You can see it now – waking up at 10 am, working from home in your PJs, and avoiding having to battle traffic every day. The thought of working remotely as a virtual assistant gets you so excited, when all of a sudden that small voice in your head whispers, “Are you sure you can do this?!”.
Or maybe you’ve already begun your journey as a VA. You’re making major moves and out of nowhere, that self-doubt creeps in. Raise your hand if you’ve had one of these thoughts:
“I’m not good enough”
“I’m not experienced enough”
“But, what if I fail…?”
*RAISES BOTH HANDS*
I’d be lying to myself if I said I’ve never felt it. It’s no secret that people struggle with fear, comfortability, or self-doubt when venturing into something they’ve never done before – as much as it is exciting and new.
This is something I see all the time with my students in my 90 Day VA group. So, you’re NOT alone in feeling this way. The way I see it is, we can feel these things – which is normal, but let’s not allow ourselves to feed into it.
How can we overcome these times of self-doubt?
In this post, I’ll be sharing with you 10 ways that can help shake those doubtful feelings off so that you can move forward and set yourself back on track. We’ll be going over these points:
- Be aware of your thoughts
- The power of positive thinking
- Take a break
- Move your body
- Concentrate on your strengths
- Share with your community
- Stop comparing yourself
- Continue to learn
- Celebrate your accomplishments
- Start journaling
1. Be Aware of Your Thoughts
When a doubtful thought enters your mind, the FIRST thing is to really create awareness around how you’re actually feeling and what is really going on.
Stop and ask yourself why you feel this way. Is It because you’re afraid of getting out there? If so, why is that? Do you fear rejection? Are you afraid people will realize you don’t know what you’re doing? Are you afraid of failing?
Asking yourself these questions will help pinpoint and find the root cause as to why you’re feeling this way. Because when you know and understand where the negative thoughts are coming from, you can actually DO something about it.
2. The Power of Positive Thinking
Have you ever heard of the saying that what you feed your mind, is what it becomes? That’s why immersing yourself in inspiring and empowering thoughts and beliefs is so powerful.
A couple of ways you can do this is by:
- Listening to inspirational or personal development podcasts such as Lewis Howes, Marie Forleo, and Brendon Burchard
- Reading blogs that are in the same niche like my own blog for tips, ideas, how-tos, and motivation
- Writing down your fave, positive quote on a post-it, and sticking it somewhere where you can see it as a reminder
- Thinking about the things you’re grateful for will have you focus on the positives in your life
Within 90 Day VA, I’ve sprinkled mini-modules throughout the course all about getting you in the right mindset because there will be times where you’ll experience self-doubt in your journey to become a VA.
Listening to these will help rewire your brain to think better thoughts and feel empowered to know that you can push through and be successful.
Because the more you feed your mind with positive thoughts, the more you’re going to change the way you think and believe that it can be done.
3. Take a Break
As VAs, there are so many tasks that we’re in charge of. And not only that, working in the online world exposes us to so much news and updates of what’s going on in the tech and real-world that it can be a lot of information to digest and process daily.
So if you’ve been staring at the screen too long, and start to become anxious or overwhelmed, take a break! It’s not healthy to sit and stare at a screen for hours on end.
Scheduling in small breaks can help you avoid burnout, and you’ll find yourself re-energized.
Go for walks, pet your dog, journal, etc. Self-care is important, and we want to make sure that our mental health is at its best.
I find that if I start to feel overwhelmed with a business project, my confidence decreases, and I begin to doubt myself. So, remember to schedule small breaks! It can help you come back feeling refreshed and refocused.
4. Move Your Body
We spend a lot of time sitting while using our laptops when we work remotely. So it’s important to remember to move our body not only for overall health and well-being, but also to release stress which in turn raises your mood and builds self-esteem.
And it doesn’t have to be a crazy high-intensity workout. It can be walking, dancing, yoga, etc. As long as you’re doing it daily!
5. Concentrate on Your Strengths
As much as we would love to think we’re good at everything, the fact is we aren’t. So don’t concentrate too much on skills you lack, rather focus on the skills you’re good at, or work on getting better at the skills you’d like to learn more about.
