psychology
5 habits of people plagued by self-doubt
© Joaquin Corbalan / Adobe Stock
Those who suffer from self-doubt are usually good at hiding it from others. But a few habits unmask people who don’t trust themselves enough.
Most people doubt themselves from time to time. That’s nothing bad at first – after all, it’s good to regularly question and reflect on yourself, your own views and actions. But if you constantly doubt yourself and are very critical of yourself, you probably suffer from it. Because strong self-doubt and low self-esteem can prevent us from trying new things, from implementing our ideas and desires and ultimately from being happy and satisfied with our lives.
It’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy self-doubt. However, these habits are typical of people plagued by self-doubt.
These 5 habits help you recognize people who suffer from self-doubt
1. They overthink every decision, no matter how small
Those who doubt themselves very much often have problems making decisions. How are you supposed to decide something if you don’t trust yourself? This ensures that people with self-doubt often make every little decision of everyday life – What do I eat today? Do I take the bus or the train? Which shoes do I wear? – think and brood over it until you no longer know which is in front and which is behind.
This can go so far that they prefer to let others decide for them. In some cases, this might be taken as easy as affability (“You decide where we go to eat, I like everything!”), but it can also become very difficult when at some point we are no longer able to do anything for ourselves to decide.
2. You constantly compare yourself to others
Humans are social beings, so it is in their nature to compare themselves to others. So we can arrange ourselves in groups and see where we stand. This can motivate and inspire us to achieve our goals. However, people with low self-esteem often tend to take these comparisons to others to the extreme, especially negative comparisons. They feel constantly inferior to their environment – be it in their circle of friends or on social media – and have the feeling that they cannot keep up.
3. You keep apologizing
People who don’t quite trust their own judgment feel the need to justify and apologize all the time. Basically, of course, there is nothing wrong with admitting mistakes and asking others for forgiveness. In fact, it’s a healthy and important skill. But people with high levels of self-doubt often apologize for all sorts of things, including things that are completely beyond their control or perfectly legitimate. Like demanding something from someone that that person promised.
Incidentally, people with self-doubt find it difficult to accept positive feedback. Your default train of thought is: I must have done something wrong again, it can’t have gone well.
4. They don’t dare to share their thoughts and ideas
Because people with low self-esteem inherently assume that they are not good enough, they are often reluctant to contribute to conversations, discussions, or brainstorming sessions. They don’t dare to voice their ideas for fear of saying the wrong thing or looking stupid. Or they share an idea, but immediately put it into perspective and then immediately send the message that it’s “probably a stupid idea”.
5. They procrastinate
Procrastinating on tasks and deadlines can be a time management issue. For example, people with ADHD tend to procrastinate. But there can also be something completely different behind it: Because even people who are plagued by self-doubt often put things off. They don’t trust themselves, which stresses them out and creates fears. It can go so far that self-doubt practically paralyzes them. Tasks are often left up to the last possible point in time (or even beyond) because the inhibition threshold to start – and possibly make mistakes – is so great.
Sources used: instagram.com/mentalhealthceo, verywellmind.com