TFS#40: Have You Ever Considered This?

Self-doubt is an interesting thing, and there’s plenty of it to go around in Jiu-Jitsu.

It comes in all different forms and different phases of our journey. Whether if we’re figuring out if Jiu-Jitsu is for us, or even during our injury-plagued brown belt days.

Although intimidating, the good news is that self-doubt can be overcome and it doesn’t have to hold us back from achieving our goals.

Here’s a method broken down into three steps to help you get over self-doubt.

Step 1: Acknowledge your self-doubt

It is important to know that it’s okay to doubt yourself. It’s natural and we all do it. Everyone’s self-doubt stems from different soils.

But before anyone of us gets to start working on it, we need to acknowledge it’s there. Some times it’s under a few layers, masked by a few innocent excuses .

Acknowledge that you are holding yourself back. The person doubting you is the person that doesn’t believe in you…both people, are you. So getting over this obstacle will begin and end with you.

Step 2: Challenge it

The next step is to challenge your negative thoughts. When you feel self-doubt, it can be easy to get stuck in a cycle of negative thinking. The tracks you’ve dug continue to get deeper.

The small anecdotes you’ve added to your narrative begins to warp your reality, and you act accordingly to that narrative.

And there are two great ways to act against the narrative:

1. Look back on similar moments. If you’ve experienced similar periods of self-doubt in the past, look back on your training and think about how you got past it. What made you feel better last time?

2. Talk through the thoughts and doubts. Share the inner dialogue with someone you trust and who’s probably experienced something similar, like one of your instructors or a training partner.

Part of growing your Jiu-Jitsu isn't about improving your techniques, but improving the way you learn. And although you are making progress, self-doubt is slowing you down.

Step 3: Celebrate the wins

Celebrating accomplishments can be uncomfortable, especially if you’re focused on the things that make you feel like you’re inadequate.

But just like how you acknowledge your weaknesses, you must also acknowledge your victories—big or small.

Remind yourself that failing is part of the learning process and not something to avoid. The small victories along the way are what makes the process worth it.

For Your Jiu-Jitsu

→ It’s what you do off the mats that also matter. Sometimes it matters more and it’s what separates you from everyone else.

→ How do you need to get better? Train more or train better?

→ Admitting defeat in the form of tapping shouldn’t be hard. Letting go of your ego is one of the main requirements to becoming great in Jiu-Jitsu.

→ Feeling the nerves during competition is normal, it means that you care about your training. And this might be one of those “less is more” type of moments.

Closing Thought

It’s never easy going through self-doubt since the challenges you face are nuanced.

There are some challenges that require professional help and then there’s some that require a personal journey.

If you walk onto the mat with any self-doubt, you’re starting the round with a disadvantage.

Wouldn’t you want every advantage you can get?