"When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things." — Joe Namath, Hall of Fame football player
"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation." — Arthur Ashe, Grand Slam tennis champion
Confidence in the work place
When we are born we have to learn Everything! We take this as a natural progression. Nature. Often we do not remember that one lesson learned is the building of another lesson. For example; Learning balance and gravity let us walk… Let’s adapt that type of natural learning to the work place. In our work there is also a natural progression. It is called hard work and preparation. We study for our profession, or we are mentored or we learn on the job and gather experience. All this knowledge is the basis for Confidence. Here are some confidence building strategies for your profession:
1.) Work slow and steady. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Concentrate on what you are good at and work from that starting point.
2.) Celebrate your wins and let people know your success. No need to brag it is just a ‘matter of fact’ that you have performed for your company.
3.) Set others up to see your success. Set a task and then go about doing it. Then let people know you have accomplished what you set out to do. This sets up accountability for you, it adds to your credibility and gains respect from others. All of these will add to your confidence in your ability.
4.) Keep learning! Do everything you can and that time will allow to build your knowledge. Classes, on-line webinars, books and mentors will all be building blocks to your confidence, fun and success! A profession is a continual education process—so get used to how much there will always be to learn!
5.) Surround yourself with people who will boost your confidence. Find people that will encourage you and boost you up. My husband used to polish my ‘power boots’ when he knew I had a big meeting! There will be friends and colleagues that enjoy your success as much as you do!
6.) Relax, nobody else knows everything! Those other confident looking people that you think are brilliant at their career can be terrified, but with really good imposter training! You deserve to be exactly where you are.
7.) Value criticism and reject personal attacks. Understand the difference between anger and resentment from others and actual critique. Accept feedback as a means to personal growth. Don’t wallow, don’t be embarrassed. Learning from failures large or small makes all of us stronger. Accepting mistake, taking responsibility and learning to consciously grow is a maturity that very successful people come to early.
8.) Smile and Show Enthusiasm. Yes, put some pep in your step! Confident people smile more and display energy. Having a little spring in your step creates energy-it is self-perpetuating. Don’t shuffle along with a frown and your head down as it physically and emotionally defeats confidence!
9.) Say Yes! Even if something is a little bit intimidating, do it anyway. New and challenging experiences can be fun and build your body of work!
Finally, like learning to walk, you will not always remember where you acquired the skills, knowledge and good 'instincts', they will just be there. Your confidence will feel innate (natural). It is important to recognize and enjoy having 'arrived'. Then it's time to acquire more knowledge, skills and continue the progression!
