That loud doubt in your head is usually an old recording. Check the date on it.

REFLECTION

WHAT THIS MEANS

Most self-doubt is not a current assessment. It is a sentence from years ago, said by a teacher or a relative or a group of thirteen-year-olds, still playing at the original volume. Nothing you have done since has been added to it, because recordings do not update themselves.

When the doubt arrives, ask when you first heard it and in whose voice. Then ask whether evidence from the last two years actually supports it. Often the belief turns out to be older than the skills it is judging, which makes it a poor guide to what you can do now.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Who first said the doubt you now repeat to yourself?

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