When we focus too much on the outcome, we tend to freak ourselves out.

Take skydiving for example. The odds of dying in a skydiving accident are slim––for every 100,000 jumps that take place each year, one ends in death. The odds of us dying canoeing are higher than us dying jumping out of a plane.

Yet, despite this, most of us are terrified of jumping out of a plane and no amount of reassurance that we will live to tell the tale will make us feel any better about free-falling from 6,000 feet above the ground.

In order to find the courage to jump, we must let go of the outcome and trust entirely in the process. We must trust in our instructor, our pilot, our gear and our training. We must trust that if we follow the process, good things will happen.

Self-doubt surrounding ourselves and our work isn't unlike skydiving in that no amount of reassurance can relieve ourselves––even in the moments when the odds are in our favor––the only cure is to let go of the outcome and trust in the process.