Survey Your Self Doubts
This totally unscientific survey is designed to capture some of the ways people understand, respond to, and process self-doubt. This is not a diagnostic tool (sorry to disappoint, but I’m an exploring writer, not a health professional). The information you provide may be quoted in future articles posted on public forums like Substack. However, your confidentiality is 100% protected: I am not even asking for your name (so please answer honestly). I may seek additional follow-up or possibly a phone interview, which you can accept or reject if and when offered.
Background
Your Initials
Your Email
For follow-up only. Not to be shared!
Your Age
Your Gender
Your Occupation
Note status of employment (full-time, part-time, self-employed, retired, etc.)
Your Area(s) of Creativity
For example, writer, painter, textile worker, illustrator, entrepreneur, etc.
Questions & Reflections
If you had to banish the word “doubt” from your vocabulary, what word might you choose instead to suggest what “doubt” means to you?
Think back on a specific time in your life (at any age) when you doubted yourself very strongly. Then answer these 6 questions.
Leave this blank.
1. How old were you when this episode occurred?
2. What was the immediate circumstance causing this bout of doubt?
3. Looking back, what patterns in your life contributed to this moment of intense self-doubt?
4. Describe how you coped when your doubts were at their peak during this time.
5. How did your body react to this event?
6. What emotions did you experience? Recall as much as possible.
Do doubts ever keep you up at night? If so, please describe what this feels like and what you think about.
Think back on a conversation you had with someone, discussing your doubts. Was the conversation helpful or hurtful? Describe it.
What have you learned about yourself from all your self-doubts over the years?
Describe how self-doubt may have helped you. Be as specific as possible.
If your self-doubt could be manufactured into a three-dimensional object—from any time period or universe—what might yours look like?
If your self-doubt were an animal (anything in the animal kingdom, plus imaginary beasts like unicorns, mermaids, and hobbits), what might yours be like?
Final Thoughts
What additional questions and reflections would you like to share?
THANK YOU!
Your honest responses will be treated with care and respect.
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