Imagine for a moment what you would be doing if these voices inside your head were not present any more :

1. “I’m not ready yet”
2. “I need to get another degree before I can do that”
3. “I don’t have enough experience” 
4. “If it was a good idea, someone else would have thought of it already”
5. “I don’t really know what I’m talking about here”
6. “I can do that after I lose 5 kgs”
7. “I am not the expert at that”

All women struggle with these voices of self-doubt in one way or another.  For some of you, it is very prominent in your professional life.  For others, it will come up around your sense of competence with your husbands or children.  For yet others, it speaks mostly about appearance, body image or ageing.  For others, it chatters most loudly about your dreams and aspirations.

You are probably so used to living with these voices, you cannot even imagine it could be otherwise.  You don’t talk to anyone about the most demotivating things it says, and you probably don’t know that other women, women you admire because they seem so confident, hear the same irrational, harsh voice in their heads too.

Do you want to make a big step, but keep telling yourself you are not ready?  Reflect on all the ideas you did not share, the moves you did not make, the arguments you did not win and the talents you did not use.  Imagine what you would be doing if you were able to quiet your inner critics?

In the Play BIG! transformational leadership program for women, we work to understand the root cause of your inner critic (it’s not what you think!), why it is there, gain awareness of the sneaky ways it’s present, and learn why the answer to it is not having more confidence. Most important, we learn exactly what to do in the moment when self-doubt arises, to ensure that it doesn’t hold you back.