You know how sometimes it feels that your mind is full of contradictory thoughts? (Not just me, I hope.)

Part of you knows that you need to put your prices up, and part of you is convinced that all your clients will leave if you do. Part of you is excited about launching a new offer, and part thinks that everyone is going to ignore it or even laugh at it.

Or perhaps you know that you need to make yourself more visible to attract new clients, but the thought of posting on LinkedIn or putting yourself forward as an expert fills you with dread.

This is perfectly normal because different parts of your brain really do work in different ways and have different agendas.

Deep inside the brain we find the most primitive part, the amygdala. This is the area of the brain responsible for fight-flight-freeze type reactions. In potentially threatening situations, it reacts superfast to protect us.

Obviously this can be a good thing, but when the threat is something a bit more sophisticated, like someone criticising us, or no one responding to an offer we put out, that knee-jerk reaction towards being angry, defensive or anxious isn’t as helpful.

And all too often it’s an opportunity for our Inner Troll to poke its nose in and get involved.

Apart from the fact that everything it says makes you feel bad, we can often spot the Inner Troll sidling in by the language it uses:

‘No one will want this.’

‘You always muck stuff up.’

‘This is going to be a DISASTER.’

‘Who do you think you are to charge that much?’

‘Everyone else seems to know what they’re doing except you.’

The Troll just loves a bit of drama and all-or-nothing type thinking.

Everyone has an Inner Troll, but some people’s Trolls like to throw their weight around more than others.

And when you’re running your own business, the Troll has plenty of opportunities to make itself heard.

It might persuade you to keep putting off launching an offer because you’re convinced nobody will buy it. Or make you spend hours tweaking your website because you’re terrified that someone might think it isn’t professional enough.

Perhaps it encourages you to compare yourself unfavourably with other freelancers, or convinces you that you need another qualification before you can start charging properly for what you do.

The trouble is that when you start believing everything your Troll tells you, it can end up having rather too much influence over your business decisions.

Taming your Inner Troll

The good news is that you’re actually a lot smarter than your Troll, and once you start to spot what it’s up to, you’re halfway towards putting it back in its box (or back under the bridge).

As soon as you notice it’s gone off on one, ask yourself, ‘Who is it that is noticing what the Troll is saying and doing?’

The answer is YOU.

Which means that you are not your Troll.

Your Inner Troll is just like a collection of old voice messages that your mind replays in stressful situations.

It doesn’t mean any of them are true, or that you need to take notice of them, or do what they say.

I often see posts about silencing this inner voice, or even killing it. But the more you try to do this, the harder it tends to fight back.

Like any kind of bully, the best way to deal with the Inner Troll is not to get into a fight with it, but to simply refuse to engage or take it seriously.

Troll: No one is going to sign up for this programme.

You: Who knows? I’m just going to keep posting though and see what happens.

Troll: Everyone else is better at this than you. You may as well give up.

You: Yeah, whatever.

Troll: If you put your prices up, you’ll lose all your clients.

You: Maybe some people won’t want to pay more. But I’ve thought this through, and I’m going to give it a go.

And that’s really the important thing.

You don’t have to wait until your Troll has stopped making a fuss before you do something in your business. It can carry on muttering away under its bridge while you get on with launching your offer, putting your prices up or doing whatever else you’ve decided is right for you.

It’s like building a muscle at the gym. The more often you notice what the Inner Troll is up to and refuse to get pulled in, the less you’re ruled by it.

Until one day you realise it was always just a silly little thing with blue fluffy hair that you were giving far too much power to.

Want to feel more confident running your business?

If your Inner Troll is making you second-guess your decisions, worry about what other people think or hold back from doing the things you know would help your business grow, I’ve brought together some practical resources to help.

In my Feel more confident running my business Resource Centre, you’ll find articles and videos about overcoming self-doubt, recognising your expertise, changing unhelpful beliefs and developing the confidence to run your business on your own terms.

Explore the Mindset and Confidence resources

This post previously appeared on itssamkirk.com.