Tapping on Doubt
Welcome back to the Tapping Really Works Newsletter. I wanted to do a newsletter about our doubting mind and thus experiencing self-doubt and how to transform this.
This is a biggie for me. Depending on the day, you could call me the Doubt Doctor. It’s certainly a learned way of thinking I’ve had as long as I can remember and I know it started early in life with being an “active” child (translation = high energy, pain in the butt) with an open opinion to boot.
I suspect I’m in a very large class of people that have experienced the backlash that can occur when one expresses oneself in a way that can be perceived outside the box. Depending on your upbringing, you could face serious scrutiny that could level you. I know in the religious household I was raised in; questioning and thinking for yourself wasn’t really encouraged. Ironically, both of my parents were out of the box thinkers, but like so many of us, they learned to squash down their opinions to please others and thus raised children that learned to do the same.
This plays such a large part in why we end up doubting ourselves. We start out life with no preconceived perceptions about anything. We’re all about exploring and learning to formulate our own way of being and seeing the world, but as we stretch and expand this can make those around us, who have been indoctrinated into the school of thinking with the masses, really uncomfortable. As children, we hunger for love and acceptance and once we realize it can be taken from us, we learn to conform and please and ultimately shut down our own internal voice or at the minimum press the mute button and before we know it, our self-doubt expands.
We reach a place where it becomes challenging for us to formulate our own opinions, because we’ve repetitively practiced pushing them aside and defaulting to the general consensus. We end up losing ourselves.
Remember the words over in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi attributed to Socrates….”Know Thyself.” Socrates witnessed very early on that the mass consensus had great power over individuals and thus diluted ones ability to truly “know thyself” because of the strong pull to fit in and be accepted. No wonder we become filled with doubt. It’s in our lineage and it’s very powerful.
My self-doubt takes the form of the voice that tries to take me out. It tells me I’m not good enough. I’ll never make it. Who do I think I am to want more? I’m selfish for wanting more and on and on it goes, endlessly leaving self-esteem defeating feelings in it’s wake.
The good news is, this can be reframed to our advantage. Step by step, we can move ourselves from self-defeating thinking, to victorious thinking and we’ll begin to notice that our lives are reflecting this as we begin to show up differently for ourselves.
When you find yourself challenged with self doubt, I recommend you utilize the healing powers of EFT to loosen the resistance so you can discover your own true answers and become better able to make self-directed decisions that empower you and thus assist you in creating a life you love.
I’ve included a video Tapping on Doubt. You can also try the following tapping script.
Karate Chop:
- Even though there are times I’m filled with self-doubt, I chose to love and honor myself.
- Even though self-doubt seems to plague me at times, I deeply and completely love and accept myself to the best of my ability right now.
- Even though self-doubt has felt like my constant companion for a long time now, I chose to love and accept myself and all of my feelings about this.
Eyebrow: This self-doubt.
Side of the Eye: It gets a grip on me.
Under the Eye: I don’t know what to do with it.
Chin Point: It takes over.
Collarbone: It clouds my judgement.
Under the Arm: I can’t seem to make a decision I feel comfortable with.
Top of the Head: It gets really frustrating for me.
Eyebrow: And then I get down on myself
Side of the Eye: And I’m tired of it.
Under the Eye: I want to set myself free, but I doubt my ability to do so.
Under the Nose: But what if I can learn how?
Chin Point: What if I’m releasing some of this doubt right now?
Collarbone: What if what I’m doing right now is effective?
Under the Arm: I’d like to believe this is true.
Top of the Head: Maybe this is making a difference for me.
Eyebrow: What if I can see my doubting thoughts as just information?
Side fo the Eye: What if my self-doubt is just letting me know where and how I’m still experiencing resistance.
Under the Eye: What if this is a really good thing?
Under the Nose: With this information, I can make changes that can empower me.
Chin Point: What if this is how I can view my doubting thoughts?
Collarbone: I can see how this can be useful for me.
Under the Arm: Having this information can assist me seeing where I need to release more resistance.
Top of the Head: This can be a really good thing for me.
Repeat as often as you need to until you feel lighter about experiencing self-doubt.