Overcome Fear and Self-Doubt in Your Writing

When you're on a path of growth, of creative expression, and going ever deeper into your message, the fears and doubts don't go away. They meet you at your edge.

But here’s the good news. There’s a time tested strategy to overcome fear and doubt, and it doesn’t have to be painful. You don’t have to try to think your way out of it. Go deeper.

Back when I used to think that “mindset” was only about the mind, I would get so frustrated. When I try to put myself out there, write something new, or express myself in a way that feels risky, it´s impossible to mentally force myself to that next level. When it comes to confidence, I can’t believe things I don’t believe.

That’s when I had my major breakthrough. Mindset isn’t just about your mind. Fear and doubt come up whenever you’re trying to change your belief system, and evolve as a human being. It’s the natural process of letting go of a belief system that may have served you in the past, and replacing it with a belief system that will support you at your next level, i.e. the belief system of a successful author.

If I try to do this with my mind alone, it’s pure torture. It’s an argument between opposing thought systems and it merely creates anxiety while strengthening fear and doubt.

Therefore, rather than banging my head against the wall of mindset work, I integrate it into that classic trilogy of mind, body, and spirit.

Our beliefs aren't just mental, they also exist in our physical habits, and in the way energy flows (or doesn’t flow) through our subtle body. Whenever you come up against fear and doubt, it’s simply resistance to a change in the mind/body/spirit system. In fact, you might not even say “I’m frightened.” You could just say, “I’m changing.” It´s quite natural.

Even on a bad day, when I get stuck in that fear and doubt, I’ve created a regular, physical, mental, spiritual practice to get me up and moving again. Remember, you don’t need to be a superhero every day. A pinprick is just enough, because it will spread over time.

Here’s the breakdown:

Spirit:

As we grow, we evolve our belief system. Believing in Santa helped us when we were 4-years-old, but over time, we let it go. It simply no longer served us. We no longer believed. We're constantly evolving our beliefs and seeking higher truths. In order to move through this gracefully, it's important to have something deeper we can access, than any current thought or belief. Perhaps it’s a symbol or a prayer you can always go back to. For me, it’s daily meditation and tapping. It could be a regular practice of journaling and listening to that inner voice. The essential ingredient is continuity. When your beliefs are changing it’s important to remember, “you’re not that,” you’re infinitely deeper, and the only thing that never changes is change itself.

Mind:

As you bring in those new beliefs, it's important to collect evidence. This is where mindset comes in. Make sure you're feeding your mind with voices that logically integrate your next level belief system. Obviously, beliefs are represented by thoughts, and fear and doubt comes up, only when you’re ready to let them go. If you had a belief system based on the idea that creativity isn’t important, and you’re writing isn’t worthwhile, of course you won’t even realize it, until you feel called to write your book. Before that it was sublimated by inaction. The only way to avoid it completely, is to never write. Therefore, make sure you bringing in plenty of high vibes thoughts and beliefs, so you have something other than your own fears moving through your mind.

Body:

Your beliefs don’t only manifest as thoughts. They physically manifest in emotion, tension, hormonal exchanges, habitual eating, running, exercise etc. That's why when you change them, you need to have a lot of flexibility. When you address the physical aspect of a belief system, everything becomes easier and changes faster. This includes keeping your body in motion, but also drinking plenty of water. Water supports change, so know that when you sweat, cry, swim, shower, bathe, and drink plenty of water, you are shifting your beliefs. You can imagine the old beliefs running down the drain when you take a shower. Literally, wash them away.

Try integrating these practices one at a time, and you’ll move gracefully into your next self. None of us finish our books without battling our deepest fears and doubts. However, with a little company and strategy we make it to the other side. We publish our books. That’s the most important thing.