4 Things I’d Have Missed Out On If I Had Let Self-Doubt Get In The Way

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Like most people, my weeks are always hectic and for some reason unknown to me it often feels like I am running around like a headless chicken (excuse the crude analogy). Next thing I know, days are turning into weeks, weeks into months and a whole year has gone by without me realising. One thing I hate, is feeling like I am a passenger in my own life, with no control over the direction it is taking.

Although I have been working hard to reset my routine and carve out pockets of “me time”, it’s not always easy to allocate time for reflection. Reflecting on your life is a good opportunity to learn from past mistakes and grow from them. I, personally, don’t think reflection always has to be over a long period of time, it can be as valuable - if not more - to reflect regularly on things that have happened recently.

This planted the seed for the weekly #ReflectionSundays blog post series idea. Hopefully, not only will this hold me accountable for making time to reflect every Sunday, but it will also force me to write about it and keep track of how I am doing. Today, it got me thinking about all the great things I’d have missed out on if I had taken a back seat in my life, and let one of my worse enemy - good ol’ self-doubt -  get the better of me.

A new life abroad

As you might have figured by now, I was raised in Paris and moved to the UK when I was 19. Although, now everyone thinks this was a great decision, it wasn’t always the case. I, for one, wasn’t sure if it was right for me to put my education on hold to learn English whilst my friends were getting their degrees. I felt alienated by my decision, and thought it was wrong for me not to follow the “traditional path”, that is to graduate, get a job and start a life. But, turned out it wasn’t all bad in the end. In fact, it was one of the best decisions in my life. Seven year later I am glad I didn’t let the fear of the unknown and self doubt stop me from trying something new.

A fulfilling relationship

Despite common beliefs that men should always make the first move, I am glad I did not let outdated concept of romanticism and my lack of confidence stop me from meeting what would turn out to be one of the greatest persons in my life.

A place to call home

Buying a place in big cities can seem impossible. Even more so in London, where we are continually told that we are worse off than our parents, and that housing prices are soaring faster than ever before. Me being me, I never thought one day I would beat the odds and get my very own – albeit small – corner of the world. It took a lot of discipline, help from many and hard work but ultimately if I hadn’t allowed myself to believe it could be done I don’t think it could have been possible.  

An exciting new creative outlet

The internet has paved the way for so many opportunities – both good and bad. Over the years, I have always loved seeing people using the internet to share their content. However, as an occasional content creator myself, I never considered creating my own platform for fear of not being good enough I guess. But as of March 2018, I decided to take the plunge and give this dream a go. Although I am still fairly new to the blogging world, starting my blog has been one of most fulfilling experiences in a very long time. Once again, it taught me that nothing and nobody but myself can stop me from achieving greatness.