's a habit that you need to build. You first need to understand that it's normal and it's gonna happen and that it doesn't mean stop, right? So many of us take it to mean, you know, stop, it's not gonna happen, it can't happen for me, right? Point number 4, if it is possible, Someone else has done it. We can see evidence of it being done. So a common one is getting a job that you really want without that experience on paper or without checking all the boxes, right? So you might think not possible, and if you see other people who've done it, you might say, okay, okay, maybe it's possible but not for me, right? And then you'll come up with unique reasons as to why you can't do it, and that's Max talking again, right? Because he's gonna be there. So recognizing that if it's possible in the world, the only reason you wouldn't do it is because of your own self-doubt and because you're listening to Max. Just remember that if it's possible in the world, if somebody else has done it, if you can find evidence of one other person who's done it, the only reason why you won't is because of your own self-doubt. And finally, Point number 5, I want to ask you, what do you actually want to believe? Right? You have the choice. So do you want to believe that you have to stay in your current job for security, for whatever the story that you're telling yourself is, because you can't go any further, because people don't listen to you, because you can't interview well, because you're not capable, because you don't have all the skills necessary yet? Do you want to believe those things? Because you can choose to believe something different. And if you want to keep believing those things, then understanding that that's where you're going to stay, right? And that's the story that you're going to tell yourself, and that's where you're going to remain, is in that current job because you don't believe that you can leave it. Or do you want to believe that you can leave it? Do you want to be like, Max, noted, but we're going to figure it out? Ask yourself, what do you want to be believing, and is what you believe right now serving you? Are you happy? Because either way, there's going to be some discomfort, right? So if you're unhappy where you are right now, you're feeling some discomfort of not reaching your full potential, of not doing the things you want to be doing with your life, of not living the big life you want to be living. You're living that discomfort every day, knowing that in the back of your head and having that nagging there. Or you could step forth into the world and take massive action. In the face of self-doubt, with the courage overcoming the self-doubt, and feel that discomfort, right? The discomfort of moving through to something new, doing something you've never done before, taking those steps, moving through those obstacles. And then that discomfort becomes what actually moves you to where you wanna go. So you can choose your discomfort, choose the discomfort of staying where you are or the discomfort of actually moving forward. Either way, you're going to be uncomfortable. Which one do you want to choose? Right? So when you put it that way, it's really simple. If you are somebody who wants to grow, if you have a growth mindset, if you're somebody who's like, I'm not going to stay here for 10 years or 5 years, or I'm definitely going to move forward, then the discomfort is something that you need to move through and you can't get around it. Right? And that comes from having that self-doubt And deciding that you're not going to listen to it, having the courage to move forward anyway and taking that massive action. So the massive action piece is where you can't fail, right? So if you take massive action over and over and over again, you start to fill in the pieces, you start to figure out what works for you, you start to get momentum, and you will get to your goal. It is inevitable. The only reason you wouldn't is if you quit. And that's why having a coach is so helpful, because a coach will not let you quit on yourself, right? That is the whole point. I as a coach walk you through that whole process until you get to the finish line, right? And so all that self-doubt is going to come up. All those obstacles are going to come up. All those I don't know how to do this are going to— is going to come up. Totally normal. Are you going to listen to it or are you going to move through anyway? And yes, it's going to be uncomfortable. So you have to recognize if you're not doing it and you haven't been doing it and you want to do it, then your self-doubt is probably holding you back. The massive action, what that means is, is you try something. If it doesn't work, you try something else. If it doesn't work, you try something else. You tweak it, you try something else until you figure that out, right? And I'll leave you with one last analogy. Let's say your dream job is to be a marketing director. You know that's your dream job, that you know that you want to go for that right now. Maybe you don't have the experience yet, but you know that that's your trajectory and that's where you're going. That's your puzzle. Okay? So you can see that puzzle. It's all like on the box. You've got like a thousand-piece puzzle. It's on the box. It looks really nice and you know what it looks like, you in that marketing director role. And then you need to put those pieces together, right? So it's just a matter of putting the pieces together. And the way that it goes is, is you might put one piece in and it might not fit right. You might think you had a corner figured out and you might not actually have it figured out. You might put one color in one place and it might not work. And then you'll start to start to get the hang of it, start putting it together, and you'll start seeing it come together. And that's how your goals work. And it's uncomfortable and you're going to have to face that self-doubt. But once you figure out how to do that, then you can achieve anything you want to achieve. And that, my friends, is how you overcome self-doubt. There is no way around it. It is through, and it is a choice. So choose to listen to Max, or choose to say, noted, Max. Let's figure it out, and let's go anyway. And that's called courage. Thank you so much for watching. My name is Natalie Fisher. You can find me over at www.nataliefisher.ca. Got a training for you below: How to Get a Better Job in Thirty Days. And I also have a podcast which you can see in the links below. Um, it's going to be on YouTube as well if you want to listen to the podcast. Uh, thanks so much for watching. Give me a thumbs up if you liked the video, thumbs down if you didn't like the video. Subscribe to the channel if you're not already, and please leave a comment. It really helps me out and I try to respond to them personally. Thanks so much and have a great week. I will see you next week on the next video. Bye.
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