---
id: "action-write-evidence"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Name the signal."]
tags: ["cognitive-behavioral", "journaling"]
related: ["framework-interrogating-doubt"]
action: "Write down observable facts that both support and contradict your current concerns."
outcome: "Shift from emotional reactivity to objective evaluation of untested assumptions."
speakers: ["Dina Denham Smith", "Neri Karra Sillaman"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-118-overcoming-self-doubt-launching"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/03/overcoming-self-doubt-when-launching-your-own-business"
sourceTitle: "Overcoming Self-Doubt When Launching Your Own Business"
---
# Write Down Evidence For and Against Fears

**Action:** When self-doubt surfaces, physically write down the observable facts that *support* your concern, followed by the evidence that *contradicts* it.

**How:** Forcing your reasoning onto paper interrupts emotional reactivity and shifts the brain into an evaluative state, revealing that feelings of certainty about failure are often just *untested assumptions*.

**Outcome:** Shift from emotional reactivity to objective evaluation of untested assumptions.

**Fits into:** Step 2 (*Separate thoughts from facts*) of [[framework-interrogating-doubt]], within Step 1 (*Name the signal*) of [[framework-managing-founder-doubt]]. This mirrors the CBT written-thought-record technique.