Building Confidence
What can you do to improve your confidence?
Think of the best athlete, salesperson, coach, or executive you’ve ever met. You probably thought to yourself that they came across as so smooth or felt that they must be an expert in whatever it was they were presenting to you. The quality that gives you this impression is confidence. But what is confidence? How did they get there? And how can you increase your confidence level?
The thing about confidence is that no one can give it to you, and by its very nature it comes from within. It is by enduring challenges and fears that self-confidence begins to grow. Avoiding things that scare you will only allow those fears to compound and grow. Face your fears head on. Identify your fears, acknowledge them, prepare to face them and find the strength to overcome them.
Overcoming these obstacles gives you confidence to tackle unexpected roadblocks that will undoubtably appear in your path moving forward and this will translate into your work and communication abilities.
Identify your fears, acknowledge them, prepare to face them and find the strength to overcome them.
What can you do to improve your confidence?
Start by identifying things you are already good at. Remind yourself of what it feels like to be confident. Focus on that positive feeling and build on it to reach into other areas where you lack confidence.
Face your fears: address them head-on. Identify them, acknowledge them, and realize that you can find the strength to overcome them. Ultimately, your fears are in your head; if you face them, even a little bit of confidence can help to minimize them. The more you minimize your fears, the more you will be in control, and the greater your confidence will become. It’s a virtuous circle.
Tips – How to Build Confidence:
- Create a list of what you are good at.
- Create a list of what others think you are good at.
- Study others that you admire, create a list of what they did to get where they are today.
- Cross reference these lists – what are the similarities? The differences?