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How to believe in yourself again

2025-10-20 · Short · Ali · recording, 2:09 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Mindset, motivation and happiness · mode: Answering questions · tags: Lesson from a book, His own products discussed

Asked how to regain belief in yourself, Ali gives three ways: gather evidence by doing the thing a lot, vicarious mastery experiences from people like you (or from podcasts and books about the thing), and seeing self-belief as a thought you can choose.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Three ways to believe in yourself again

  • ★★ Ali's view is that there are three ways to get self-confidence or self-belief. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Ali's first way to self-belief is evidence: if you doubt you can run a YouTube channel, make lots of videos until you believe you know how. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Ali's second way is what Albert Bandura calls vicarious mastery experiences: surrounding yourself with people like you who do the thing makes you believe it is possible for you too. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ When trying something new, Ali finds that watching many YouTube videos, listening to podcasts and reading books about it creates a vicarious mastery experience; the Indie Hackers podcast did this when he started building apps. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Ali's third way: recognise that believing or not believing in yourself is a thought; meditation practice helps you get distance from such thoughts. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ Since a thought need not be believed, taken seriously or identified with, Ali thinks that at some level you can simply choose to believe in yourself. — 00:01:57

Threads in this video

  • refine · How do you become more confident? — Ali's third way: recognise that believing or not believing in yourself is a thought; meditation practice helps you get distance from such thoughts. (00:01:27)

Mentioned

Central: vicarious mastery experience

Also: Albert Bandura · Feel-Good Productivity (book) · Indie Hackers podcast · meditation · self-efficacy

Also centred on vicarious mastery experience: Three Ways to Boost Your Self-Confidence 🙌

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