Why having people doubt you may be the BEST thing ever!
- Carly Morton
- Jul 21, 2018
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 16, 2019
I looked up the dictionary definition for 'doubt' because I'm an English teacher and that's the sort of stuff I do...
Some of the things it mentioned were 'indecision between belief and disbelief' and used words such as 'uncertainty', 'distrust' and 'lack of sureness'. The connotations are clearly negative, thus, we could associate doubt with feelings of negativity.
A word that stuck out to me in this definition is the word 'belief'.
When people doubt you, they may be indicating that they don't believe you. They may also be indicating that they don't believe IN you.
It's that second one that I want to touch on.
When I was in Year 12 I told my Ancient History teacher that I wanted to come first in the subject. His response was "I don't know Carly, Caitlin is currently first and she is going pretty well".
The man doubted me.
He doubted my intellect. Maybe doubted my ability to work hard. Certainly doubted how much that thirst to prove myself propels me into action. Little did he know, and poor Caitlin (sorry Cait, I love you, but wanted to come first) that his doubt was exactly what I needed to stir up a fire within me to prove him wrong. And I did.
There are countless other examples like this from my life. Times where people did not believe in my dreams, ability and perhaps in my worthiness as a person and what I had to offer them or the world.
These situations can be really debilitating if you let them. And from what I've witnessed, there are two main methods by which you can react when faced with doubt.
Number One- Discover that what they say is true, you are: useless, less than, unqualified, untalented, not smart enough, ugly, will never succeed or achieve your dreams. Hide your self away in a little ball and don't try because trying will surely result in failure. Because everyone else is right and you are wrong.
Number Two- Discover that perhaps those people are negative, have limiting beliefs or perhaps are too afraid to do, say, see or be the things that you are and thus are tearing you down to satisfy their own insecurities or beliefs. Then get really revved up, motivated, inspired, creative and dedicated and kick some ass.
Note: It's not about revenge or proving people wrong (unlike my HSC example), because that way of thinking may hurt you in the long run. It's about being the master of your own destiny and believing in yourself, even when no one else does.
Carly xx
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