You may know for sure that you have the knowledge and experience to succeed, but there still may be nagging doubts that you can’t or won’t succeed. These doubts can be confused with low self-esteem, but they’re very different in how they factor into results.

When you have high self-esteem, you feel good about yourself. You may be physically fit, very intelligent or are known for being a hard worker who gets the job done. Self-doubt may creep in when you’re faced with something new or different.

Even those who have gathered a reputation for success can have doubts about their abilities to experience further success.

Self-esteem comes from positive self-talk that brands you as a person you can believe in to achieve the outcome you want.

Self-doubt can crush all of that by focusing on past failures, comparing yourself to other people and giving in to fear. One way to fight self-doubt and let your self-esteem take over is to take action.

That’s the only way you’ll ever move forward to reach the goals you’ve set for yourself. You’ll gain confidence as you progress through the smaller goals to reach the larger ones and this will boost your self-esteem and push the self-doubt into the background.

Self-esteem is knowing your capabilities and self-doubt only sets up obstacles for you to overcome to reach your goals. A little bit of both (self-doubt and self-esteem) is natural and can be good for you if viewed in the right way.

Your self-esteem can push aside self-doubt when it threatens to paralyze you and ruin your plans for the future. After all, you’ve succeeded with many things in the past and can do it again.

Reach back into your mind and remember the successes you’ve had in the past. If you’re new to an endeavor, you may have to remember successes in other areas of your life, but as you overcome the self-doubts associated with this new activity, you’ll be able to feel good about yourself in that area, too.

Your self-esteem will carry you far in life. The self-doubt you may feel when starting a new activity can be put to rest by taking action and gaining valuable experience that silences any questions about what you’re capable of.