Most people try to silence self-doubt.

They fight it, hide from it, or pretend it doesn’t exist. But self-doubt isn’t something to eliminate. It’s something to understand.

Rick Rubin once wrote, “Self-doubt lives in all of us. And while we may wish it gone, it is there to serve us.”

Come on, Rick. Self-doubt is there to serve us? It sounds crazy, but he’s right.

Your self-doubt is a signal, not a life sentence. With the right mindset, it shows up to test your belief, not to destroy it. Your goal and my goal shouldn’t be to eliminate self-doubt; it’s to make it smaller than your confidence.

Confidence doesn’t come from pretending you’re great. It comes from within, and it’s built through repetition and what you say to yourself. I’m not talking about “feel-good” confidence. I’m talking about “get-good” confidence, the kind that’s forged through consistency.

So when self-doubt starts to grow, don’t give it more attention than it deserves.
Instead, put your confidence in the work, in the effort, and in the hours no one else sees.

Said differently, don’t wish your self-doubt away. Shrink it by outworking it.

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