It happens. We lose confidence in ourselves, in our abilities. We wonder if we’ve got what it takes to really do this entrepreneurial thing.
Doubt attacks even the best of the best, especially if you’ve been out of the game for awhile. After a hiatus, it can be easy to deceive yourself into believing that you’re no longer up to snuff, that you haven’t got what it takes.
You have what it takes, you just have to regain your confidence and mojo. Remember that doubt isn’t the problem, it’s how you deal with doubt. Your response to doubt is what will determine your success or failure.
Refuse to Fear Failure
Fear is a choice, and we can choose not to give into it. Make up your mind that you refuse to fear failure, and just go for it, whatever “it” may be. Failure is never really failure if you learn something from it, so the best mindset to cultivate is learning to fail fast, and fail forward.
Learn from mistakes and failures, use them to push you forward, but never fear them. Failure is an inevitable step to success. Painful, yes. But always useful.
Visualize a Positive Outcome
If you can’t see it, how will you reach it? It’s important that when embarking on a new venture, you have clear goals and outcomes in mind. Then visualize knocking them out of the park.
Your mind is powerful, and when used properly, it can be an unstoppable force in overcoming obstacles and reaching goals. 
It sounds corny, but you really do have to believe it to achieve it. Visualizing helps you trick your brain into believing in an outcome that hasn’t yet happened.
Shut Up Your Inner Critic
There are no lies more debilitating than the ones we tell ourselves, day in and day out. Pay attention to your inner self-talk, and if you wouldn’t say it to your mother, you probably shouldn’t say it to yourself either.
Make a conscious choice to stop negative self-talk in its tracks, and reframe it into something positive that will lift you up, rather than drag you down. You might not believe it at first, but if you do it often enough, eventually you will.
Make Healthy Choices
Even the best in the business have to take care of themselves and their body, as well as their mind. It’s important to eat healthy food that fuels your brain, exercise regularly, and follow a good sleep regimen. If you feel sluggish or tired, or you aren’t comfortable in how you look, or you don’t invest in yourself and your appearance, it makes it difficult to operate from a place of confidence.
It’s largely a mental thing, but your mind and your mood can be greatly influenced by outside triggers. That’s why it’s important to take time to just rest your brain. When you have ideas percolating all the time, and information constantly coming at you, it can be overwhelming.
If you don’t make time to shut it all down and be still and quiet and take yourself out of your business environment completely, burnout will take hold, and your confidence will suffer.
At the end of the day, you control your mind and you get to choose how you respond to the world around you. People who lack confidence often find themselves reacting to circumstances, rather than actively creating their circumstances.
Be intentional as you go about your day, choose only to harbor thoughts of success, and face all challenges and obstacles that come without fear. Model the confidence you want to have. Soon enough, you’ll believe it.
