1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,160 If you start to make the scary thing more about the value that you are 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,199 sharing or the impact that you are having, then your self doubt becomes less 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:14,240 important. If you're on the fence about starting a new business and you're doubting 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,399 whether you can do it, remember how much of an impact you might be 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,079 able to have if you actually go ahead and do it. If you're doubting 6 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,879 whether you can start a podcast, like I was six years ago, I 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,399 realized that I had so much value to share and that I was doing my 8 00:00:30,559 --> 00:00:36,359 potential audience at big disservice by not sharing that stuff. Welcome to imperfect Action. 9 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,119 I'm Steph Taylor. For years, I read all the books, downloaded 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:44,119 all the freebies, and did all the courses, but it wasn't until I 11 00:00:44,119 --> 00:00:50,119 started taking imperfect action that my business had its first million dollar year. Imperfect 12 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:56,280 action is about doing things before you're ready, prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,079 and moving forward even when you're not sure you're doing it right. On 14 00:01:00,119 --> 00:01:04,640 this show, you can expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips and strategies to 15 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,879 build a business that brings you more profit, more freedom, and even more 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,439 joy. Are you on the list to get my daily businesses. Every day 17 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,879 i'll send you a bite sized prompt designed to help you grow your business in 18 00:01:18,879 --> 00:01:23,120 a more intentional way. Sign up at step Taylor dot Co, forward slash 19 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:29,799 DBB, or at the link in the show notes. Hey, welcome back 20 00:01:29,799 --> 00:01:34,040 to Imperfect Action. This episode six hundred and eighty nine. Today we are 21 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,439 talking about self doubt, and I think this is one of the things that 22 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:45,040 holds back so many business owners. No matter what level you are at in 23 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,000 your business, it's going to be one of those things that pops up whenever 24 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,879 you're doing something that is a little bit unfamiliar, a little bit outside of 25 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,879 your comfort zone. It's going to probably be that voice that pipes up that's 26 00:01:56,879 --> 00:02:01,040 like, Ooh, can I really do this thing? And it often feels 27 00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:06,319 like when that voice pipes up, we really can't do that thing. But 28 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,439 a lot of the time it's really our brains trying to keep us safe from 29 00:02:10,439 --> 00:02:16,400 the unknown, safe from failure, safe from rejection, safe from some unknown 30 00:02:16,439 --> 00:02:22,639 thing that might hurt us. So today I'm sharing five little tools that can 31 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,759 help you to work through that self doubt when it does pipe up. Number 32 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,080 one, know that it is your mind trying to keep you safe, and 33 00:02:30,159 --> 00:02:34,759 that we all struggle with self doubt. Every time I do something new, 34 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,520 I always come up against that little bit of self doubt that can I really 35 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,840 do this? And I know it's really it's hard to believe that the people 36 00:02:43,879 --> 00:02:47,000 you follow online, the podcasts you listen to, the people you watch presenting 37 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,360 live, all of those things, it's hard to believe that those people struggle 38 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,000 with self doubt. But believe me, we really do. I no longer 39 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,240 feel the self doubt when I hit record on a podcast episode because I've been 40 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,759 doing it for so long. But when I first started this show, oh 41 00:03:01,879 --> 00:03:05,400 my goodness, every time I hit record, every time I went to outline 42 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,240 an episode, there was always that doubt of is this going to be valuable? 43 00:03:08,439 --> 00:03:13,240 Is somebody gonna learn something out of this? Should I really be doing 44 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,479 this? I came up against it recently when I was outlining a presentation for 45 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:22,280 a conference that I'm speaking at in the next couple of weeks, and I 46 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:23,840 noticed the voice in my head saying, Oh, is this going to be 47 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,240 valuable? And are they going to find this any good? Is this going 48 00:03:27,319 --> 00:03:30,159 to be as good as the other presenters? I don't know enough to be 49 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,840 presenting on stage, all of those sorts of voices started to pipe up. 50 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,639 But because I'm aware that it's my mind trying to keep me safe, trying 51 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,240 to stop me from embarrassing myself on stage or being rejected by the audience, 52 00:03:42,719 --> 00:03:45,680 then I know, Okay, I'm not going to listen to this voice. 