8 Ways to Transmute Self-Doubt Into Faith

Self-doubt is crippling.

What makes self-doubt so insidious is that it’s the only thing that truly stands between where we are and where we want to be.

The only limitations we have are those we place upon ourselves. And these walls of fear that we place around ourselves are what keep us imprisoned.

Doubt’s polar opposite is faith. Instead of focusing on getting rid of doubt, focus on building faith. This is the concept of mental transmutation as described by ancient Hermetic teachings.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

Doubt simply cannot exist in the presence of faith. It doesn’t matter if it’s yourself, God, the Universe or having Bulbasaur as your starting Pokemon. Faith in something is absolutely crucial in leading a happy and fulfilling life.

Remember that everything that happens in your life is perfect for your personal growth. You also have the inherent capacity to deal with any situation that occurs in your life. There is no need to fear.

“Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.” – Plato

I’m writing this because I noticed self-doubt creeping in recently. Being burnt out a couple weeks ago left me exhausted and made me question myself.

But by overcoming burnout and implementing a few strategies, I’ve been able to transmute that ugly self-doubt into beautiful self-faith.

8 Ways to Transmute Self-Doubt into Faith:

1. Affirmations
Affirmations are statements to program your subconscious mind a certain way. They’re immensely helpful for getting through any difficult time. You become what your dominant thoughts are. Program yourself for joy and empowerment.

Here are some sample affirmations to help transform doubt into faith:
If you’re afraid of bad experiences – “Everything is a learning experience.”
If you’re anxious about the future – “I can handle anything life throws at me.”
If you’re worried about money – “Thank you Universe for the abundance of money flowing into my life at all times.”

With whatever you want to embody, simply search for related affirmations and you’ll find an abundance of them.

Write down affirmations on a daily basis and continuously repeat them to yourself. That’s how to maximize the immense efficacy of affirmations.

2. Visualization
Visualize yourself achieving your goals. Be as specific as possible. Picture it like you’re already doing it. What does it feel like?

This is another means of programming yourself to achieve what you truly want in life.

Visualization has worked for many of the world’s top performers (especially athletes), so it will certainly work for you. Visualize the action and actualize the vision.

An effective way to leverage the power of visualization is to visualize your ideal day/lifestyle (while being as specific as possible) every morning. You can even include it in your meditation practice.

3. Take action
Don’t just sit there marinating in self-doubt. Work towards what you want. Take that first step in the direction you want to head in. Any sort of progress cultivates faith and quells doubt.

4. Build skills
Acquiring and building skills naturally increases genuine self-confidence. You become more capable, which then alleviates that insidious self-doubt.

Pick a skill to develop, and consistently work to improve it.

5. Be present
Doubt creeps in when you start projecting your mind into the past or future. Self-doubt is usually about the future; anxiety over imaginary “what if” scenarios.

What are you doing right now? Be with it totally. Be here now.

For example: If you want to write a book and you’re outlining it today, focus on that. Don’t focus on how other people have books published. Create the best outline you can today and continue to move forward. This will not only maximize your work, but keep you present and minimize any self-doubt.

“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and
not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms
of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.” – Eckhart Tolle

6. Embrace the mystery of life
A major aspect of transmuting doubt into faith is embracing the inherent mystery of life. The very nature of the Universe we live in is constant flux. So letting go of trying to control everything and simply enjoying the ride is key. Deepak Chopra discusses embracing the mystery of life in his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success where he outlines the following affirmations:

“I will factor in uncertainty as an essential ingredient of my experience. In my willingness to accept uncertainty, solutions will spontaneously emerge out of the problem, out of the confusion, disorder, and chaos. The more uncertain things seem to be, the more secure I will feel, because uncertainty is the path to my freedom.”

“I will step into the field of all possibilities and anticipate the excitement that can occur when I remain open to an infinity of choices. When I step into the field of all possibilities, I will experience all the fun, adventure, magic, and mystery of life.”

7. Rest, then dive back into your work
Sometimes self-doubt comes from fatigue or burnout. In this case you need to rest in order to function at maximum capacity long-term. Life is a balance of the yin and yang. I discuss how to do this in more detail in the post “How to Avoid Burnout.”

8. Know that there are forces bigger than your rational mind at work.

Learn to trust your intuition. Be in that state of deep-seated knowing, and your doubt will be transmuted into faith.

Stay feelin’ good, feelin’ great.

– Stevie P!