There are No Walls Keeping You Out

Graphic – eminentlyquotable.com. Background photo © GIS – fotolia.com

“THERE ARE NO WALLS KEEPING YOU OUT
Except the ones in your own mind
And you absolutely can tear them down.”

– Alex Newman

In one study by the European Institute for Leadership and Management, they found that 50% of female managers and 31% of male managers experienced self-doubt or self-imposed limitation. Psychologists explain that self-doubt is rooted from the fear of being ridiculed and rejected. To quote psychologists and self-doubt expert Louisa Jewell, “Self-doubt is often generated in your mind because of the social evaluations of others.”

In a study by Herbert Mirels, professor of psychology at Ohio State University, chronic self-doubters were found to likely face wide range of problems. Prof. Mirels explained that people who find themselves deficient are highly vulnerable to psychological problems like anxiety, sadness, and mood swings. As a result, they have the high tendency to procrastinate and avoid thinking about their difficult problems.

As manifested by an intelligence test, the problem is more on the emotional than the intellectual. Their level of intellectual ability does not differ much from the others, but their emotional volatility is higher. Being chronic self-doubters, they change their minds often and hate tasks that require effortful thinking. The study also suggest that it is a product of being less “centered”, causing them to react extremely to positive and negative events.

Prof. Mirels said, “They are prone to hesitation and vacillation and probably are less efficient and
accomplish less than more confident people.” To borrow the words of William Shakespeare, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”