List: '5 Great Ways to Conquer Self Doubt'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. I haven’t spent my whole life doing it. But I’ve been doing it for decades. Observing Homo sapiens, that is. As a result I agree with the adage: ‘Empty vessels make the most noise.’ In other words, in general, the more of a know-all someone is, the less he/she actually knows. Conversely those who are the most knowledgeable and insightful about a topic are the least likely to be sure of their position – because they know the evidence’s strengths and weaknesses.

Today’s list, like the one two Fridays ago, is from zenhabits. Titled ‘5 Great Ways to Conquer Self Doubt’, it was compiled by the WSJ’s career advice columnist Alexandra Levit (pictured). Her implied premise is that self doubt’s bad. Maybe it’s bad for a job applicant, but I think that in other circumstances it’s good. This notwithstanding, I like Levit’s ‘5 Great Ways’. But I see them as more applicable to raising low self-esteem than conquering self-doubt. The question thus arises as to whether self-doubt and low self-esteem are related to each other, i.e. whether they tend to occur together. I think not. What do you think? Me? Subjectively I rate my self esteem average or just above, and my self doubt below average. Though I’m content with where I rate on both, for years I’ve used three of Levit’s ‘5 Great Ways’ – numbers 1, 4 and 5. Ho hum.