How to Stop Doubting Yourself

Around a week ago, my self-esteem hit what felt like rock bottom.

There wasn’t one thing that caused it — rather a combination of life stress, election stress and work slowing down enough to give me a chance to stop and think about things. For whatever reason, imposter syndrome kicked in big time. I found myself in a position that I’ve been in before but didn’t want to be in again, struggling to feel like I was a smart, capable and deserving person.

I’ve battled extreme self-doubt before, enough to know that a smart plan of action is to reach out for help. So I did. I went to Facebook and asked the below question.

That post received more than 75 super thoughtful and surprisingly long responses. I read through the advice again and again, and was comforted at how seemingly simple yet effective the ideas were.

Many of the ideas that friends shared fell into some clear themes, so I decided I’d summarize them all here. This is a list I plan to bookmark and return to when I’m feeling a bit lost. I hope it’s helpful for you, too.

• Reach out to others. Friends will gladly support you and call bullshit on your self-defeating talk. Ask someone you admire if they’ve ever suffered from imposter syndrome and how they handled it. And therapy can be a wonderful resource; you might be surprised how many…