Did you know that a whopping 85 percent of people have low self-esteem to some degree? This issue can affect our personal and professional lives, including our careers, our health, and even our salaries. In other words, self-doubt and low self-esteem can keep us from reaching our peak potential.

Low self-esteem is a personality trait that often develops in childhood and either exacerbates or diminishes with time. If self-doubt plagues you, read on to learn how to get a grip on this potentially debilitating issue.

Know You’re Not Alone

Even the most successful people have doubts every now and again. They may find themselves questioning their actions and wondering what the right thing is to do. How do they harness those doubts?

It helps to focus on building your confidence and self-esteem. You might never get rid of your doubts entirely, but you can stop them from taking over your life. Here are five tips you can use to help determine when to listen to the inner voice of self-doubt.

Accept Yourself

Self-doubt is part of being human. Embrace it and turn it into a strength. When used correctly, this personality trait can help you make better decisions. It can cause you to give pause before making an impulsive decision. Think of it as a tool that guides your actions and keeps you from making costly mistakes. I view self-doubt as one aspect of our inner voice.

Just make sure you are making the conscious decision when to listen to your inner voice and when to ignore it. If you allow it to have unfettered influence over you, it can become detrimental to your well-being and success. Unbridled, self-doubt can make you question your sanity and decision-making abilities.

Get the Facts

Your doubts don’t necessarily reflect the truth. Most times, they mirror your fears and emotional struggles. If not challenged, they can convince you are, and have always been, a failure. But that isn’t the truth, is it? Think about your achievements and how hard you worked to get where you are today. Be proud of yourself and admire your capabilities.

Whenever doubt arises, get the facts straight. Don’t act on incomplete information. Research the issue in question, weigh the pros and cons of possible responses, and don’t hesitate to seek the guidance of trusted friends and associates.

Acknowledge Your Strengths

Make a list of things you excel in. Write down your skills and accomplishments. Accept praise from others gracefully and acknowledge your talent.

Celebrate your strengths every single day. Make positive affirmations and remind yourself how much you’ve done so far. Stop thinking of what you could have done better and focus instead on the positive things. In other words, don’t beat yourself up – build yourself up!

Often, your inner critic may tell you that you are incapable of accomplishing a certain task or goal. If you are acutely aware of your past successes, you can immediately counter your inner critic with examples of when you were successful in the past in accomplishing this task or goal or something similar.

Choose Your Friends Wisely

Negative people can drag you down and ruin your self-esteem. Nothing will ever be good enough for them. That’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with positive people who support you and listen to you instead of judging.

Do you best to limit your exposure to toxic individuals. Some you cannot avoid entirely because they are co-workers or family. However, you can still control how much time you allow yourself to be exposed to their venomous talk.

Define Your Values

Lastly, define the values you live by daily. Having a clear set of life values will provide you with a filter you can use to determine if your inner voice is helping or hurting you. They will enable you to have a more realistic perspective of your current situation which will in turn allow you to determine the validity of what your inner voice is saying. Focus on the thoughts and attitudes that drive your actions, move you forward toward your goals and are at the core of your beliefs.

Overcoming self-doubt and taming your inner critic is a lifelong process. Learn to tame your inner critic so it isn’t questioning every decision. Don’t allow your inner critic and self-doubt to cause you to waste time and energy overanalyzing every situation along with your possible responses. Instead, build your self-confidence and learn to trust your decisions. Then, act and put your plans in motion.

To learn more about taming your inner critic, visit my Life Coaching website.