Self-doubt can be loud and persistent, but it’s not in charge… so if you’re ready to stop believing the lies that your doubt tells you, then join me for the latest episode of Let’s Talk About Mental Health!

Scroll down to learn more plus find links to watch/listen to the episode, followed by the full episode transcript. You can also let me know what you think by leaving a comment at the end.

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Let’s talk about self-doubt…

I wish someone had have told me this years ago: you don’t have to feel confident to conquer your self-doubt.

Because I used to think that the people who ‘succeeded’ in life must have somehow cracked the code on how to feel certain, bold, and brave all the time — and I… well, I didn’t. I felt stuck. I felt small. I second-guessed myself into the ground.

So, for many years, I waited.

I waited for my doubts to disappear. I waited to feel ready. I waited for a sign that I was in the right place, or that it was finally the right time for me to do the things I wanted to.

Basically, I waited for the fear to somehow magically disappear.

And, spoiler alert: it didn’t.

So, what changed? Because the work I do today requires me to draw from a well of self-confidence that I don’t think I even remotely believed I had a decade ago.

I stopped waiting. I started moving — awkwardly at first, and imperfectly, and still full of doubt.

But I moved.

And with every small action I took, I built something that doubt couldn’t touch: evidence. Proof that I could try something new, take a risk, survive discomfort, and keep going.

And thanks to those small actions, now I get to do work that I absolutely love and I have the privilege of connecting with people (like you!) all around the workd every week.

That’s what this week’s episode of Let’s Talk About Mental Health is all about — discovering how to conquer self-doubt, rather than waiting to vanquish it.

Because self-doubt doesn’t just vanish on its own. You learn to move forward despite it.

But if you’re not sure where to start, then here are two quick things you can do today to start your own journey:

1. Reframe the voice.
That inner critic? It’s not your truth. It’s fear in disguise — and it’s usually trying to protect you from embarrassment or failure. Next time it shows up, try saying, “Thanks for the input… but I’ve got this.” It’s simple, but it really starts to shift the power dynamic.

2. Do one small thing you’ve been avoiding.
Not the big scary thing — just the next step. Make the call, send the email, read the book… self-doubt thrives on inaction, so give it less to feed on. You’ll be surprised how quickly momentum builds.

Want more practical tools to overcome self-doubt? This week’s episode of Let’s Talk About Mental Health is packed with practical and effective strategies to help you stop freezing, start acting, and take back your peace of mind — even if you’re still doubting yourself along the way.

Check it out below (or scroll down and read the episode transcript), and let’s talk about overcoming self-doubt… because the more we talk about it, the easier it gets.

Have a great week!
Jeremy 😃

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Listen To/Watch the Full Episode now

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Episode TRANSCRIPT

Self-doubt will keep you stuck — unless you do this

Self-doubt wins when you do nothing about it. It keeps you stuck and it holds you back from taking risks or chasing your dreams.

But the only way to reclaim your power and your peace of mind is by taking action that pushes you forward… and that’s what we’re talking about today.

Because when you doubt yourself it’s easy to freeze, to second guess every move, or to talk yourself out of the things that you really want. But you don’t overcome self-doubt by hoping it will just disappear, or by trying to ‘think’ your way out of it… you overcome self-doubt by acting in spite of it. And in this episode of Let’s Talk About Mental Health, I’m going to show you how to do exactly that.

So, let’s talk about overcoming self-doubt… because conquering self-doubt isn’t about feeling ready, it’s about learning to move anyway.

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Self-doubt is a completely normal part of life, but it becomes a major problem if and when it keeps you stuck, or it stops you from growing.

The cost of not addressing your self-doubt is incredibly high; far too high, because not only does it affect your mental health and your emotional wellbeing, it has a massive impact on your entire life… not just one or two parts.

By the way, I’m Jeremy Godwin and I make better mental health simple. I’m a counsellor and writer, and I went through a total breakdown that led to years of severe depression and anxiety and I struggled to find the kind of tools I really needed back then. So, now I create them! I share no nonsense, practical advice that’s based on quality research and real experience of what actually works.

So this episode is all about self-doubt, and the thing that you need to consider upfront is that self-doubt doesn’t just hold you back from achieving your dreams; it eats away at your peace of mind, your self-trust, and your mental health every single day… and in pretty much every single area of your life.

