ICC#5: Don't doubt

This subject clearly is quite a complex matter. The bottom line: Stop doubting!

Doubts can be a blessing or a curse. Most of the time and for most of us they are the latter, especially since chances are that they are irrational. Unfortunately the irrational is hard to tackle with sensible arguments as it is quite resistant to reasoning. Worse even, most irrational doubts disguise as the result of putative rational thinking, so they do not seem irrational at all to the person having such thoughts. So how to stop it if you do think you are right? That mainly depends on your type of character and the focus of your doubts. The most obvious: Stop thinking! Start acting!

We all know it. You see this job ad and it is the job you have dreamt of. But you are not sure whether you are qualified enough for it. You have met this person you feel you want to know more about. But you doubt she or he wants to get to know you. You spot this new dish on the lunch menu but you are undecided whether to try it and not sure if you will like it.

Uncertainty causes insecurity, which makes us hesitate. When you hesitate you are stuck in “what if”-quicksand, brooding over actions you most likely will never take. You have to get out of that quicksand before you are irreversibly bogged. And you definitely cannot think your way out of it. Mulling over your possible actions is like frantically flailing in the quicksand. Your situation will not improve at all. You will go down even faster. The only way out is not to get stuck in thinking about your actions but taking them. And to do so you will have to make deliberate decisions. Apply for that job, talk to the person that turned your head, order that dish with the unpronounceable name … or chose not to do so. Either way is fine. It is your decision. But you have to make it.