The Fearless Squirrel Tool to Beat Self-Doubt

Have you ever felt like you’re not enough?

I believe I am not alone…

Whenever I’m going to an important meeting with a senior leader, I always question myself if I am smart enough to be there.

Or when I’m presenting an update of a project I am leading, I have the fear of not knowing the answer to some questions.

Or when I am speaking to an event, I’m always thinking I might blackout!

You know how hard it is for me to propose something of any kind, professional or personal, and get a NO.

Seriously!

A simple NO crashes my heart! I always think it is because I’m not good enough, so why even bother trying!

I don’t know about you, but a NO used to scare me so much, that I even hold myself back from helping someone in the airport with their luggage, with the fear they would tell me NO!

I am still learning to cope with the feeling of a NO.

Life is a series of NOs until there is a YES.

A NO doesn’t have to be a failure but can be a test of patience and resilience.

During the HPX Live event in S. Diego, Jamie Kern Lima gave a keynote, and she talked about her journey of launching IT cosmetics, which is all about perseverance, courage, and hard work.

Jamie taught a big lesson on how to overcome self-doubt by giving so many examples in her career! So many that I think she could be an expert on beating a NO to a YES.

She mentioned, a NO hurts, but it is always the perspective from others to you, so if you believe you are right and your gut says it is a Yes, just move on!

Try to get feedback, because it is good to understand why it is a NO, but it doesn’t mean that you will give up!

Every time you receive a NO in your life, she mentioned to think like a fearless squirrel.

Jamie’s tool to beat self-doubt: the fearless squirrel.

A friend of hers once gave her a picture of a fearless squirrel to put in her wallet, and anytime she was doubting herself in a critical situation, she would look at the picture and voice-over: “I am a fearless squirrel!”

Then Jamie showed us on the big screen the picture of that “fearless squirrel”, and boooommmmm!

That’s it! Move on!

Accepting the NO, and keep doing until you have a YES!

(PS: Print this picture and have it in your wallet! I did it also! )

Jamie Kern Lima wrote a book Believe IT. which was launched a few weeks ago.

You know how much I love books, and this one is another one I recommend!

I was part of the launch team, which means I had the privilege to read the book before the launch date and provide a review.

The book has 3 parts: Believe, Risk, and Empower. Each chapter you can see there is hustling, vulnerability, strength, passion.

Jamie talks about her personal story, how she built a billion dollar company from her living room, how she found out she was adopted in her twenties, how she found her WHY.

Sometimes, I was thinking, Jamie was lucky. It looks like a Cinderella story.

But through the book you can learn one thing.

You are unstoppable, and that’s on YOU!

She even tell in her book, she sent a pretty frame with the fearless squirrel to Oprah as a gift, as this image was kind of a sign to her to have the courage to go through moments of self doubt.

Believe! Believe in your Dreams. Believe in yourself!

And a NO just means you tried, so you are closer!