Doubt Is Like Rust….

Years ago, in a trombone lesson, a teacher told me:

“Doubt is like rust. If you let it take hold, it will slowly destroy you.”

It starts simply, with language like:

“I suck at _________.”

Eventually, that statement shrinks to just the first two words.

I wish I could tell you that doubt goes away when you win a playing or teaching job. I wish I could tell you it disappears when you reach a new tax bracket, move into a new place, or buy a new car.

I wish I could tell you that when you meet the love of your life, doubt finally fades into the background.

But it doesn’t.

In many ways, if you develop the habit of doubting yourself when you have very little, the trappings of success can actually give that doubt, and that rust, more places to grow.

So how do you guard against it?

I don’t know what will work for you.

For me, I’ve practiced reminding myself of something very simple:

It is possible for things to work out for me.

I’ve spent plenty of time playing detective, sleuthing out every piece of “evidence” that things won’t work out. And yet, over and over again in my life, things HAVE worked out.

Not always the way I expected. Not always on my timeline. But enough times that the evidence deserves to count both ways.

Making music is hard enough when you are healthy, focused, and happy. It becomes quite a bit harder when you’ve convinced yourself that the world is out to get you, or that failure is simply the most likely outcome.

Maybe fighting doubt isn’t about convincing yourself that everything is going to work out.

Maybe it’s simply refusing to assume that it won’t.

How do you stave off doubt?