You might not even realise just how much it’s costing you… but if you don’t learn how to manage self-doubt, it will eventually take over your entire life and control it. But the good news is that once you understand what’s really going on underneath self-doubt, that’s when you can finally start to take back control.

So why is self-doubt so convincing, even when deep down you know you are capable of so much more? Well, let’s talk about…

What self-doubt means… and what it doesn’t

Self-doubt is when you question yourself and start to feel as though you’re not good enough, or that you can’t trust your own decisions. And really, self-doubt is just fear in disguise. It’s not an accurate reflection of reality, but what it is is your insecurities and your fears manifesting themselves in a very specific type of way.

Self-doubt, ultimately, is a protection mechanism. It’s your brain trying to keep you safe by avoiding risk or potential pain. But here’s the thing: the danger it’s protecting you from often isn’t real. It’s imagined or exaggerated.

Your brain sees things that are outside of its comfort zone as being potentially threatening because they’re unfamiliar. And when your brain’s try to protect you, ‘unfamiliar’ often equals ‘unsafe’.

And so that’s where learning to recognise self-doubt, if and when it rears its ugly little head, is so essential, because doing that means knowing what’s happening when self-doubt actually shows up… and then being able to reframe it.

Because what if self-doubt isn’t actually trying to stop you… it’s trying to teach you something?

Well, the thing you need to consider is that self-doubt generally shows up in three major ways: as internalised criticism, as unrealistic expectations, and as fear of failure or judgment.

So let’s talk about those for a minute.

First, let’s discuss internalised criticism.

So this is when that critical voice in your head decides that it has a negative opinion on practically everything you do, and say, and think… and all it wants to do is insult you, and read you to filth like it’s a Bianca del Rio impersonator.

It often stems from things that you were told growing up; whether that’s from your parents, from teachers, or by anyone who made you feel like you just weren’t good enough.

Not only is self-doubt critical, it’s also unforgiving. Even if you just mess up once, instead of recognising that every mistake is a learning opportunity that voice kicks in and it starts saying things like, “Ah, I knew I’d fail!”, or “I’m completely useless!”

And it often doesn’t say that just once; it says it on repeat. So when you’re hearing those things, over and over and over again, eventually it really starts to stick and you think, “Well, okay, maybe…!” So, you know, for example, perhaps you forgot to follow up on an email, and immediately the thought pops into your head, “I’m so disorganised, I always screw things up!”

Now that ‘always’ is a really strong judgment statement, and that’s not just a random thought that has popped up out of nowhere. I would wager good money that that is a thought that you have had more than once in that example; you know, that there have been these kinds of thought processes where you think time and time again, “I am not good at things!”, “I make mistakes very often!”, “I’m so disorganised!”… and those thoughts, that voice, it stems from somewhere. It usually stems from somewhere deep in your past, or just messages that you have taken on about yourself over time.

The thing is that the voice probably isn’t even true; I mean, very few people stuff up all the time! But because it’s so familiar and so insistent and so loud, that makes it powerful.

Next we have unrealistic expectations.

This is when you set the bar so high for yourself that anything less than absolute perfection is just not good enough; it feels like it’s a failure.

You know, you could do something and it is 99.9% there, and other people look at it and think, wow, that’s fantastic, or they, you know, give you great feedback about it, but all you can do is focus on the 0.1% where maybe you didn’t dot an ‘i’ or you didn’t cross a ‘t’, or you accidentally put something on a post in the slightly incorrect position… I’m speaking from personal experience, I’ve done that quite recently!

You know, this is where you expect yourself to be calm, confident, and capable a hundred percent of the time… and anything less than absolute perfection triggers your self doubts. It’s the, “Well, if I can’t do it perfectly, then I shouldn’t do it at all!” mindset.

For example, you might give a presentation and stumble over one sentence… and instead of seeing the big picture and listening to the positive feedback that you’re receiving from lots and lots of different people, you find yourself just absolutely fixating on that one moment and chastising yourself for it, or even maybe punishing yourself for it.

The thing is that with unrealistic expectations, self-doubt thrives here because perfection is completely impossible… but self-doubt keeps you chasing it anyway.

And that brings me to the third way that self-doubt often shows up, and that’s as a fear of failure or judgment.

So this is when you hold yourself back; not because you can’t do something, but because you’re afraid of how it might look if you try and don’t succeed. It involves playing small because you don’t want to risk being criticised or rejected by other people, or to be seen to be getting something wrong in front of others.

