Who Told You That You Couldn't? Overcoming Self-Doubt and Finding Your Voice

"Who told you that you couldn't?" It's a simple question that strikes at the heart of our deepest insecurities and self-imposed limitations. Every day, we battle thoughts that seem to appear from nowhere, telling us we're not qualified enough, not gifted enough, or simply not enough to pursue our dreams and purpose.

This heartfelt conversation dives into the battlefield of our minds where the enemy works tirelessly to keep our voices silent and our gifts hidden. Why does that voice of doubt feel so familiar and so convincing? Because it strategically targets our most vulnerable areas of confidence. When excitement about a new idea or opportunity arises, that contrary voice quickly follows with all the reasons we should retreat.

The struggle is universal—I've spoken with women from all walks of life who appear outwardly confident yet privately admit to being paralyzed by fear. Whether it's fear of judgment, fear of making mistakes, or fear of stepping into the unknown, these thought patterns keep us locked where we are while everyone else seems to move forward. But what if those limiting beliefs aren't actually your thoughts at all?

God has equipped us for everything He calls us to do. Making mistakes isn't failure—it's how we learn and grow. I share candidly about my own imperfect journey with podcast production and how choosing to show up despite mistakes has allowed this message to reach those who needed to hear it. The enemy wants nothing more than for your wisdom, your story, and your God-given gifts to remain hidden. But someone needs what only you can offer.

What would happen if you replaced those limiting thoughts with the truth of who God says you are? What if His voice became louder than your fears? Today, make the choice to push forward, to use your voice as a catalyst for change, and to trust that the One who created you has already equipped you for your divine purpose.

Chapters

• 0:00 Confronting the Voice That Stops Us
• 2:50 The Enemy's Tactics to Keep Us Silent
• 6:00 Breaking Free From Fear and Doubt
• 9:00 Learning From Mistakes, Not Avoiding Them
• 12:00 Your Voice Matters More Than You Know
• 14:00 Prayer and Final Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Have you ever had this great idea or these great thoughts, something that you want to do and you believe that it will make a difference and make an impact, or just something that you're excited to do and to share with your friends? And then this thought, just, seemingly from out of nowhere, comes up and say but you can't do that, you can't do that, and if we just give in to that thought, it will further tell us the reasons why we can't do it. If that sounds like a conversation that you would like to hear about, you would like to hear about, then welcome and thank you for joining me again on our Positioned for Purpose conversations with Colette Marie. This is a podcast for women of faith who really are struggling in walking in confidence and just being reminded of God in their story and that he does make all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.

Speaker 1: 1:10

As I was looking on my planner, I noticed I had a comment written there who told you that you couldn't do it, who told you that you couldn't do it, and immediately it resonated within me. I've had struggles with plans and ideas and thoughts that I have and at the back of my mind as I'm so excited about it. I would hear who told you that you could do that. You can't do that, you don't have the gifts, you don't sound the right way. Who would want to hear you anyway? And as I'm just processing that information, all I could see is times when I gave into that thought. I didn't push on a conversation, I didn't take up a particular offer because I was worried about what people will think, what people will say about me, how I sound, how I look, and I just gave way to the enemy's narrative that says I'm not good enough. They will not listen. I have nothing of value or importance to say and I know you might have heard me refer to this at some point in a previous podcast, just talking about how sometimes I can get caught up in that lie in my head that there is no value. There is nothing that I have to add to any conversation or to add to anyone else. But, truth be told, that's coming from somewhere right.

Speaker 1: 2:53

That's the enemy wanting to stop us in our tracks, stop us from doing what God has called us to do. It could be a simple conversation that we want to have with someone and in that simple conversation. He wants to stop us by letting us know that we don't have the skill set to be able to talk to this person. We are not wise enough, we don't have enough wisdom to be able to share our thoughts and our ideas with someone else, and then we get stuck there. It's as if, every time we want to move forward, this thought or these thoughts are the things that push us back further than we were before. We started, as a matter of fact, and so, as I process and continue to process that for my own self, I thought that this would be a good conversation for us to have today to say who told you that you could not do that thing? Who told you that you can't take that promotion? Who told you that you can't make this investment in someone else's life? Who told you that you can't and you can fill in the blanks? Who told you Can? I encourage you, my friends, don't allow the voice of the enemy to ring louder than who.

Speaker 1: 4:23

God says that we are. His word tells us that we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us right, and it means that things and I know there are different contexts within which this scripture is referring to, but it's the same thing. He empowers us, he infills us with what we need to do, the desires that we have within us Oftentimes they're not desires that the enemy placed there, because his desire is not for us to do anything that will build, build someone else to make a difference in your home, in your community, in your nation, wherever on your workplace, wherever it is that you were and wherever it is that you are, know that he's going to fight against that. He knows the struggles that we're having. He knows how we feel. He knows that, more than likely, where our self-esteem and where our lack of confidence is and he plays on those thoughts. He plays on those emotions and those thoughts will keep us locked right where we are.

Speaker 1: 5:34

We're afraid to make a step, we're afraid to make a move. I've spoken to women and women who, into women and women, who because sometimes we think that certain persons don't have certain fears, but they do. And I remember just talking to one particular woman and she was not able to move beyond where she wanted to go because of fear. Fear keeps us, fear says to us, fear says to us you can't do that, don't bother trying, you can't do that. And as someone who struggled with that and sometimes struggle with it as well, I have learned that I cannot listen to that voice, because if I listen to that voice, I will never, ever progress from where I am. I'll always be the person that is always in the back, not moving, while everyone else is moving forward.

