It's time for a confidence boost
- By Kathie Hill
- Sep 6, 2018
- 2 min read
We all know those people who exude confidence right? We look at some of them and wonder how they do it, and look at others and wonder why on earth they have the confidence that they do! ☺
While confidence is something that people can naturally have or not have, there is always room for improvement.
Confidence can come naturally when we know that we are good at something. Or even if we know that people like us. Just that feeling of knowing we are liked or respected can in itself breed confidence. But what happens for those of us who still doubt ourselves even when we know we are liked and respected? Those of us who still second guess our competence or our level of acceptance?
Interestingly we can learn a thing of two from men! I have been known to quote some facts around recruitment, where a woman may apply for a job if she believes she can do 80% of the job. She will still wonder if she should apply, as she doesn’t think she meets 100% of the skill requirements. Whereas our male counterparts will look at a job, think he can do 20% and will back himself to get the role! What a difference. So watch and learn from some of the men in your life. You may choose to fake it till you make it or if you are anything like me you will put some strategies in place to build that confidence.
Here are some of my tips:
Know yourself.
Work out where your sense of confidence and self-belief comes from. Are you somebody who needs to be liked? Somebody who needs to be competent? Somebody who needs to be respected? The first part of confidence is understanding your drivers.
What is hindering your self-confidence or self-belief? Make a list and then logically work through the list and work out strategies for each point you have made. What will it take to build confidence in each particular area? You can’t work on something you don’t fully understand.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember that often people who we perceive to be confident are in fact just as insecure as we are. We are so often our worst critics. It won't do your confidence any good to beat yourself up for having no confidence!
Get some guidance and support. Coaching sessions are a powerful way to transform lack of confidence and self-doubt into burgeoning confidence and self-knowledge. A series of practical sessions with a personal coach can help change your perspective, redefine your short and long term goals and develop a road-map for a more confident you.
