Getting To Know Doubt + the 8 Types of Inner Critic

Knowing yourself when it comes to doubt requires you to become familiar with your doubt pattern. I share five questions for compassionate exploration plus the 8 types of inner critic.

1. When does doubt show up for you?

e.g. When something really good happens? When people do you wrong?

For instance, doubt creeps in to piss all over my chips when I experience something good as a self-protective device. Why? So I don’t get too invested and, in turn, hurt and disappointed. A friend of mine’s doubt tends to surface in response to other people’s shady behaviour. She doubts their mistreatment and her version of events, wondering if she “provoked” their actions or whether their gaslight-y version of events is “correct”.

2. Are there certain people, things or situations that tend to spark doubt?

Are there certain feelings, thoughts or actions that, consciously or not, trigger you into doubting yourself?

Make a note of these so that, next time, you can say, “Oh, hello, Doubt. I see what you’re doing. Of course you’re here because… {insert the trigger}”. You can then ensure that you’re distinguishing between the past and the present and focus on the reassurance and action piece I talked about in ´Argh, what have I done?’. This is better than catastrophising, overthinking, or shaming/emotionally blackmailing yourself.