And it’s not about whether or not you are capable of something; it’s more about what other people might think if you fall short.

For example, maybe you have a great idea in a meeting, but you don’t speak up about it and share it because you’re worried that someone else could potentially shoot it down or that they’ll judge you for it if it’s not, you know, absolutely perfect or whatever the case might be.

This kind of self-doubt tends to keep you silent, still, and stuck. And so the tricky part is that the more often these types of thoughts show up, and the more we buy into them, that’s when self-doubt becomes stronger. That’s because it feeds on silence, inaction, and hesitation… and if you don’t interrupt the pattern, it just keeps growing.

The longer you wait, the louder self-doubt gets. And that’s because self-doubt grows in the dark. It creeps into all the little corners and gets into the nooks and crannies of your mind, and it picks away at you over and over again.

But it’s absolutely possible to take back your control and move forward. It’s about learning to understand how to approach it, and how to take action if and when self-doubt shows up. And that involves making a shift in how you view self-doubt, so that you can learn to see it as an opportunity instead of an enemy.

Which raises the question: if self-doubt isn’t the enemy, if it’s actually your brain trying to protect you even if it’s going a messed up way about it, then why does it feel so destructive? And more importantly, how do you stop it from running your life?

Well, now let’s talk about…

Why self-doubt holds you back

Alright, so the main point I really want to make here is that self-doubt chips away at your mental health, and wellbeing, and self-worth, over time. And it’s not because you’re weak or broken, but it’s because you’re constantly questioning yourself… and that creates chronic stress and emotional exhaustion.

Honestly, there’s only so long that you can have these type of thoughts for before they start having consequences. Because they will drain your emotional energy and they keep you on edge. Second-guessing yourself triggers anxiety and it eats away at your confidence over time. And honestly, it can be like fuel for the fire for depression if it’s left unaddressed.

Self-doubt isn’t just a series of harmless thoughts. Self-doubt has real, cumulative effects on your mental health.

Believing your self-doubt tends to shape your decisions, and ultimately your identity, in a lot of different ways. And you often don’t realise that it’s happening until it’s done serious damage. And that’s a huge problem, because it means that one day you might wake up discovering that you’re now living a life that you didn’t choose because you’ve been allowing self-doubt to run the show. You could find yourself living a life that’s much smaller than you wanted because you’ve been listening to that fearful voice, instead of trusting your own abilities. And that’s often how people find themselves feeling dissatisfied with their lives, or even miserable about where they’re at versus where they really want to be.

But let me ask you this: what would happen if you stopped listening to that voice of self-doubt, and started trusting yourself instead?

Overcoming self-doubt isn’t about suddenly becoming fearless… and besides, ‘fearless’ and ‘foolish’ often tend to go hand in hand! A little bit of fear is actually healthy. It’s about how you react to it, and how you process it and understand what it’s there for.

You know, I have fear all the time… don’t think that I don’t have fear doing what I do on this show! I still get nervous sometimes, and I still second guess myself… and I’ve been putting out episodes of Let’s Talk About Mental Health for more than five and a half years now.

The thing is that fear is part of the process.

Someone said to me many, many years ago that if you don’t feel fear, it means that you no longer care about what you’re doing. And I thought that was so interesting and it stuck with me ever since. In fact, I think it actually, it was, it was well over 20 years ago that someone said that, and it still is front of mind whenever I think about fear.

I choose to use the fear as fuel.

Because the secret to handling self-doubt is to feel the fear and do it anyway… because the fear is telling you that you care about the outcome. So how about we use that to actually create a better outcome that is potentially more successful?!

Really what this is all about is learning to act while feeling fear, while feeling doubt… instead of waiting for the doubt to pass.

I remind myself that the doubt wouldn’t be showing up if I wasn’t passionate about doing a good job… so I use it to push me forward, instead of allowing it to hold me back.

Because action doesn’t require you to have a hundred percent confidence.

You don’t have to feel ready. You just have to be willing.

So if you’re wondering how to start pushing back against self-doubt when it feels overwhelming, we’re about to dive into exactly that right after this quick break!

[AD BREAK]

And welcome back!

So far, we’ve talked about what self-doubt really is and why, if you don’t learn how to manage it, it can quietly take over your life and do harm to your mental health. But the thing is that self-doubt might be loud, but it doesn’t have to be in charge. You have a lot more power than you think, and when you know how to use it, you can start building real trust in yourself again.

