This is a guest post by our top contributing author and travel blogger Ryan Biddulph. He is the founder of Blogging From Paradise, his course 11 Fundamentals of Successful Blogging and the author of more than 126 eBooks.
Deep. paralyzing self-doubt cripples almost all newbie bloggers from time to time.
Left unchecked, self-doubt destroys your blogging campaign. Why blog if no one will read your blog anyway? Why would anyone read your blog? Why would anyone eventually hire you or buy your stuff when you monetize your blog? Each thought-feeling races through the mind of every new blogger a few times. If you do not face, feel and release self-doubt you will fail because blogging from a doubting energy guarantees self-sabotaging ways.
For example, if you fear no one will read your blog because you are a newbie you tend not to write and publish posts persistently. Other self-sabotaging ways involve playing small, not networking, resisting monetizing your blog and surrounding yourself only with fellow new, struggling bloggers who offer failing advice.
One way exists to overcome newbie blogging self-doubt; wade into the energies and walk through the energies by feeling self-doubt.
No elegant, seamless way exists to overcome self-doubt suffered by newbies. Meditating helps to expand your awareness to observe your deep doubts but sitting to watch your thoughts and feelings does not overcome self-doubt for you. You need to face fears, feel fears and release fears to conquer self-doubts. Few human beings enjoy feeling tender, vulnerable and open but conquering lack of belief in self involves hugging these bad-feeling energies to leave doubts in the rear-view window.
Face self-doubt.
Stare the energy in the eyes. Feel self-doubt. Sit with the discomfort of questioning yourself, invalidating your blog and devaluing your blogging abilities. Every new blogger doubts themselves but few wade into the highly uncomfortable emotions of feeling like a:
- fraud
- fake
- loser
New bloggers usually see themselves as unqualified, unprepared frauds on some level because you have no experience and skills to call upon to build your credibility. Every beginner blogger has a similar experience because all new bloggers lack skills, experience and exposure enough to gain reader trust. Write and publish your first 5 blog posts even if you fear nobody will read the posts.
What happens if nobody readers your first 5 blog posts? What happens if your deepest fears come true to fully confirm your doubts? Nothing! Join the club.
Nobody read my blog for a long time. I tortured myself with deep doubts concerning myself and my blogging abilities. I persistently blogged through my self-doubts. I felt these terrible-feeling emotions. Eventually, after feeling my self-doubts persistently enough I cleared many doubts and replaced the energies with clarity and belief in myself. I continued blogging. Great blogging success followed.
Nudging into doubt allows you to face, feel and release doubt. Increased confidence and clarity expand in your being. Clearer, more confident bloggers create and connect through thick and thin.
Be comfortable with being uncomfortable as a new blogger.
I sometimes cringe at my first few blog posts because my high level of self-doubt reflected through my work. I lacked writing confidence and clarity during my newbie blogging days because *all* newbie bloggers lack confidence and clarity. Who lacking skills, exposure and credibility feels clear and confident? Bloggers develop clarity and confidence by increasing your skills, exposure and credibility through persistent creating and connecting.
Never overwhelm yourself with self-doubt until you retreat into a cyber cave. Feel the fear of not being good enough. Hug the fear of not being skilled enough. Embrace the routine self-questioning habit pattern each time you write and publish a blog post as a new blogger.
Get used to doubting yourself as a newbie blogger but don’t trust your doubts. Feel fears fueling self-doubts, keep creating and connecting and position yourself to succeed online by wading through uncomfortable but freeing emotions.
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