As a freelancer, your strengths are where you can have the ultimate advantage. It’s where you can highlight them as services to offer to clients. For example, if you enjoy writing, you can offer blog writing and newsletters as a service.
If you are unsure of what kind of virtual skills you’re good at or can offer, 90 Day VA provides you with step-by-step training and resources to figure it out.
In addition, my program allows you to practice and apply your skills by building a portfolio using the homework assignments given to you.
Once you complete a project, you can receive feedback from the private group, or work with a real-life portfolio mentor who’ll give you expert feedback so you can grow and improve!
When you’re just starting out as a VA, a portfolio is one of the best ways to showcase your new skills to ideal clients. Because when you learn and build your VA business around your strengths and ability to showcase what you love, your confidence develops even MORE.
6. Share with Your Community
When working remotely, the reality is – it can get lonely. In a corporate setting, you’re surrounded by “office friends” that you spend the most time with and can interact with regularly.
It’s the opposite when you work from home. It’s important to find your tribe and build a community of people to turn to that understand what you’re going through.
That’s why I have a private group with my students in 90 Day VA, and a free FB group. My students can share their experiences (good and bad!) and learn from others going through the same things. And we’ll feel more confident knowing that we’re not alone!
7. Stop Comparing Yourself
First off, you should NEVER compare yourself to anyone. Not only does it kill your confidence level, but it can also make you doubt yourself as a VA.
And honey, you are MORE THAN capable.
Just know that there will always be someone who is fully booked out with clients more than you, making more money, or overall, just doing better work. This doesn’t mean that you’re less than.
It just means that they’re in a different place in their business than you. They could have more experience, are in a different niche, or have different skills.
No matter what the thing is, you can do this too and will eventually get there.
So remember to just focus on YOURSELF and where you are in your VA journey. You can learn from others, but don’t get pulled down into the comparison game! Believe me, it’s not fun to play.
8. Continue to Learn
Even after almost 7+ years in this industry, I make sure that I’m constantly learning new skills and ideas by investing in online courses and mentors. It’s essential to never stop improving your skills, even though you may be an “expert” in your niche.
The industry is always evolving. Upleveling your skills can help you raise your prices and be selective in offering services to ideal clients.
Although it can be daunting by all the new things out there, make sure that you’re able to learn them and apply them. Growing, learning, and improving your skills are all great ways to increase your confidence. For more tips on up-leveling your skills as a VA check out this blog post here.
9. Celebrate Your Accomplishments
I am SO HAPPY when our students announce their wins in our group! But many don’t stop to celebrate. Instead, they move right on to their next task or goal. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen many times in our group.
And even though I’m all for the hustle mentality, you NEED to stop and celebrate. If you completed an assignment, landed a client, or started your business’s IG/FB page – CELEBRATE! Because no success is too small.
So treat yourself to that glass of wine. Reward yourself with your favorite dessert. Watch that new movie you haven’t seen yet. Because you deserve to celebrate and be celebrated. There’s no better love than self-love!
10. Start Journaling
Journaling your thoughts, whether they’re highs or lows, is a great way to release any negative emotions. Being able to express yourself through journaling can help maintain your mental health by venting out any negative emotions you feel.
Don’t forget to jot down any wins and progresses you’ve made in life too. This can give you a confidence BOOST when self-doubt runs rampant in your head by reminding you of the personal achievements you’ve accomplished.
Working online as a new VA is not easy, so you need to have your BEST mindset when self-doubt starts to trickle in.
The first step is applying any of these tips once you get that feeling. I believe that these tips WILL help you become stronger in not listening to that negative, small voice and instead bring you and your business to the next level.
In my program 90 Day VA, I not only teach you the skills to be successful as a VA but also how to overcome any self-doubt you have so that you can realize your worth.
We are currently open for enrollment until May 31st! If you’re ready to become a virtual assistant and have the work from home lifestyle, you can sign up HERE!
Doors close after that and will reopen in October.
Click the button and sign up today!
