Self-Doubt, Byeeee

Transforming Self-Doubt to Self-Empowerment to Achieve Purpose

Before the Buddha was the Buddha, his name was Siddhartha and he was a Prince. The first time Siddhartha left his palace, he was 29 years old. Upon witnessing the harsh nature of reality, he abandoned nobility to pursue hermitude.

Although Siddhartha studied under the greatest meditation teachers whose techniques included: fasting, self-harm, and foregoing sleep, shelter, and clothing, Siddhartha failed to attain enlightenment.

After years of devotion, he left his brotherhood to pursue his own path. Surrendering to life’s greater forces, Siddhartha took a seat beneath a large and wise Bodhi tree, vowing to sit in meditation until reaching Nirvana. The longer Siddhartha sat in solitude, the greater the doubt in his mind grew. On the seventh day of the seventh week of his meditation, Siddhartha’s doubt became so powerful, it took a form of its own– Mara, the devil god.

The skeptic serpent embodied Siddhartha’s strife. Aware of her power over Siddhartha, Mara disrupted his mind with questions of doubt:

• Had Siddhartha abandoned his throne only to live as a powerless peasant?
• Who was Siddhartha to think he could attain enlightenment without the guidance of his more wise and experienced teachers?
• How long would Siddhartha sit beneath the Bodhi tree before too abandoning this most frivolous of tasks?

Why does Self-Doubt Happen?

Self-doubt is the result of being conditioned against your intuition. A wise cricket once said, “Always let your conscience be your guide.”

Once upon a time, listening to the voice inside was the criteria by which a wooden puppet could achieve real-ness. These days, listening to voices on the inside qualifies a person as being “crazy.”

Traditional religious, government, and education structures condition against the will of self for the sake of carrying out the will of others. For example, education glorifies select forms of intelligence, leaving those with gifts not supported by the school system to question their worth. A wounded inner child disconnected from spirit is often the result of these traditional models.

“Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”

–Albert Einstein

Negative self-talk and ensuing mental disorders occur when physical being is out of touch with spiritual being. When we quiet the discourse of external motivation, and tune in to personal truth, we remember our raison d’être.

Self-doubt is the natural consequence of perpetuating a system that casts characters for predetermined roles. If you want to live a fulfilling life, don’t play a part, play at your purpose.

The Power of Self-Doubt

Self-doubt is a fierce energy with the power to make or break you.

Experiencing a dark night of the soul– like Siddhartha’s run-in with Mara– is a barrier to entry during the awakening process. Since the universe always works in perfect balance, the greater the doubt, the stronger the success. How you overcome obstacles, is largely part of who you become.

When Mara came to usurp Siddhartha’s enlightenment, Siddhartha was faced with two choices:

1. To give-in to Mara and doubt and regard himself a failure.

2. Rebuke the doubt and affirm faith in the power within.

In Eastern religion the balance of dark and light are regarded as being elemental to growth– the yin and the yang. For only through facing and choosing to conquer self-doubt did Siddhartha attain Buddhahood.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change throughout an individual’s life. Much like a computer’s capabilities are dependent upon the hardware, you can hard-wire your brain for success.

The concepts of optimist and pessimist, idiot and genius, anxious and depressed are the results of conditioned beliefs. The culture-scape has embedded classical conditioning as the dominant school of psychological thought. This perspective casts you as being the result of experiences, rather than the creator of them.

Through consciously wiring psychological structure for resilience and success, you regain the ability to live on and in your purpose.

Abraham Hicks says, “A belief is just a thought you continue to think.” Through selecting to tune in to the can do rather than the cannot do, you empower your existence.

“With our thoughts, we make the world.” — BUDDHA

Siddhartha’s decision to ignore Mara and focus on his light, awakened him to Buddhahood. Neither self-doubt nor self-belief is more or less real than the other. The conscious decision to pay attention through positive energy investments yields a more fulfilling reality.

Paving the Way for Positivity

Self-belief and self-doubt are the invisible angel and devil you carry on your shoulders.

Where attention goes, energy flows. The goal is to flow attention in a positive direction rather than take the negative route– HOWEVER, as we grow, our synaptic highways have default structures.

Consciousness Engineering empowers self-growth through swapping beliefs from ones that victimize to those that empower. By consciously constructing your mind you no longer become the product of your conditioned programming, but rather consciously subscribe to beliefs that position you to live your best life.

Vishen Lakhiani, founder of Mindvalley and the author of The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, is a thought leader dedicated to personal growth. I highly recommend diving into Mindvalley’s abundant resources for empowering self-belief and silencing self-doubt.

CONCLUSION

Self-doubt is the result of learned limitations. Being told, “No,” is a natural part of the human experience. As we grow-up, this two letter word can protect from danger or mistakes, as a double negative yields a positive.

HOWEVER… when the culture-scape promotes a system that seeks to control rather than empower, confusion is the end result. Through aligning to authentic self and consciously shaping the mind for success, self-doubt becomes eliminated and purpose grows enlightened.

“Believe you can. Believe you can’t. Either way, you’re right.” — HENRY FORD

This year, resolve to saying “Oh heyyy,” to self-belief and telling self-doubt, “Byeeee!”