Whether you feel that achieving your dreams are a long way off or just a few moments away, it’s essential that you feel confident that you can reach them. The key to getting your dreams to become a reality is to believe in yourself and your abilities. Only you can make them come true. Only you can stop the doubts. If you’ve doubted whether you can reach your dreams, try these strategies to regain your confidence: 

1. Learn to recognize self-doubt. Are you aware of how much doubt is affecting your dreams? The first step is to recognize the power that self-doubt has over you.

• You may have a dream, but are you actively pursuing it? Doubt can paralyze you and stop you from going after your dreams. It can creep in slowly and destroy them. You may not even notice how much it’s hurting your dreams.

2. Avoid letting your struggles stop you. Struggles can increase your doubt about your abilities to achieve your goals. They can cause you to give up and walk away – if you let them.

• Struggles and challenges are a natural part of the journey toward your dreams.

• Rather than pretending that the issues don’t exist or that you can avoid them, face them head on. Know that you can find a solution and continue moving forward toward your dreams. It might be a different path than what you originally planned, but consider that it might be even better, too.

3. Recognize excuses. If you don’t believe in yourself, then you can create many excuses to stop going after your dreams. You may tell yourself that you’re not worthy of your dreams or that they’re foolish. You may convince yourself that you don’t deserve success, happiness, or other good things. Doubt can make you stay in a comfortable place that isn’t fulfilling.

• Your excuses might include that you don’t have enough time or resources to achieve your dreams. You may also blame your family, background, or other features of your life.
• Recognize that you’re using these reasons for excuses. For better results, think of them as simply challenges that you can find a solution to, and get busy!

4. Act with confidence. Even if you’re scared to step forward, it’s important to act with confidence. The old cliché of “faking it till you make it” can apply here. You must go after your dreams with passion and confidence even when you’re scared and uncertain.

• Practice by doing things that take a little (not a lot of) courage. Not only will you get some things done, but you’ll also have more self-esteem because you’re doing things that scare you. You can build up your confidence over time with little steps.

 Self-doubt can destroy any dream. It can make you feel like you’re worthless. It can make you think that your dreams aren’t possible and will never happen. But this isn’t true! You can defeat this negative thought process with strategies like these. Regain your self-confidence and go after your dreams!