The repetitive, intrusive, self-doubt...

...which makes us doubt our identity unnecessarily.

...which makes us need validation, not once, but again and again.

...which makes everything worse, again and again.

It won't go away on its own.

But its power can be significantly reduced through community and practice, by surrounding ourselves with peers who help us overcome this doubt and build habits and take action that moves us forward.

There's a line from the Urdu poet Ghalib that comes to my mind as I write this...

In Urdu it goes like, "mujhe kya bura tha marna, agar ek baar hota"

Translation: I wouldn't have minded dying if it happened just once.