Self-doubt is constantly working away at us — chipping away, eroding our confidence and self-esteem.

We all have that negative part of the brain that’s always trying to sabotage what we do, and self-doubt stems from there.

The Voice That Says “I Can’t”

You want to do something really good, and you think, “Oh yeah, I really want to do it.”

But then self-doubt creeps in:

“Am I capable? Can I really do it? What if I mess it up? What if I screw it up? Then I’ll look really bad, and everyone will laugh at me. I’ll be a laughingstock.”

Then comes the next thought:

“You know what? Maybe I just won’t do it. Maybe I’ll just forget about it and carry on with my boring life, not achieving anything.”

And in that moment, the negative part of the mind has won.

Humans vs. Animals — and Children

This is quite normal for humans — but interestingly, it doesn’t seem to be the same for animals.

It’s also far less common in children. If I say to you, “Here’s a crash mat — try a somersault and land on it,” you’ll probably say, “Whoa, wait a minute. I can’t do somersaults. I don’t even know where to start. It might be dangerous.”

You’ll come up with a long list of reasons why you can’t do it.

But give the same challenge to a small child, and they’ll just go for it. To them, it’s pure fun — jumping up, trying a somersault, and splashing down on the crash mat. They’ll love it, and you’ll have trouble getting them off that mat.

By the time we’re adults, we’ve changed.

The Cat That Doesn’t Care

Look at a cat about to jump onto a tall fence. The cat just does it.

It doesn’t look over its shoulder to see if the cat next door is watching. It doesn’t think, “If I miss, that other cat will laugh at me, and I’ll be so embarrassed.”

The cat doesn’t think like that. It simply looks — and jumps.

So what’s wrong with us? There’s something seriously wrong, isn’t there? The human brain can be a bit of a disaster area.

When Doubt Creeps Into Performance

When you practise martial arts — when you throw a punch — you have to punch with intention, commitment, and belief. If you doubt yourself, it’s going to be a disaster.

You might have trained hard and perfected your moves, but when it comes to the demonstration — with everyone watching — it freaks you out. You start to worry, to panic, and then you make a mess of it.

Afterwards, you go away and hate yourself for it.

It’s even worse in competition — there are judges, all being judgmental, giving you a score. You worry about that score, about the eyes on you — that sea of people staring. It can be overwhelming.

The Strategy: Practise Awareness

So what do you do?

Number one — practise.

Practice observing the negative thoughts. Be on the lookout for it. The negative part of your mind tries to sneak these thoughts in when you’re not paying attention, so they slip by unnoticed.

Catch them. Recognise them. Say to yourself:

“Hold on — that’s a negative thought. I’m not letting that win.”

You’ve got to beat it — kick it into submission.

Kung Fu Kicks Self Doubt.

Recognise. Confront. Win.

Who’s going to win — you or your negativity?

If you let it win, it’ll hold you back for your whole life. But if you beat it, you can do almost anything.

Think of all the people who achieved great things. If they’d let self-doubt stop them, none of it would have happened.

They beat it — and so can you.

You just have to be strong. Recognise. Confront. Win.

Winning Small Battles

The more often you do this, the easier it gets. You’re training yourself.

Sometimes it starts small — “I don’t know if I can do this.” Just do it.

Win the small battles first, and you’ll build up to win the big ones. Eventually, it becomes a habit.

Then your self-esteem rises. You become proud of yourself, more confident, with a self-image of someone who doesn’t let doubt get in the way.

And when that happens — you feel good about yourself.

Success brings confidence, confidence brings more success.