Speaker 1: 6:49

God has given us a voice. If he has given us a gift, if he has empowered us, why would we not allow what others think because that also plays a part as well what we also think about our own selves and what the enemy says, to be the driving force, to be the voices that are louder than who God says and what he has deposited within us? So who told you that you can't do it? Who told you that what you want to do, that you cannot do it? That's only the enemy. So our choice today, our choice today, is to decide that I'm going to push forward.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Of course we're going to make mistakes. That's how we learn. I know we don't like to make mistakes, but if we don't make mistakes, we don't learn, and we have to learn so that we can teach someone else from the mistakes that I've made mistakes I've edited, spent so many time editing, and when I put the episode out, there are still some mistakes being made. Oh, each time I'm going to try. Each time I'm going to try and do better. I will not allow the fact that I've made mistakes and the editing was not as smooth as I would have wanted it to to stop me from making an episode. No, instead, what I'll do is I'll learn to slow down because, yes, I speak fast. I learned to slow down, maybe enunciate a little bit better. But until I've gotten to that point, I'm still going to show up each week, and some weeks it's difficult, some weeks it's more difficult than others, but I've made a choice that if I don't show up one week, the week after then I definitely will try and show up, unless something else happens that is outside of my own thoughts.

Speaker 1: 8:46

And so what's my encouragement to you today? It is to remind you that God has placed something on the inside of you that actually someone else needs to hear, and be the beneficiary of that gift that he has placed on the inside of you. Just can I tell you something? The enemy wants us to stay shut. Our voices remain closed. No one hears. No one hears the great ideas that we have, the great thoughts, that we have to share the wisdom that God has given us. He doesn't want us to open our mouth, but we have to determine that greater is he that is in us he christ, jesus than he, the devil that is in the world, and we want to use our voice. We want to use our voice and our voices as catalyst for change, to make a difference. Just can I tell you something, and I know I might be sounding like a broken record now, but someone needs to hear our voice. They need to hear us. We need to talk about where we have been, the struggles that we have been facing and how God has redeemed us.

Speaker 1: 10:07

Now, if you listen to last week's episode where I talk about finding grace in my darkest moments and just the trajectory of my life and how I felt like such a mess. I made so many mistakes, and that was just the tip of the iceberg Even as I was recording that episode, I could hear the enemy talking about the shame. And how can you say that? And some persons aren't aware of that, and so the judgment is a thing that will come to my mind, and so he would be saying to me who told you you could do that. This is using that same thing in a different context now To say how could you go out and say that? Who told you you could say that? And then we start to think of maybe it is myself and maybe I want. I want to do this, but I don't know if anyone wants to go and openly, just willy-nilly, just talk about their, their past, just like that. I, I trust God each week for a word to share a conversation to have that will make the difference in the lives of others. And so many persons have reached out to me to say how much the episode encouraged them, how much it built them, because as they started to reflect on their own lives, they saw the hand of God. So can I tell you something?

Speaker 1: 11:25

Everyone else will have their own thoughts about what you should do, but their voice cannot be louder than God's voice. Of course, there are some things that we're seeking wisdom for. If we want to make a big move and we just want to hear the opinion of someone else who has more wisdom on them, that's okay to go ahead and find that out. But when we get that information that we place that before God and ask him for his will for us to do what he's called us to do. But if you have a gift that needs to be shared, if there's a promotion, if there's a job that you need to apply for, if there's something that you need to do and there is this thought that is holding you back, that is saying to you no, you can't do that because and because and because and because, then you will have to put a pause on that. You will have to listen to that thought. Is that thought true? And if it is not true, what do we do with that? We put that out, we replace that thought with the truth of who God says we are and what he says that we can do, what he says we can do.

Speaker 1: 12:40

So let's not small up ourselves, let's not keep ourselves hidden, let's not keep our voices silent because we're listening to the tape in our head, we're listening to the outside in our head, we're listening to the outside forces and the outside voices. Let's be conscious of who we are, who Christ has made us to be, and know that only he alone can tell us not to do or to do, because it is he who has created us and once he has given us an idea to make a difference somewhere. He is going to empower us, and has already empowered and equipped us to do what he has called us to do. So listen today. Don't allow someone else's voice to be louder than who God's voice says that you are. May I pray with you, lord. I thank you for my friends listening today.

Speaker 1: 13:36

Father, the noise of the enemy is ringing so loudly sometimes in our ears, of our own voices and even that of our friends. Lord, rings loudly, and we forget that you have, you are in charge of us, almighty God, and that you have equipped us for everything that you want us to do. Help us to close that noise out, father, in the name of Jesus, and to surrender ourselves to you with a full understanding that you have prepared us, you have equipped us for that which you have called us to do. Father, I commit us to you today and I say have your way in our lives, use us. Daddy, I pray for your glory and for your honor. We love you and we thank you because you are an awesome God. In Jesus's name, amen and amen. Bless you so much. If you enjoyed today's episode, would you consider supporting me at BuyMeACoffee? The link is in the description below. Thank you so much and see you again on our next episode of Positioned for Purpose Conversations with Colette Marie. Bye-bye.