Breaking Free From Self Doubt

 

Time stood still. John stood at the foul line. Three seconds left on the game clock. His team was 1 point down and he had a one-if-one. Sweat nervously streamed down his face. While his heart was pounding in his chest, a team mate came up to him and patted him on the back, “Don’t choke, man,” he warned.

 

Crazy thoughts erupted in John’s mind as he caught himself holding his breath. People were yelling and screaming in the stands. In his mind he heard the familiar voice telling him, “You’re going to blow it. You can’t handle the pressure. You’re a loser.” John swallowed, trying not to literally choke. He felt jittery. He had to get the shot off before it got worse. He dribbled the ball, took a breath, and looked desperately at the basket.

 

Then, a whistle broke into his awareness. His coach had called a time out. John felt relief flood into his body.  And what was about to happen changed his life.

 

Self Doubt as a Conversation in the Mind

 

What just happened? Self doubt had crept into John’s thoughts. At first, he simply ignored it. Then John attempted to push it out of his mind. After that failed and the trickle of negative thoughts became a flood, he got swept away by a conversation of self doubt that erupted in his mind.  He wanted to push the shot before it got any worse. That’s when a perceptive coach called time out.

 

The conversation of self doubt consumed John’s thinking. Read that sentence again. Do you notice that the conversation of self doubt is separate from John’s thinking? The conversation of self doubt had taken over thinking. John had become so fused with the voice of self doubt that it had taken over John’s thinking. And it shaped what John began to see as possible.

 

You and Your Thoughts Are Not the Same

 

John became so entranced by an internal conversation of self doubt that his thoughts became directed by this inner voice that told him he was going to blow it. And because he could not break the hold that this inner voice had on him, his performance was about to follow the voice of his self doubt into blowing the shot.

 

But what if the voice of self doubt were only one possible voice, among many different voices in the mind, with which John could become identified? What if all of us had different voices in our mind that could take over our thoughts and direct the performances of our lives?

 

In John’s case, if he followed the voice of self doubt, he was about to have a diminished performance of the potential that was possible for him – he would choke. The self doubt was not John, but it had certainly taken over what he saw as possible. 

 

The Coach Redirects John into a Peak Performance

 

On the sideline John’s coach interrupted John’s torrent of self doubt. Coach stared him in the eye and demanded, “Look at me!”

 

John’s eyes seem to clear as his coach interrupted his conversation of self doubt. Eye to eye, nose to nose, the coach’s intensity refocused John’s thoughts. And into this moment his coach declared, “You can do this!   I know you will! Breathe! Claim the warrior, claim the fight in you!”

 

A fire seemed to ignite in John’s eyes. Eyes focused with purpose. His shoulders stood erect. A new energy seemed to engulf John. A deep assertive calmness entered his mind. And a new voice emerged in John’s mind, and it said, “Yes, I can. Let’s get it on!”

 

A new voice had taken over John’s thinking. A sense of confidence was in charge now. The huddle broke. John trotted to the foul line. He looked at the basket. He envisioned “nothing but net”. He released the ball. Whoosh! The net popped as the ball sailed through. The ref gave him the ball again. As the crowd screamed, he dribbled and set his eyes on the basket. The voice of the self doubt tried to enter his mind again.  Time stood still.  This time the voice of the warrior that the coach had awakened was ready. Challenged by this deep voice of authority the self doubt fled. 

 

In slow motion John watched the ball leave his hands. In a deep calm and confidence he watched as the ball arced and fell toward the goal. It hit the rim. It rattled in the rim – all slow motion – and fell in. The crowd erupted. Peak performance! 

 

The Internal Dialogue – the Voices Within the Self.

 

What does this story awaken in you? What have you experienced in noticing these powerful internal voices? To learn more about the powerful forces of performance described in this story, go to www.randehowell.com and explore the Observer, Internal Dialogue, and the Voices on the Stage of the Self.