I regularly ask people what their #1 challenge is in building a business around what they were born to do.

Through that inquiry, I’ve found that there are seven major types of challenge that I hear most consistently. Of the seven, the single most common one I hear is self-doubt.

So when I interviewed Luminita Saviuc, THE Purpose Fairy, behind the hugely popular and immensely wise Purpose Fairy blog, I was fascinated to find out how she has handled self-doubt on the journey into her own Sweet Spot.

First, you might like to know something about this extraordinary young woman from Romania…

Luminita Saviuc is a professional writer, blogger, photographer, and a lover of timeless, yet practical, wisdom.

She calls her Purpose Fairy blog “a vault of my observations on the human condition, and how to access our infinite selves in our daily lives.”

With over 130,000 , almost 10,000 Twitter fans, and over 27,000 subscribers, she clearly strikes a chord with people around the world with the power of her observations.

She is also the author of the most viral blog post in the history of the world called “15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy” that’s been shared over 1,125,000 times to date, and has also appeared in the Huffington Post.

We were talking about Luminita’s journey, and her commitment to personal development and applying the lessons of some of the greatest wisdom teachers of all time when I asked:

How do you handle self-doubt when it comes up?

Luminita: I don’t know if you’re familiar with A Course in Miracles?

Lisa: Yes, I am. (To the reader: If you’re not familiar with it, A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum which aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation.)

Luminita: In A Course in Miracles, it says that (at the root of all emotions) you really only have fear and love, right?

So self-doubt, what is it? It comes from a place of fear. Whenever I have self-doubt – and trust me, I have it until this day, a lot – I remind myself that ‘Hey, this is not real, right? Because fear is not real. It’s just an illusion.’

So whenever I have self-doubt, it’s just like I’m moving away from who I really am. I’m losing my power. It’s very important for me to actually realize what I’m doing. So the first step is acknowledging what I’m doing.

And then if I’m insisting on these toxic doubts and I can’t do anything about it, and I step outside of it, I’m not doing anything, and I’m just observing what my mind has to say but without actually taking it seriously. I just know there’s some thoughts. They’re here. I can’t do anything about it at the moment. I just let them be there, and soon enough, they go away. I don’t resist them.

It’s just also interesting that these thoughts are telling me that I can’t do this and that. But I’m not (those thoughts), right? You don’t want to try to control them because if you try to control or resist them, they will just get bigger and bigger.

Carl Jung has a quote. ‘What you resist, persists, but also grows in size.’ So you don’t want to do that! Just acknowledge what you are doing. Become aware of that.

Meditation helps me a lot. If I feel like I’m going on the wrong path, I just meditate, or take a nap, or just step away from the work that I need to be doing because I don’t want to infuse my work with that energy.

There is SO MUCH wisdom in that one nugget that Luminita shared during our conversation, I’d like to adapt it to a quick-reference set of steps that you can use whenever you find yourself in the grip of self-doubt.

So let’s say you are about to do something new in your business that you know is an important next step for you, but even thinking about it makes your stomach do flip-flops (and perhaps you’re like me and find yourself about to reach for some dark chocolate to soothe you…)

1. Recognize that EVERYONE experiences doubt and fear as they expand and grow themselves and their businesses – even the ones who are well-established and at the top of their game.

2. Remember that all emotions boil down, at their root, to either love or fear. Love is the truth of who we are at our core, and as such, fear is not real. It does not reflect this deeper truth.

3. Acknowledge that, in seeing the self-doubt as real, you are moving away from who you really are, and also from your deeper purpose. Notice that you are doing this, and that you have a choice.

4. Observe your toxic thoughts and remind yourself “I am not my thoughts.” Do not do anything with them or you will give them power and strengthen them. Bring the light of awareness to them until you feel relief.

5. Pause. Meditation, rest, yoga, dance or other movement, time in nature, a hot bath, or anything else that relaxes you, will help you get back to your center.

6. Shift before working. Don’t push forward with business while in doubt or it will affect the quality of your work. Your energy is your #1 priority and as it will be transmitted to, and felt by, your clients or audience.

If you have found this helpful, check out during which we talked about:

* When and why she started her hugely popular Purpose Fairy blog
* How she taps into a never-ending stream of topics to write about
* What she did to break out of the habit of focusing on the negative and the past
* How she handles negative feedback (rare these days, but it happens)
* The daily practices that keep her mind, body and energy healthy and clear
* The magic behind the world’s most viral article that she wrote (shared 1.2 million times so far)
* And much more!

What’s most helpful to you about handling self-doubt from Luminita’s sharing? Do you have any other ways of handling self-doubt that have worked for you?

March 2014 Issue