Banishing the Demoralising Manifestation of Doubt
I think therefore I am, I worry therefore I can’t.
Doubt creeps in and eviscerates the mind, stripping it of its ability to comprehend and enact the required steps that follow. It impedes your progress by poisoning your thoughts dissuading you from pursuing action. The reality is simple, we subconsciously erect imagined barriers in the way of our hopes and dreams in an attempt to appease potential feelings of hurt and inadequacy that will inevitably arise should we be bold enough to act.
It is the single most destructive force each of us endures alone in our minds. With fear bravery can arise and save the day, with pain we can find solace in the love and affection of others, with anger we have time and can recover. Doubt is different, it is re-birthed consistently through our lives, like a weed whose root is impossible to remove, it regrows and poses the same issues in new guise. Doubt lingers painfully, taunting us relentlessly while mocking our inability to explore the joy of what might follow. Doubt is a recurring foe which much be consistently defeated and banished.
Doubt paralyses us from taking chances and ever knowing the answers to the existential questions that drives each of us personally. Doubts are questions without answers, ‘what if?’ becomes the construct which our thinking revolves around but which we never venture to find out. We are rigid and afraid to ask. Our doubts implore us to consider the implication of failure, appreciate the hurt and consider the unlikely possibilities of what might go wrong and that enough to stop us in our tracks.
Mankind’s biggest strength is also our biggest weakness. Our brains enable us to think to such an extent that we imagine every possible scenario not to do something that is simple and straightforward if only we resort to action. Natural instinct is suppressed in favour of expecting clarity to come from waiting. Time though, plants seeds of doubt which blossom to reveal ever more impossible outcomes. Nobody ever overcame doubt by waiting for the sun to shine tomorrow, they turned a light on and got going.
Ideas are born from a hope and optimism that solutions to problems will be uncovered which lead to increased happiness. Imagination enables us to dream freely without worry or restraint, we impose no limitations or constraints on where our minds may wonder and pay little attention to their feasibility. We freely hope and dream with the agility of thought springing from one solution to the next. These thoughts can be radical, daring and unrealistic, in anticipation of being reigned in.
But doubt never lets us realise our intentions. We retreat from our inclination to react; we hide our ideas and withdraw, consuming what others create instead of implementing our change on the world. We fear how others will respond and utilise this as an excuse to never know. Our chance to affect the world in which we live is finite; doubt is the thing that prevents us achieving anything of significance. Doubt is akin to destruction of a potential path to contentment.
Life is about experimentation. It’s about floating ideas and receiving feedback, it’s about asking question in pursuit of answers, it’s about knowing instead of always wondering. In life there is no room for doubt, if we let it consume us we’d still being living in caves fearing impending attacks from big cats.
Banishment of doubt is the first step in pursuit of realising your dreams. Let yourself imagine and create instead of doubting and destroying.
Life is a series of opportunities linked together by your ability to navigate the time between. How your life transpires is singularly dependent on your willingness to engage with the chances you are afforded and act. The rest is up to you. You can allow doubt to undermine your life or you can ignore it and act in spite of the reaction you may experience. The question is how much do you care? Whether you think you can, or think you can’t — you’re right.
‘Do. Or do not. There is no Try’ — Yoda
Value can only be added if you compel yourself or you are willing to act, so do something. By doing something — anything at all — it affords you the prospect of discovery and the chance to learn and create. Doing something is the paradigm shift in thinking required to enable progress.
Life is about taking chances, doubt is the agent which tries to destroy them, you can let it or you can ignore it and achieve.
It’s as simple as telling somebody what you are going to do and doing it in spite of the reaction you receive.
Ideas are the things that change the world, be brave enough to pursue yours.
I think therefore I am, I dream therefore I can.
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