This article is an excerpt from the Shortform summary of "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. Shortform has the world's best summaries of books you should be reading.
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Have you ever found that you want to change your life, but don’t think or can? Or ever just felt a lack of confidence doing day to day things? Overcoming your self-doubt should be a top priority.
Self-doubt can be difficult to deal with. But overcoming self-doubt is an important part of your journey, and you’ll find the skills and confidence to be a better version of yourself.
Overcoming Self-Doubt: The Steps to Loving Yourself
The more love you feel inside and send out, the more powerful you become. Harnessing love signals the Law of Attraction to reflect more to love back to you. Overcoming self-doubt is the first step to harnessing this love for yourself and the life you want to live.
There is no greater force in the universe than the power of love. The expression of love is the highest, strongest frequency you can emit. Your joy exists on that love frequency.
Your ability to generate and experience love is limitless. Existing in the state of love puts you in harmony with the universe. Learn to love everything in your life, including you and everyone else. The Law of Attraction has to send you more things to love by its nature. Start by overcoming self-doubt, and the rest will follow.
Start Loving Your Life Now
Perhaps in the past, you’ve dealt with crippling self-doubt. Whatever negative thoughts you’ve had about yourself in the past, change them now. Maybe you’ve felt that life has been a struggle, and through those thoughts, you had no choice but to continue experiencing life as a struggle. This is the first step to conquering self-doubt.
- Commit to believing that life is a breeze, life is great, and all good things are yours for the taking.
Your desired version of you already exists in the universe as the frequency “the best me I can be.” You already know the truth deep inside. You just have to let it out and believe it—you deserve all the good things life has to offer. Overcoming self-doubt is hard, but you have to believe you deserve good things in order to see them happen.
Similarly, when you have doubts about who you are or what you’re capable of, the universe’s only option is to agree and comply with your thoughts. There is no room for crippling self-doubt.
- When you say, “I’m not smart,” what picture are you creating? What message are you sending the universe?
- When you say, “I am smart,” you are summoning the creation of this idea with all your power because you have declared it fact.
When a thought of doubt comes into your mind, the Law of Attraction will summon one doubtful thought after another.
- As soon as a thought of doubt enters your mind, release it.
- Replace it with, “I have the power to create my life, and I know I am receiving what I want now.” Then really feel it.
- Byrne suggests speaking this affirmation often: “I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious, and happy.”
Your past can also stand in the way of you overcoming self-doubt, and you need to pay attention to the things that may be holding you back.
Letting Go of the Past
On your journey to conquering self-doubt, you’ll be able to find self-love, you must let go of regret, shame, and doubt. Holding those feelings inside taints your thoughts. If you can find a way to move past those feelings, you can find a way to be happy with who you are now.
Everyone has experienced difficult things in their pasts. There is a tendency to ruminate on the hard times in the present, focusing on hurt or disappointments. But when you bring that focus into your thoughts, you are inviting similar difficult circumstances to your life now.
- If you harbor a grudge or resentment for someone in your past, those negative feelings are only hurting you.
- The target of those feelings may not think the same things you do about the situation. They may be living a happy life, thinking happy thoughts.
- Remember, your negativity about others can only bring forth negativity in your life.
Overcoming self-doubt means that you can change your future and leave the past behind by making the choice to either look at the past with love or not think of it at all.
- No matter what has happened in the past, if you change your thoughts today, you have the ability to change your life experiences today.
- All of the power you need to change your life already exists as your thoughts.
- For example, if your sister was given opportunities you weren’t, instead of holding on to resentment, leave it in the past.
- If you think, “If only I’d been given that chance, I could have a good life,” the Law of Attraction picks up that negative signal. It can’t change the past. It can only create what you believe in the present. If you believe your life is worse because of the lack in the past, it will continue to be.
- Change your thoughts surrounding the resentment to “That action is not part of my life. I am beyond the implications of that hurt. I am living a life free of that resentment. I feel lucky to have the life I have.”
- By taking away the power of the past, you gain power in your present.
The blackboard of your life is open to whatever you want to put on it. Remove anything from the past that does not serve you. Show gratitude for the past and the path it provided to get you here now. You can have a new beginning whenever you want. Your slate can always be clean. With this outlook, you can work on overcoming self-doubt.
Crippling self-doubt can feel impossible. But remember that there is a whole world out there of wonderful things, and you deserve to experience happiness. Conquering self-doubt is one of the first steps to using the law of attraction to achieve all the things you desire.
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- How to visualize the future you want to increase your success
- Why visualization works, according to the laws of the universe
- Why thinking about negative things sabotages your success
