Ep. 40 – How To Deal With Self-Doubt

Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:

1. Limiting thoughts like self doubts will always come, you only need to learn how to deal with it
2. To deal with self-doubt you need to bring every thoughts back to God
3. God made you unique and someone out there is waiting to be blessed by what you have to offer.
4. When self-doubts come it may be an opportunity to re-evaluate or an opportunity to improve your ideas.

Listen on iTunes or Google Play

Register to be a part of my first Online Course, Ready Set Impact!

---

Ep. 40 Transcripts: How to deal with self-doubt

[Intro ]

Olu: Hello and Welcome to Like Jesus Podcast. This is Olu Sobanjo. I’m very glad to have you with me on the show today. I’m going to be doing this alone today but it’s going to be a wonderful time.

For the last couple weeks, we’ve been discussing the ideas on fear and a lot of people have sent in all sorts of questions in regards to different fears that are coming up. And many of my listeners from all over the world in Europe, America, Canada, Nigeria, are finding it hard to deal with some of the fears that have been limiting them. I have answered a few of questions one on one to the people but then, I want to bring it together and answer them on air. Maybe there’s somebody out there that is battling with the same thing that some of the people that sent in their questions are dealing with. That’s why I decided to do this.

And I must say this here that if you want us to feature your questions – should in case you have a question you want us to answer on the show, you should send them over to me by either typing them or recording them as an audio. If it’s clear and understandable enough, we can even feature it on the podcast so you can hear your own voice! Leave a message via WhatsApp, or e-mail. If you are going to record, I’d suggest that you use your headset. If you have an iPhone or any other phone, you have a headset that comes with your phone, you can use that. It helps the recording to be clearer. Also, try to be in a place where it’s not noisy – possibly in a closed room [not too small a room so you don’t have too much echo]. Just try to limit the background noise so we can hear you clearly.

Today, I want to answer questions around, How to deal with self-doubt.

Many of the people that have been sending messages, sent different questions in the same way – those questions revolve around self-doubt. And I must say that this is very particular to everybody including myself. Because you see, the last 10 months that I’ve been working on producing episodes after episodes for Like Jesus Podcast have been fun! It’s been great! But it’s been hectic as well. You know, I’ve had lots of dry moments and times of self-doubt myself. I’m telling you, there have been plenty times where I’ve doubted what I’m doing and asked myself, “how is it helping anyway?” I must tell you that. That’s why I’ve decided to share with you on this episode because this is a crucial topic. When God begins to tell you things to do, your doubts will come in. It’s not necessarily because you like to doubt yourself but because if it’s God’s plan, the enemy doesn’t want it to work so he’ll bring all sorts of doubts to discourage you.

So, many of my listeners have been asking lots of questions centered around self-doubt based on what we’ve been discussing. One listener asked: How do I go forward with an idea when I know I’m not yet a pro at it?So I have this idea, I know I’m not I’m not a professional or the best at it. I’m worse off than many people on this same topic, how do I go ahead with it knowing all these? Another person said, What if what I’m feeling now is just me talking to myself? What if I’m just over spiritualizing everything, saying it as if it’s God that’s actually talking to me? What if it’s me, myself and I that are just talking? Another person said, What if I make mistakes and ruin the plans? All sorts of self-doubt are there and these questions – second guessing, all fall under self-doubt.

I must say that I was really glad to hear all these limiting thoughts that my listeners are having. Why? Because these thoughts may just be a sign that you are on track. So, you don’t need to panic and if you are off track, that’s okay too. The fact that you have self-doubt doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. It may just be an opportunity to reevaluate. So on this episode today, I want to help you know how to deal with self-doubt and get over it at least for this moment. Because, trust me, they are going to come back. That’s pretty much how it works. Self-doubt will always come back. So listen, if you are out there and you think you have an idea of what you want to do but you are being limited by different speed limiters, know it for sure that you are not alone. You’re not the first person… You now know that many other people feel that way.

In short, a recent example for me is when I launched an e-book. Many of you will know my personal quiet time guide that I just launched. It took me a weekend to come up with that book, create it and finish it. By Monday morning when I was hitting the send button so it can go out to all my subscribers on my website. As soon as I sent it, I began to have all sorts of self-doubt thoughts like, “Nobody likes it or needs it. In short, you just wasted your whole weekend doing this. Nobody needs it! It’s the same thing out there for everyone. So it doesn’t really matter because what you’re saying is not different from what everybody is saying. And I just began to have all these thoughts. For the first 15 minutes, after I sent the e-book to people on my list and I put it on autopilot on my website so that people can download it, I just started getting all these self-doubt thoughts. My husband wasn’t around at that time so I sent a message and I said, “Guess what? I’ve sent out the e-mail [he’s on the list too so he’s going to also get it.] But, You know what? I’m feeling really discouraged. I don’t feel like it’s going to help anybody. I feel like it’s useless, it’s not going to be useful to anyone and I just wasted my time producing it.” And then he said, “I don’t think so. Hold on a sec, let me go read it.” So, he went because he wasn’t around for me to go back and forth for him to look at it. When he read it, he replied and said, “You’re just allowing the enemy to discourage you. This material is actually very good and it’s going to help people that read it. It’s going to really help them.” For the first time after I sent that, I realized that I had actually allowed the enemy to be speaking in my ears, discouraging me.

