The Power of Doubt

Health Entrepreneur Suneel Gupta was so good at not getting VC funding that FailCon asked him to be their keynote speaker.

While not knowing Suneel’s mindset at the time, it is possible to imagine that in the same position, one would doubt their own abilities or ideas.?

What we do know is that this experience taught Suneel, a healthcare entrepreneur, bestselling author and expert on Connection and Culture , many things and laid the foundation for his bestselling book, Backable.?

The book dives into many aspects of becoming backable, including the power of doubt.

Consider that for a moment: our society considers doubt a negative emotion, but what if, doubt is actually your untapped superpower??

Doubt as a Super Power??

We decided to put this idea to our experts, a range of brilliant keynote speakers across a variety of topics, including change , culture and leadership . In an online poll, we asked them to judge this statement as True or False:

A little doubt can keep you sharp.

An overwhelming majority - 97% to be exact - voted True. But why?

To go back to Suneel Gupta , doubt is an integral part of growth:

“Doubt compels us to examine an action from different angles and understand the risks ahead. To make true progress, doubt and movement must co-exist.”?

Doubt allows curiosity and new ideas to enter the fray, promoting curiosity and open-mindedness, adds keynote speaker on Change, clinical psychologist Dr. Nicole Lipkin . Curiosity is the key to innovation , fostering creativity and solving problems, the most crucial aspects to navigating change , and developing new ideas.

Anxious or Inspired?

During times of change, doubt can be paralyzing. At its worst, it can freeze people in their tracks, creating crippling anxiety that stops growth in its tracks. And at its best, it can be a vehicle for innovation, creativity and success. So how do we start to know which doubt is good and which is bad?

Dr. Rebecca Heiss , an evolutionary biologist who teaches people to be fearless , asks us to ask ourselves this deceptively simple question when we feel doubtful:

“Am I doubting myself because I think I’m dumb, or because it’s impossible to know it all?”

Both answers ask us to get curious about the origins of our doubt, rather than freeze with anxiety, but the most important part is the latter part of that question: is it impossible to know it all??

Mission Impossible

If that idea can be true then imagine what actually is possible when we don’t know what we don’t know and step boldly forward?

This bias towards action, inspired by curiosity - even in times of uncertainty - is crucial, she adds. Or to put it another way, in words of Suneel Gupta , even when you feel doubt you can take the next step without knowing what the last step is.?

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it??

But if, as the inspiring Alex Weber points out, doubt is chipping away at your confidence, rather than being a powerful motivator, what can you do about it??

STOP: 4 Steps to Embracing Doubt

Change expert Dr. Gary Bradt shared this simple four step technique with us to get out of your head and into action.?

He calls it the STOP technique and admits to using it before he goes on stage, even as a seasoned and incredibly successful keynote speaker.

In a stressful situation when you feel anxious or doubt yourself, do these 4 things:

S - Stop for a moment

T - Take a deep breath

O - Observe what’s going on - where are you? What is your body feeling? Observe any points of tension, take a deep breath and release them

P- Proceed

This is quick, simple and so effective that it works for everyone from keynote speakers about to get on stage to physicians seeing a new patient to parents working through a challenging situation.?

It seems that doubt is a double edged sword: it can be the most critical element to growth and the greatest obstacle at the same time.

It is the origin of diagnosis, says Change speaker Garrison Wynn , and the antidote to a life of complacency, adds leadership speaker Mike Evans .?

We will leave you with the words of philosopher Khalil Gibran:?

“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is its twin brother.”

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