53 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,000 I'm still going to go ahead and do the scary thing right, And some 54 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,000 of this might be imposter syndrome. Back in episode six forty three, six 55 00:03:53,159 --> 00:03:58,520 hundred and forty three, we talked a little bit about how imposter syndrome can 56 00:03:58,599 --> 00:04:01,800 show up without you realizing in your business. So go back and listen to 57 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,520 that episode. You can send me a DM on Instagram, send me the 58 00:04:04,599 --> 00:04:09,039 number six four three. I'm over there at Steph Taylor dot Co. And 59 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:13,159 I'll send you a link to listen to that episode. There's also a really 60 00:04:13,199 --> 00:04:16,399 great TED talk by Mike cannon Brooks, who is one of the founders of 61 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:21,360 Atlasian, which is I think Australia's largest software company. It's a global company. 62 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:26,959 They're huge, and you know, he's a multi billionaire, and he 63 00:04:27,199 --> 00:04:32,720 talks about how he also felt that impulse to syndrome and how he was sitting 64 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,160 at an event next to somebody who was even more successful than he was, 65 00:04:36,639 --> 00:04:41,759 and they also felt like they didn't belong in that room, right, it's 66 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:46,240 all. It's so completely normal to have that self doubt and then impulse to 67 00:04:46,319 --> 00:04:50,120 syndrome. It's healthy. But when you allow it to stop you from doing 68 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,759 the things that you really want to do and the things that will create a 69 00:04:54,759 --> 00:04:58,399 bigger impact in the world, that's when it becomes a problem. So we 70 00:04:58,519 --> 00:05:01,360 want to keep it in check when it pipes up. And it might just 71 00:05:01,399 --> 00:05:04,480 be a simple question like saying, hey, can I know for sure that 72 00:05:04,519 --> 00:05:08,519 I'm going to fail at this? If the voice in your head says you're 73 00:05:08,519 --> 00:05:10,680 going to fail, can I know that for sure? Is that real? 74 00:05:10,759 --> 00:05:13,560 Is that true? No, you don't have any evidence that you're going to 75 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:15,879 fail. The only way to actually get that evidence is to do the thing. 76 00:05:15,959 --> 00:05:18,480 The only way to know for sure is to do the thing. And 77 00:05:18,519 --> 00:05:23,879 if you do fail, guess what you'll survive. You're still closer than you 78 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:29,399 were before because now you've learned something. You've learned from the mistake, and 79 00:05:29,399 --> 00:05:31,680 you wouldn't have learned that if you'd stayed in your comfort zone. Grappling with 80 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:38,560 that self doubt overthinking it. Number two, remember that it is not about 81 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,040 you. It is about the people that you can help by doing that scary 82 00:05:42,079 --> 00:05:46,839 thing. If you start to make the scary thing more about the value that 83 00:05:46,879 --> 00:05:49,600 you are sharing or the impact that you are having, then your self doubt 84 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:56,240 becomes less important. If you're on the fence about starting a new business and 85 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,079 you're doubting whether you can do it, remember how much of an impact you 86 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,519 might be able to have if you actually go ahead and do it. If 87 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,839 you're doubting whether you can start a podcast, like I was six years ago, 88 00:06:08,759 --> 00:06:12,600 I realized that I had so much value to share and that I was 89 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:17,800 doing my potential audience at Big disservice by not sharing that stuff. And if 90 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,800 you were to go back six hundred and eighty nine episodes back to episode one, 91 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,920 you would probably laugh. It's terrible. It's absolutely terrible compared to the 92 00:06:27,959 --> 00:06:30,720 episodes that I released now. But I had to do those early episodes to 93 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,920 learn how to be a good podcaster and to grow the show to where it 94 00:06:33,959 --> 00:06:39,240 is today. I didn't just suddenly pick up a microphone and produce great quality 95 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:46,480 audio and have lots of listeners. But even those really average early episodes meant 96 00:06:46,519 --> 00:06:49,279 that I could impact a lot more people than if I had just stayed in 97 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:55,480 my comfort zone. Number three, Make a list of all of the things 98 00:06:55,480 --> 00:07:00,240 that you once doubted you could do and that you actually successfully did. This 99 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,800 is a fun one because we often will sit in self doubt for a long 100 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,399 time, and then when we do the thing, we're like, okay, 101 00:07:06,439 --> 00:07:11,600 cool, onto the next thing. But if we actually reflect, you'll probably 102 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,560 notice that there are a lot of things where you were in that self doubt 103 00:07:15,959 --> 00:07:20,360 and then you succeeded. And maybe once upon a time you doubted whether you 104 00:07:20,399 --> 00:07:25,120 could start a business and you did it. Or maybe there are some things 105 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,639 that aren't even related to your business, like maybe you doubted you could give 106 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,560 a speech at your best friend's wedding and you did it, or you doubted 107 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,720 you could run a five k and you did it. This list becomes a 108 00:07:34,759 --> 00:07:42,240 really nice reminder of how capable you actually are. And once you have that 109 00:07:42,319 --> 00:07:46,240 list, ask yourself, if I can do all of this, what else 110 00:07:46,279 --> 00:07:51,040 could be possible for me? Come back to it whenever you're feeling that self 111 00:07:51,079 --> 00:07:55,160 doubt popping up. Come back to the list. Remind yourself of all of 112 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,399 