So with that in mind, now let’s talk about…

How to overcome self-doubt

Alright, now let’s get into the practical ways you can tackle self-doubt in order to move forward with more confidence and peace of mind, starting with the thing that gets overlooked the most…

Act first, doubt later — the biggest thing you absolutely need to know about overcoming self-doubt is this: waiting to feel confident before you act doesn’t work, because you build your confidence by taking action. Your brain is always going to try to keep you safe, and it sees taking risks or pushing yourself out of your comfort zone as the most dangerous thing you can do… after putting your head in the mouth of a hungry, hungry hippo. So you have to learn to act in spite of self-doubt, because the fastest way to quieten your doubts is to act before they talk you out of trying. Doubt absolutely thrives on hesitation. And the longer you wait, the louder it gets. Taking action creates evidence for yourself that challenges the doubts in your head. Because once you do something, no matter how small, you’ve proven to yourself that you’re capable… which shifts your focus from fear to momentum. So start before you feel ready: set yourself a small and achievable task, and do it without overthinking it. Confidence is built through action, not the other way around. Okay, next…

Start with small wins — do you know what holds most people back from achieving their dreams? It’s focusing on goals that are so huge that they become completely overwhelmed and give up. Focus on taking small steps and achieving small wins that add up to big achievement. Like the old saying goes, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time… although please don’t eat elephants, they’ve been through enough over the years! Self-doubt can feel overwhelming when you focus only on the big goals ahead of you. So the antidote is to focus on small and consistent wins that build your self-confidence and self-trust over time. Every time you follow through on something that you said you’d do, you’re casting a vote for believing in yourself. And it teaches your brain that, yes, you can rely on yourself. So you can do this by choosing one simple thing to complete today, something simple and achievable, and then doing it no matter what… and then doing something again tomorrow, and the day after. Small steps add up over time to big results. All right, next…

Separate facts from feelings — one of the most effective ways to disarm your self-doubt is to challenge it logically. Just because you feel doubt, that doesn’t mean you’re incapable… because feelings are not facts. Self-doubt often distorts your thinking, and it makes things seem far worse than they actually are. So try asking yourself two quick questions whenever doubt shows up: “What’s the evidence for this thought?” and “What’s the evidence against it?” Often you’ll find that your fear is based more on imagination than reality. Next…

Feel the fear and move anyway — waiting until you feel fearless is a trap that keeps you stuck. Fear is normal when you’re doing something new or important, and ‘self-doubt’ is just fear dressed up in a different outfit. What matters here is giving yourself permission and encouragement to move forward even when it feels uncomfortable… because if you’re waiting for the discomfort to somehow disappear, then you’ll be waiting for a very long time and life will pass you by. This is about choosing to redefine fear as a companion, not a barrier. You can do that by acknowledging the fear, by saying something to yourself like, “I’m scared, and that’s okay” and then taking one small step forward anyway. Every act of bravery, no matter how small, chips away at the power of doubt. Okay, next…

Change your environment — the environment around you in your life, like how you live and who you let have access to you, plays a massive role in how much self-doubt you experience. If you’re constantly surrounded by negativity, criticism, or unsupportive influences, the self-doubt will flourish. So improve your living environment, which means removing things and people that reinforce your fears. Be selective about what and who you allow into your mind: limit time with people who constantly criticise, unfollow accounts that make you question yourself, and actively seek out encouragement and inspiration. Next…

Talk to yourself like someone you love — the way you speak to yourself matters so much more than you realise. Harsh self-talk strengthens doubt; being kind and supportive to yourself weakens it. This creates a safer and more supportive emotional space inside yourself, which makes taking risks and stepping forward feel less terrifying. So you can do this by catching your inner dialogue when it turns harsh and deliberately choosing more compassionate words. You deserve to feel supported, and that starts and ends with how you treat yourself. Next…

Visualise succeeding instead of failing — self-doubt often comes with vivid mental images of everything going wrong, so… flip it. Visualising success instead of failure helps to train your brain to associate action with positive outcomes, rather than fear. Try taking 60 seconds each morning to imagine yourself succeeding at something you care about. See it, feel it, and notice how your energy shifts. Because whether you choose to pay more attention to the positive or to the negative, what you focus on is what you focus on. Next…

