You'll never get rid of self doubt

I used to think self doubt was a phase. Something you felt early on, before you had proof you could do the job, and then it quietly packed up and left.

It doesn’t leave. I qualified as a doctor, walked away from medicine, and have since started and scaled several consumer startups. One was acquired. Two grew past £1M in annualised revenue. None of that has switched the voice off. It just changes what it says.

Early on, the question was whether I was allowed to be in the room at all. A doctor with no business background, sitting across from people who had done this for decades. Later the questions got more sophisticated. Was the last win just luck? Will this one actually work? Am I the right person to lead it, or just the person who happened to start it?

Doubt isn’t the problem

Here’s what took me far too long to work out. Self doubt is not a signal that you’re failing. It’s what doing something uncertain feels like from the inside.

If you’re building something new, you are by definition working without proof. There’s no guarantee the product lands, the money comes in, or the team sticks around. Of course part of your brain is nervous about that. It would be strange if it wasn’t.

The mistake I made for years was waiting for the doubt to go before acting. I’d tell myself I’d make the call once I felt sure. But feeling sure rarely arrived on time, and the decision usually got worse the longer I sat on it.

What actually helps

The biggest shift was separating the feeling from the decision. Doubt tells me how I feel. It doesn’t tell me whether the plan is right. So I ask a simple question: if I felt confident right now, what would I do? Then, most of the time, I do that.

Keeping a record helps too, which is part of why I’m writing these. On the bad weeks, doubt is very good at telling you that nothing has ever worked. It’s harder to believe that when you can scroll back and see the things that did.

And I’ve learned to say it out loud to people who’ve been there. Founders tend to hide doubt because they think it looks like weakness to the team or to investors. But every founder I respect who I’ve had an honest conversation with has the same voice. Most of them just got better at not letting it drive.

Where I’ve landed

You’ll never get rid of self doubt, so stop trying. The goal is to get good at moving while it’s there.

The founders I admire most aren’t the ones without doubt. They’re the ones who decided it doesn’t get a vote.