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Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

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Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#31

This article hits home. Five years ago, I created a SaaS app that did well, followed by one that did less so, and another that flopped (all eBay selling software). New projects weren't having as much an impact and making me feel good, so I sat around reading books. A turning point came when I read two: Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and On Writing by Stephen King. The first teaches we get optimal experience out of w…

The flip side of being in the flow is that you're not learning much (the task is literally so easy for you that you can lose yourself in it).

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#32
post #31

This article hits home. Five years ago, I created a SaaS app that did well, followed by one that did less so, and another that flopped (all eBay selling software). New projects weren't having as much an impact and making me feel good, so I sat around reading books. A turning point came when I read two: Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and On Writing by Stephen King. The first teaches we get optimal experience out of w…

The flip side of being in the flow is that you're not learning much (the task is literally so easy for you that you can lose yourself in it).

Not necessarily true. If the task is too easy then you will get bored fairly soon.

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#33
post #31

This article hits home. Five years ago, I created a SaaS app that did well, followed by one that did less so, and another that flopped (all eBay selling software). New projects weren't having as much an impact and making me feel good, so I sat around reading books. A turning point came when I read two: Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and On Writing by Stephen King. The first teaches we get optimal experience out of w…

The flip side of being in the flow is that you're not learning much (the task is literally so easy for you that you can lose yourself in it).

My understanding of flow is that it is triggered when the task is neither too easy or too hard. It's a sweet spot that maximizes your engagement with the task at hand.

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#34
post #33
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flip side of being in the flow is that you're not learning much (the task is literally so easy for you that you can lose yourself in it).

My understanding of flow is that it is triggered when the task is neither too easy or too hard. It's a sweet spot that maximizes your engagement with the task at hand.

Why can't so easy for you that you can lose yourself in it fall within neither too easy or too hard range?

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know why I did well to start. I had low expectations and no basis for self-comparison. I focused on the work instead of the results, so the results ended up being pretty good.

> I know why I did well to start. I had low expectations and no basis for self-comparison. This happens to everybody who achieves an initial "success": - A band or artist that puts out a great first album or single that is well received and then struggles to write any more hits. These guys are called "one hit wonders" - what a horrible name for somebody who achieved success even if it was once! - An entrepreneur who…

Can be also luck on first try, while all subsequent attempts are "regression towards the mean" as Kahneman puts it.

However I agree with the idea that being motivated by the process of creation is more robust than being totally goal-oriented, especially when chance of achieving a goal is low and it may take many unsuccessful attempts before producing a hit.

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#37
post #32
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flip side of being in the flow is that you're not learning much (the task is literally so easy for you that you can lose yourself in it).

Not necessarily true. If the task is too easy then you will get bored fairly soon.

I know many grandmas that don't ever seem to get bored knitting :)

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#38
What did it for me was choosing to behave as if I lived a charmed life. I'd make my plans under the assumption that it would work out. Things would very rarely go wrong (thus reinforcing the charmed life angle), and if they ever did, it wouldn't be that hard to fix it anyway. People will forgive an amazing number of things, and the worst case scenario just doesn't happen in practice.

It's amazing how much baggage you can shed with this approach. And shedding the baggage makes you more pleasant to be around (even to yourself), thus giving you better opportunities and even more ready forgiveness.

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally agree about the mindfulness. I started to use the app, https://www.headspace.com . Which walks you through mindfulness meditation. I've noticed a stead improvement after using it for a while.

That app on android needs some strange permissions, access to photos and storage and access to device id and call information plus some other stuff. I can't see why it would need to know what numbers I call.

The actual permission is 'read phone status and identity', which I guess is used to pause a meditation session if you get a phone call. 'Access to photos' is needed to get access to external storage, presumably to download audio files.

Disclaimer: I'm not an Android dev, this is just what I've picked up from the internet.

Re: Steps to Turn Off the Nagging Self-Doubt in Your Head

#40

I have extreme anxiety, caused by OCD where the compulsions are mental rather than physical rituals. Looking through this article, all of the tips are tremendously powerful. Unfortunately, they're things that have taken me over 5 years to really become aware of, accept, practice--oh man, is persevering difficult--make mistakes, and finally get better at. Unfortunately, as with many mental habits, it's really, really…

Hi, fellow OCD sufferer here.

Are you using dietary supplements to treat your OCD/anxiety?

I've found some helpful pointers here [1][2][3], but I'm only starting to explore the field.

[1] Overcoming Ocd & Depression: My Personal Journey and Recovery, White, David B.

[2] http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/natural-healing-of-ob...

[3] http://www.ocd-free.org

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