So you see! It’s not just you that goes through this problem but when this happens, the question that you are going to ask yourself is, “What do I do when self-doubt comes?” By the end of the day, I had so many people that had sent me messages, thanking me for the book. They said, “Wow. Thank you for the book. Now, I would understand how to pray better; Now, I know what to do with my quiet time and how to get the most out of it…” Including pastors all over the world, telling me “This is really good. Thank you!” And I said to myself, “Why did I allow myself to be discouraged for that moment?” And that’s the way it works. The enemy wants to discourage you.

So, in order to deal with self-doubt, the first thing is that you have to bring that idea back to God in prayers. Everything that I say comes back to the presence of God, right? But that’s the truth for everything that we do. If we’re going to be the ones that are going to impact the world – to be the salt and the light of the world that Jesus said we are, we have to go back to Him every single moment to get his opinion. You’ve already started getting the idea of what you want to do then the self-doubt starts to come. You bring it back to God and say, “Lord, I surrender this plan to you. I don’t care if I don’t even achieve it. I’m already in you so I surrender myself to you. I want you to take over my life and take over this idea.” When you do that, what you are doing is you want to take on the wisdom of God and the boldness that comes from hearing God talk to you. And when you take that, you back to fight, to pursue and work! When you are going back to work, you’re not going back with your own wisdom or strength. You’re going with the strength of God. That’s why it’s very important that you get the boldness from God.

An example that came to mind this week is the story of David and Goliath. You’d look at David and you’ll think “you are going to fight a giant. If you look at yourself compared to that giant, you actually look like a grasshopper.” And the giant, Goliath didn’t keep quiet. Rather, he kept saying all sorts of things, “They sent you to come and fight me? These people are stupid. I’m going to serve your head to…” He kept saying all sorts of things. If David had gone with his own strength or with his own wisdom; if he had gone with the wisdom and armor of King Saul, he’d have been served as fish, as a meal to the birds of the air. Because he’d have been going in the wrong strength. But because he went back to God in prayer and he knows the relationship that they had, he said, “I was with my Father’s flock and a lion came, a bear came and I destroyed them.” He remembered the strength that helped him – who helped him to fight a lion and then he went with that strength to attack Goliath. So as you are getting self-doubt, if you try to polish it and you say, Oh… No No No. I’ll be fine. I’ll do well…” It’s going to stress you and you’re still going to not achieve that thing. You may achieve it a little bit but eventually, you will not get there. But, when you go with the strength of God and the grace that God can give you, you’re no longer going in your strength, rather, you are going in His strength.

The next thing you need to do is that you need to share this idea. Don’t just keep it in your head. Share it with other people and critically analyze what your idea is. This point would be discussed in the next episode, Episode 41. We, myself and Pastor Ade, are going to be dealing with this. He’s going to tell you to step by step what you need to do so you can learn how to critically analyze your ideas personally and when you’re bringing it to other people to help you analyze it. That’s what we are going to be dealing with in the next episode. Because it’s very good to get feedback. You need to get feedback. Like I was saying about my e-book there, by the way, I’m still giving out that book on my website. If you get feedback from people, it helps you know if what you are doing is the right way to go or not. Like for me, when I got feedback from my listeners, it was good for me to know that the devil is just discouraging you. Don’t worry! What you’re doing is helping other people. Even if it’s just one person. Even as a mum at home, sometimes, you are doing all these things and the enemy might come to discourage you saying, “Why are you doing all these?” But then you let God remind you that you are doing it for the children and your husband. You can be in a church where you are doing this project and it looks like nobody see what you are doing… Self-doubt can come in many ways. Believe in the feedback that you get from other people as they are telling you. Don’t feel as though they are just saying it to make you feel good. It’s just the enemy again, making you doubt yourself.

The next important thing to do about self-doubt is to remember that you are unique. You are very unique. God made each one of us unique and He made us in such a way that even though you may have a twin, you’d not think the same way as your twin neither do you do the same thing as your twin. If you don’t have a twin, it’s even easier for you to know that you are unique! Even if there’s someone that looks like you, there is a completely different mindset. So you don’t need to worry about whether or not you are original because you definitely are original.

