I watched my dream evaporate on a Thursday afternoon. Right there at my kitchen counter, bills spread out, calculator in hand. The numbers weren’t adding up. They hadn’t been adding up for months, if I’m honest. The business I’d been visualizing, affirming, and planning for two years suddenly felt like a fantasy – something for other people, not me.
That moment of faith wavering hit me like a physical pain. One minute I was certain I was on my path; the next, I wondered if I’d been fooling myself all along. Maybe you know this feeling too.
Faith doesn’t just disappear in one dramatic moment. It erodes slowly – a doubt here, a setback there, an unexpected bill, a friend’s skeptical comment. Until one day, you realize you’re going through the motions without the belief that once fueled you.
But here’s what I’ve learned since that kitchen counter moment: faith wavering isn’t failure. It’s part of the journey. And there are specific things we can do when our belief begins to shake.
When Your Faith Tank Runs Low
Faith is like a muscle that needs regular exercise. When we neglect it, it weakens. And unlike physical muscles that simply lose mass when neglected, our faith gets replaced with something else – doubt, fear, cynicism.
These doubt-cycles happen to everyone. Even Napoleon Hill, who interviewed the most successful people of his era, observed that achievement requires moving forward despite periodic waves of doubt. No one – not even Thomas Edison or Henry Ford – maintained unwavering faith 24/7.
The difference between those who achieve their dreams and those who abandon them isn’t about never experiencing faith wavering. It’s about what you do when it happens.
Some signs your faith is weakening: you stop talking about your dreams, you procrastinate on important tasks, you find yourself getting irritated when others succeed, or you start qualifying your goals with phrases like “if things work out” or “hopefully.”
Notice these signs early, and you can address faith wavering before it derails you completely.
Five Concrete Steps When You Feel Your Faith Slipping
So what do you actually DO when you feel that doubt creeping in? When the visualization exercises feel hollow and your affirmations sound like lies to your own ears?
First, acknowledge it. Say it out loud: “I’m experiencing doubt right now.” Don’t try to positive-think your way around it. Faith wavering is normal, and denying it only drives it underground where it gains power.
Second, narrow your focus. When faith weakens, we often try to bolster it by looking at the entire goal – which can feel overwhelming. Instead, focus only on the next small step. Don’t worry about building the entire business; just make the next phone call. Don’t stress about writing the whole book; just work on one paragraph.
Third, review your evidence locker. We recommend keeping a journal or folder of “evidence” – moments when things worked out, times you overcame obstacles, coincidences that seemed to confirm you’re on the right path. During faith wavering, we develop selective amnesia about past successes. Combat this by deliberately reviewing your evidence.
Fourth, reach out to someone in your circle who believes in you. Sometimes we need to borrow someone else’s faith until our own recovers. A conversation with the right person can restore perspective faster than days of trying to talk yourself back into belief.
Finally, take physical action. Faith wavering often manifests as mental paralysis, where you overthink everything. Break this by doing something tangible related to your goal, no matter how small. Physical movement can interrupt the doubt spiral.
The Strange Connection Between Faith Wavering and Breakthroughs
Something weird we’ve noticed after working with hundreds of people on their manifestation journeys: major breakthroughs often come right after the biggest episodes of faith wavering.
It’s like the universe tests your commitment one final time before delivering what you’ve been asking for. The darkest point in faith often comes right before dawn.
Sharon experienced this when launching our first workshop. Three days before, registrations were at 30% of what we needed to break even. She was ready to cancel the whole thing, convinced it was a sign to give up. I convinced her to push through. Within 48 hours, registrations tripled. The workshop became our most successful launch.
Was it coincidence? Maybe. But we’ve seen this pattern repeat too many times to dismiss it. The moment you’re most tempted to abandon your dream is often the exact moment you need to double down.
This isn’t magical thinking – there’s psychology behind it. When faith wavers, we often make one final, desperate push. We reach out to more people, try new approaches, or lower our barriers. These actions, born from the edge of giving up, sometimes create the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for.
Your Faith Fitness Program (Daily Practices That Work)
Recovering from faith wavering is important, but preventing it is even better. Think of these practices as your faith fitness regimen:
Morning visualization with specificity. Don’t just see the end result – feel the details. What are you wearing? Who’s there? What are they saying? The more specific, the more real it becomes to your subconscious.
Evidence collection throughout your day. Actively look for signs, coincidences, and small wins that support your path. Write them down immediately. Our brains are wired to forget these confirmations if we don’t capture them.
Surround sound affirmation. Sticky notes only go so far. Create an audio recording of your affirmations in your own voice, and listen during your commute or workout. Your brain responds differently to hearing your own voice stating your beliefs.
Declare it to someone new each week. Tell at least one person about your goal each week. This creates accountability and makes your intention more concrete. Choose people who are likely to be supportive.
Do one scary thing daily. Faith builds when you consistently push comfort zones. Make one call you’re avoiding, have one conversation you’ve been putting off, or take one step that scares you – every single day.
These practices don’t just maintain faith – they strengthen it. And strong faith acts like a shield against the inevitable doubts that will try to derail you.
Faith Is a Practice, Not a State
Look, we’d all love to reach some enlightened state where faith becomes permanent and doubt never returns. That’s not how it works for most of us.
Faith wavering will happen again. And again. The goal isn’t to eliminate doubt forever – it’s to recover faster each time, to recognize the pattern, to know that the doubt will pass if you take the right actions.
When we first started our journey with these principles, faith felt fragile – easily broken by a negative comment or unexpected obstacle. Now, after years of deliberate practice, our recovery time has shortened dramatically. What once derailed us for weeks might now only affect us for hours.
That’s the real goal: not perfect, unwavering faith, but resilient faith that bends without breaking.
If you’re in a moment of faith wavering right now, know this: it’s not a sign to quit. It might actually be a signal that you’re on the verge of your next breakthrough. Take one small action today. Review your evidence. Reach out to someone who believes in you.
Your dream is still there, waiting for you on the other side of this temporary doubt.