When Self-Doubt Gets in the Way of Your Business
Dee Collins 
You know that feeling when you’ve got a great idea, you’re excited about it… and then suddenly your brain starts asking questions?
What if nobody likes it?
What if I get it wrong?
Who am I to be teaching this?
There are already so many people doing this. Why would anyone listen to me?
Welcome to self-doubt.
When you’re building a business, particularly when you’re doing something new, it’s incredibly easy to start questioning yourself. And the frustrating thing is that self-doubt can look very convincing.
You might put off launching something because it’s “not quite ready”. You might spend hours tweaking a social media post. You might compare yourself with someone who seems to have everything figured out and wonder why you’re not further ahead.
Sometimes, you simply don’t do anything at all.
Self-doubt loves comparison
One of the quickest ways to knock your confidence is to look at someone else’s business and compare it with your own.
You see their polished website, thousands of followers, impressive photos and confident videos. What you don’t see is how long they’ve been doing it, what went wrong along the way or how many times they questioned themselves.
You’re comparing your behind-the-scenes with someone else’s highlight reel.
And that’s never a fair comparison.
Your business doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. You have your own experience, skills, personality and way of doing things. That’s actually what makes you valuable.
Perfectionism can be self-doubt in disguise
Sometimes self-doubt doesn’t look like fear at all.
It looks like “I’m just making it better.”
You keep tweaking the website. You rewrite the email for the tenth time. You decide you need to learn one more thing before you launch.
Before you know it, weeks have passed.
Of course, you want to do a good job. But there comes a point when “making it better” is really just a way of avoiding putting yourself out there.
Done is often much more useful than perfect.
You don't have to feel confident before you take action
This is the bit I think we often get wrong.
We assume that confident people feel confident all the time.
They don’t.
They simply learn to take action while feeling uncertain.
Start small. Instead of thinking about everything you need to do, decide what the next step is.
Write the post.
Send the email.
Create the product.
Contact the potential customer.
Publish the thing.
Every time you do something you were nervous about, you give yourself evidence that you can do it. And that evidence is what gradually builds confidence.
Be careful how you talk to yourself
If you make a mistake, notice what you say to yourself.
Would you speak to a friend the way you sometimes speak to yourself?
Probably not.
Instead of “I'm useless at this,” try “I haven't figured this out yet.”
Instead of “I always get things wrong,” try “That didn't work. What can I learn from it?”
You’re building a business. You’re not supposed to know everything from day one.
And remember: you are allowed to learn as you go
There will always be someone who knows more than you.
There will also be someone who knows less.
That doesn’t mean you have nothing to offer.
You only need to be able to help the person who is a few steps behind you.
So, the next time self-doubt starts telling you that you’re not ready, don’t necessarily believe it.
Ask yourself:
What would I do today if I didn't need to feel completely confident first?
Then do that.
You might be surprised at what happens when you stop waiting to feel ready and simply start moving forward.