I was thinking about it this other way. We all read the same Bible but when we read it, we all get different things from it. When we are doing family devotion at home and each person is sharing, it’s beautiful because even though it’s the same scripture that we have, everyone has a different perspective on it. Let’s look at it this way again. In Nigeria, there’s this thing that we do which is called the “Zobo Drink”. The Zobo drink is a juice that you make from hibiscus flower. They take that flower and dry it. They dry it so much that it becomes purple dry leaves. Then, they take the hibiscus flower and boil it in plain water. From the hibiscus flower, the juice comes out – coloring the colorless water purple. It becomes the drink. Then you can add whatever you want to add – sugar, honey, jolly juice, ginger or pineapple [to make it have a natural flavor]. Even though all you are doing is just adding the same common raw materials that everyone else uses for different things, the juice of the flowers comes out and it tastes different. If you add ginger to the same water, it doesn’t taste like Zobo. One thing that you have to realize is just as unique as Zobo is, the same way you are unique. You take the Word of God, it comes to you, washes off and it becomes a part of you. When it comes out, it becomes something else. We take the same scripture, I explain it differently and you explain it differently. It addresses my situation differently and then I share it that way. It addresses another person’s situation differently and we share it that way. Each one is unique on their own.

So, don’t ever feel like what God is doing in your life is too insignificant. You’d be saying, “God is not smart enough.” When God created you, He created you uniquely and looked at what He had made and said, it was good. Including you. Don’t forget that. I want you to not forget that. You need to remember that God is the one that has made you. Your flavor is something and there’s someone out there that is waiting to be blessed by what you have to offer. I’d say that again. Someone out there is waiting to be blessed by what you have to offer. Take the boldness that you are receiving from God’s presence and start stepping out today, as soon as possible.

That’s why I’ll be opening the veil over my very first online course shortly. I already put the link on my website. Just go to olusobanjo.com,  you’d be able to sign up. The online course is called Ready, Set, Impact. I believe there are many of us out there that God is already putting some things in your heart. You’re getting ready, getting set and it’s time to start impacting. If you’re looking to start 2018 with clarity, you want to be on that course. Go over there to olusobanjo.com and sign up for the course. If you have a ministry idea, an idea of a service you can start to render, a book on your mind that you want to write, songs, a blog, or other things that you want to do, you must run over there and go sign up for Ready Set Impact Course. It’s free. You’d get emails, different tools, videos, transcripts and other tools/tips that’d help you get ready and start. That’s why I think everyone on the planet should sign up for it. If you know anybody that has been dragging their feet – they are scared. Just tell them to go over to olusobanjo.com and sign up for the online course. And let’s get started. I know that the tips and free stuff you are going to get from that course will help you to confidently start to pursue God’s purpose for you in no time. Once again, go over and sign up on olusobanjo.com.

In conclusion, if you are ever faced with self-doubt, remember that it’s a normal part of life. It may be an indication to reevaluate or an opportunity to improve your ideas.

Alright! So, let’s pray.

Father in the name of Jesus, we thank you because you take time to reveal yourself and your plans to us. Lord, I’m trusting you that everyone that is listening to this, especially those that are having limiting thoughts or struggling with self-doubt, I ask, oh God that you help them to move past this. That in your presence, they’d find the boldness to pursue what your plan is for their lives. In the name of Jesus. Whether it’s in the little things of today – what do I do or not do or whether it’s in the major steps of finding and pursuing purpose, Lord, I pray that you help them to embrace your boldness and the grace to take this and allow you to work on them and the plan, to become what you have in mind. In the name of Jesus.

I pray Oh God that anyone that the enemy is taking time to limit, we silence the enemy and we declare that my brothers and sisters are secured in you and your plans for their lives are secured, in the name of Jesus. You said in your word that you have a plan for us, one of good and not of evil, to make us have an expected end. So, Lord Jesus, I pray that each of one of my listeners will have an expected end, in the name of Jesus. Anyone that is working on a project right now and is trying to understand how and where to go, Lord clarify things for them, in the name of Jesus. And let this be a wonderful week for everyone, in the name of Jesus mighty name we’ve prayed. Amen!

Alright, People! It’s always good to talk with you. Don’t forget, if you have questions you want us to feature, go over to olusobanjo.com and leave a comment on this post. Or you can send them by WhatsApp or email attachment to olu@olusobanjo.com. So, send them in and we’ll take time to answer your questions.

Alright. God bless you. Thank you. Until next week, have a wonderful time listening to God. Bye for now.