Lack of Self Belief

Query Submitted on Lack of Self Belief

Jean has emailed me the following query:

"Dear David

Why do I have absolutely no belief in myself? I do not trust my own judgement, and therefore cannot make a decision without checking that it is okay with someone else...I cannot voice my opionion. My inner chatterbox tells me I am useless time and time again. Should I try hypnotherapy?"

My initial response is given below:

"Hi Jean

Effective hypnosis is about helping you to achieve a deep state of relaxation and concentration where your mind can detach itself from everyday cares and concerns and focus in a positive way, so it can be helpful for your kind of situation. You can find details of some self hypnosis MP3s for confidence issues at the link below:

Confidence and Self Belief - Hypnosis MP3s

An alternative way of trying to help with confidence issues is to use cognitive techniques to help you deal with the 'inner chatter' that you refer to. If your 'inner chatter' is telling you that you are useless, think about what you might say to yourself when that negative thought arises which would redress the negativity with something more positive whilst still being realistic.

For instance, you might say to yourself: 'Confidence is not my strongest area because of experiences in my past which have affected my self belief. However I do have other qualities such as ... [here describe any qualities you or your friends might attribute to you] and I am intending to start to work on my confidence by ... [here describe steps you are taking or planning - e.g. to try out hypnosis or to set yourself small goals that will stretch you just outside your comfort zone].

Also, if you find yourself using expressions such as 'I cannot do X' or 'I should not do X', try to modify them to something that is not so definitive - such as the more positive: 'I have difficulty with doing X but I am going to commit to trying to do it once during the next week'.

If you carry out the action you set yourself, then congratulate yourself and try to build on it. If not, then maybe reflect on whether there is any way that you can adjust the target to make it more achievable rather than being too self critical. You don't need to be perfect - try to focus on small changes at first if you can.

Best wishes

David

Blog Post Written by Life Coach David
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