Prioritise progress, not perfection — perfectionism and self-doubt are partners in crime. If you’re waiting for perfect, then you’ll never feel good enough. So choose to consciously focus on making progress instead. This helps because focusing on progress encourages momentum, and it reduces fear of mistakes. You can do this by redefining success as showing up and taking the next step, rather than achieving an ideal outcome. Remember: good enough is good enough. Next…

Practice acceptance — you don’t overcome self-doubt by making it disappear forever. You overcome it by learning not to let it drive your decisions. Accept that self-doubt will always exist, but you get to decide who’s in charge. This serves to shift the goalposts from, “I must have no fear!” to, “Fear doesn’t get the final say!” You can do this by mentally acknowledging self-doubt when it pops up; for example, by saying, “Thanks for your input, but I’m okay,” and then consciously choosing to act according to your values and goals, regardless of self-doubts’ fearful chatter. Just maybe don’t say that stuff out loud to yourself if you’re in public! The last thing I want to see is you being dragged off the train or the bus because you’re having a little self-empowering chat with yourself and everyone thinks you’ve gone a bit mad! Alright, next…

Lower the stakes — self-doubt often shows up when we convince ourselves that everything is life or death. But it’s not. Very little is actually as urgent or important as we think it is. Reducing the pressure on yourself helps to lower fear, and it makes taking action feel safer. You can do that by reframing tasks or challenges as experiments, not final judgements on your worth. Saying to yourself, “Let’s see what happens…” is a much healthier mindset than “I must succeed, or I’m a total failure!” Okay, next…

Celebrate your effort, not just the outcome — if you only celebrate when you achieve external success, then you’ll constantly feel behind. It’s the equivalent of demanding more and more from yourself and never being satisfied. Choosing to celebrate the effort you put in helps enormously, because it rewards the thing that really matters: having the courage to show up and take action. You don’t have to throw yourself a parade for everything you do. Just try pausing at the end of each day, or week, and give yourself credit for what you did… not just what you achieved. Progress is built on showing up, again and again. Next…

Remember that confidence is a skill, not a personality trait — one of the biggest lies that self-doubt tells you is that you’re “not the kind of person who can be confident.” That’s absolute rubbish, and I call ‘shenanigans!’ on that! Confidence isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you build… by taking action, by trying new things, by learning from your mistakes, and by trying again. This is what puts confidence within your control, and it’s a mindset as much as it is a series of actions. You can do this by choosing to treat each small step as a practice session, not a final exam. Confidence is something that grows every time you prove to yourself that you can survive uncertainty.

Final tips and next time

Because when it comes to overcoming self-doubt, what it all boils down to is this:

Self-doubt doesn’t have to dictate what you do or how you live your life. The more you choose to move forward despite the uncertainty, the stronger your sense of self-trust becomes… and that’s where real confidence grows. Overcoming self-doubt isn’t about having to feel fearless; it’s about deciding to back yourself, even when it feels uncomfortable. And every time you do, you’re building a future for yourself that’s shaped by courage… instead of fear.

The choice is yours, as it is with all things related to your wellbeing. So what choice will you make today?

Each week, I like to finish up by sharing a quote about the week’s topic, and I encourage you to take a few moments to really reflect on it and consider what it means to you. This week’s quote is by an unknown author, and it is:

Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.

Unknown

All right… that’s nearly it for this week.

What’s one thing you’d do if you stopped doubting yourself so much? Let me know in the comments and let’s talk… because the more we talk about it, the easier it gets!

Join my free mailing list at ltamh.com to stay up to date with new episodes and more, and become a supporter on Patreon for early access to ad free episodes and exclusive content. They’re both linked in the description.

Thank you very much for joining me today. Look after yourself and make a conscious effort to share positivity and kindness out into the world, because you get back what you put out. Take care and talk to you next time!

My recent episode about why discomfort is a good thing might also be helpful. It’s linked in the episode description, so check it out.

Next week I’ll be talking about dealing with criticism; follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode, and have a fantastic week!

Let’s Talk About Mental Health is an independent program; discover more at ltamh.com.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Find more content at www.ltamh.com

Let’s Talk About Mental Health.
Making Mental Health Simple.

Let’s Talk About Mental Health. © 2025 Jeremy Godwin.

The information provided in this episode is for general awareness on the topic and does not constitute advice. You should consult a doctor and/or mental health professional if you’re struggling with your mental health and wellbeing. You’ll find additional information on the Resources page of this website.