You’re Smart, You’re Capable, So Why Are You Still Questioning Yourself?
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 22
- 5 min read
Written by Jayne Robinson, Spiritual Coach & Advisor
Jayne Robinson is a skilled, intuitive spiritual advisor and coach. Director of JR Coaching, Founder of the Good Initiative, and soon-to-be-published author (2025, NYC Times Square)
Let’s be honest: You know you’re good at what you do. You’re smart, capable, and have outperformed expectations in every role you’ve ever had. You’re not new to success. You’re not confused about how the game works. And yet... here you are, wondering when someone’s going to tap you on the shoulder and say,"Hey, we’ve made a mistake. You’re not actually meant to be here."
Sound familiar?
If so, I want you to know: you’re not alone and you’re definitely not broken. I have these conversations every week with high-level executives, business owners, creatives, and industry leaders. People who look confident, but feel like they’re winging it. People who have achieved a lot, but still feel like they have something to prove.
And it’s time we talk about what’s really going on underneath.
You’re not lazy – You’re in a loop
You might be procrastinating. Not getting back to clients as quickly as you should. Doubting your ideas even though you know they’re solid. Withholding in meetings even though your insights are sharp. You’re not doing this because you’re lazy. You’re doing this because somewhere deep inside, you’re carrying the belief:
“I’m not really qualified to be here.”
“I’m not the expert. Not like them.”
“I didn’t go to Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge (yada yada, you get my drift). I didn’t follow the ‘proper’ path.”
“One day, they’ll realise I don’t have what it takes.”
Even if no one ever said those exact words to you, chances are something was said or implied early in your life that made you shrink. Maybe it was subtle. Maybe it was embarrassing. But it planted a seed of self-doubt. And now? You’re the one repeating it to yourself. Quietly. Constantly.
That internal noise is creating hesitation, angst, and unnecessary emotional labor. You’re questioning everything. You’re filtering your brilliance. You’re delaying decisions. You’re second-guessing yourself while everyone around you is looking to you for the lead.
The spotlight isn’t the problem – Your inner dialogue is
I was speaking with a client yesterday, a senior leader in a well known firm. He had the best results in the company. He was respected. On track for partner. But every time the spotlight turned to him… he froze.
He’d stutter. He couldn’t get his words out. He’d fumble through his wins like they were flukes. Why? Because deep down, he still believed he didn’t deserve the praise. He was scared of being seen, not because he wasn’t proud, but because being seen felt like being exposed.
The anxiety? The constant stress? The feeling that you're performing rather than being? That’s the cost of self-doubt. Not to mention the wasted time, energy, and money that comes from not owning your brilliance.
The most competent people I meet are the ones who doubt themselves the most
You might be thinking, “Yeah, but that’s just how my brain works. I’ve always been a bit self-critical.”
Let me challenge that. That voice in your head isn’t you. It’s your conditioning. It’s the old belief systems running quietly in the background. They were formed years ago through culture, childhood, workplaces, trauma, or the environments you had to survive in. And they now run the show like invisible software, convincing you that playing small is safer than being seen.
“Don’t get too confident.” “Don’t be too much.” “You’re only here because you work hard, not because you’re naturally brilliant.” “If you don’t prove yourself again, you’ll lose your seat at the table.”
These beliefs look like humility but they’re actually self-abandonment. They loop you into overperforming, second-guessing, and burning out. And here’s the kicker: No amount of “thinking positively” will shift this. Because this isn't about mindset. It's about identity.
Let’s get to the root: Ask yourself these 3 questions
If this is hitting home, try these 3 questions the next time you find yourself hesitating, spiraling, or holding back:
What am I saying to myself in this moment?
What am I quietly ignoring about myself?
What am I really afraid they’ll know about me?
These questions will take you straight to the belief that’s quietly running the show. The leaky, loopy thought that’s been sabotaging your confidence for years. When you find it, and you will, it’s like catching a virus mid-spread. You can finally treat the cause instead of managing the symptoms.
Once you see it, you can shift it–fast
Here’s what most people don’t realise:
You don’t need to live like this forever. And change doesn’t have to take years. Once you know what you’re dealing with, the transformation can be instant. It’s all about working with the right modality for you. For my clients it takes less than 90 days to completely transform.
One client (the same executive I mentioned earlier) sat down with me for our introductory session. I got the run down of every single barrier in the way through my specially crafted blueprint session and I mapped out the beliefs running through his life, and created a transformational plan to move him forward.
Three weeks later?
He was confidently accepting his partner offer. Not just financially elevated, but personally liberated. The bigger win wasn’t the money. It was the freedom from the internal pressure cooker he’d been living in for years.
Another client, a powerhouse CEO, emailed to tell me she was $20,000 richer within weeks of finishing our work together. Not because of a new strategy. But because she stopped asking for permission and started owning her value.
You already belong in the room – It’s time you felt it
You don’t need more degrees. You don’t need more accolades. You need to release the unconscious belief that you’re not enough.
Because the truth is:
You’re already enough.
You’re already the one.
You’ve just been living in a loop that told you otherwise.
If you’re sick of that loop, sick of self-sabotaging, second-guessing, and dimming your light, then maybe this is your moment to do something different.
Raise your hand if you're done.
Done doubting.
Done pretending.
Done waiting for someone to give you permission to rise.
Reach out to me: jayne@jrcoaching.com.au and we’ll work out the rest.
Read more from Jayne Robinson
Jayne Robinson, Spiritual Coach & Advisor
Jayne Robinson is an intuitive spiritual advisor and coach. As the Director of JR Coaching and an avid student of life, Jayne is much like the phoenix rising, leaning into her edge of personal development, emerging from her own transformations and spiritual quests time and time again. As such she is dedicated to helping clients do the same, to create a vibrant new chapter in their lives. Supporting successful entrepreneurs and individuals searching for more to move beyond boredom and burnout, guiding them through a spiritual voyage of uncertainty and fear to a transformative metaphorical death to rebirth. Her mission: embrace discomfort, uncover hidden possibilities, and transform your life.
