This post originally appeared on Facebook and got a good response there, so I'm adding it here, to the archive.

I’ve spent much of my life fighting self-doubt and realize it’s held me back quite a bit through the years. There are a few things I’ve found that help work through the times where I’m beating myself up the most. None of these are groundbreaking, but I thought I’d share anyway:

  1. Recognize I’m being a jerk to myself. Catching myself in the act of trash talking myself is obviously the first step. Breaking that cycle of thought before it gets too deep is so important.
  2. Do any one little thing to make it feel like I’m not wasting my time being a lazy ass. And that one little thing doesn’t have to even do with whatever major project I’m working on. This week for me, it’s been starting a pre-work running routine – it’s something so simple (replacing the time I’d normally be getting Rasine to school with running a few miles) but it’s a big shift in how I normally work in the morning. As a result, I’ve knocked out 11+ miles this week I wouldn’t have done otherwise and that helps me feel more motivated to move forward on other things I’ve fallen behind on.
  3. Find inspiration in friends doing awesome stuff. Here’s a secret: I have a Facebook list of people that I most admire and that share things about their projects that I find motivating. Not affirmations and quotes and such, but actual updates on what they’re working on. Lots of entrepreneurs on this list, but not entirely. I load up this feed filter and let y’all remind me to keep it moving when I least feel like it.

And when all else fails: I take a nap. :)

What do you guys do to fight the little hater (credit: Jay Smooth), and push through the self-doubt muck when you’re trying to get things done?