the things that you didn't think you could do and that you did. And 113 00:07:59,439 --> 00:08:01,439 then ask yourself, this thing that I want to do that I'm doubting whether 114 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,000 I can do. Is it possible that maybe this thing could be on the 115 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,439 list one day, the list of things that I didn't think I could do 116 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:13,879 and actually did. Number four Start a little happy feedback folder. Whether it's 117 00:08:13,879 --> 00:08:18,079 in your inbox or on your phone and your notes app, wherever it is, 118 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,879 just have somewhere where you can save every piece of happy client feedback, 119 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:28,800 every positive comment that somebody makes about your content, every podcast review, any 120 00:08:28,839 --> 00:08:33,519 time that you are making any kind of a difference to someone's someone else's life, 121 00:08:33,879 --> 00:08:37,919 Screenshot it and save it, because this then reminds you of the impact 122 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,240 that you can make when you put yourself out there. And if you can 123 00:08:41,279 --> 00:08:43,759 make this kind of impact right now, imagine what else you could do if 124 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:50,240 you tiptoed out of your comfort zone a little bit further. Number five Lean 125 00:08:50,399 --> 00:08:56,799 on others for support. I could never have grown my business and this podcast 126 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:01,720 to where they are without having really close friends who also run businesses. I 127 00:09:01,759 --> 00:09:05,440 would say most of my wider friendship group now are business owners as well. 128 00:09:07,159 --> 00:09:11,799 It's just happened organically now since I started my business. Oh my goodness, 129 00:09:11,799 --> 00:09:13,919 like seven years ago. I don't even know anymore. But two of my 130 00:09:15,039 --> 00:09:18,360 now best friends, like life best friends, not just bisbsties. They also 131 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,399 run businesses, and we didn't know each other pre business, and we now 132 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,120 have this group chat where we are constantly supporting each other when we are feeling 133 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:31,039 a little bit of doubt or when something's not going well. It's so nice 134 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:33,159 to know that I have these two awesome humans who have my back and I 135 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,799 have theirs. But when I first started out in my very first business, 136 00:09:37,919 --> 00:09:41,559 it was lonely, and I made an effort. I'm quite an introvert by 137 00:09:41,639 --> 00:09:45,799 nature, but I made an effort to go to events, which felt a 138 00:09:45,799 --> 00:09:48,559 little bit scary. I'm not gonna lie, it was a little bit scary. 139 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,159 And then you know, connecting with people online on Instagram, meeting people 140 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,799 in real life, joining Mastermind groups, going to retreats, going to other 141 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:58,960 events, all of those things where I could have that connection with real human 142 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,720 and that's how I built those friendships. It's taken a long time, but 143 00:10:03,799 --> 00:10:07,679 they are one of the most It's probably one of my favorite things actually, 144 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,919 if not the favorite thing about running a business. And then when that self 145 00:10:11,919 --> 00:10:16,320 doubt that can I really do it? Pops up, you have a support 146 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:20,000 network you can share it with. You can talk to them and they will 147 00:10:20,039 --> 00:10:22,399 remind you that it's totally normal and that they deal with it as well, 148 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,720 and that it's not a sign that you shouldn't do the thing, but it's 149 00:10:26,799 --> 00:10:28,720 rather just a sign that you are on the edge of your comfort zone and 150 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:33,440 you're about to do something really, really awesome, and it just feels really 151 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,600 scary at the moment, all right. So there you have it. Five 152 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:41,159 little tools to help you overcome that self doubt. Number one, know that 153 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:45,399 it is your mind keeping you safe and we all struggle with it. Number 154 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,080 two, remember that it's not about you, it's about the people you can 155 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,600 help. Number three make a list of all the things that you once doubted 156 00:10:50,639 --> 00:10:54,720 you could do and that you actually did. Number four start a happy feedback 157 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,600 folder in your inbox on your phone. And number five lean on others for 158 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:05,960 pot now as part of my happy feedback folder. I love reading podcast reviews 159 00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:09,240 because every time somebody leaves an awesome review about this podcast, it reminds me 160 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,039 that this is why I do what I'm doing, and it reminds me of 161 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,399 the impact that I can have. So if you haven't already left a review 162 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:18,360 for this show, please take thirty seconds to do it. It means so 163 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,960 much to me. I read all of them, my team reads them, 164 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,120 and it really just reminds us hey like the work that goes into creating every 165 00:11:26,159 --> 00:11:30,279 single episode. It's worth it. Thank you so much for listening today's episode. 166 00:11:30,399 --> 00:11:31,120 Catch next time.