In order to transform self-doubt we must acknowledge that it exists. We are human; we don’t need to spend any more energy sweeping it under the rug. Let it be known, in all its glory. This way we know what we’re dealing with and we can stop trying to foolishly dance around it. It means no longer having to pretend we have it all figured out.
Identify the voice of self-doubt and articulate it: to a therapist, a coach, a trusted friend. Let the elephant in the room be seen and heard. How liberating to not be alone with it — masking, veiling, concealing — and to let others see us as we are. How wonderful, in turn, to be able to offer that to someone else. To be with and accept and not deny.
We live in a patriarchal culture of denial. The wearing of makeup, uncomfortable clothes, bleached hair, the obsession with thinness — these are all symbols of a society that prefers what is false over what is real. We can live according to these principles or we can consciously oppose them because we understand what is sacrificed when we don’t. Only actions that interrupt our denial help us to heal self-doubt.