6 Exceptional Ways to Boost Your Self-Confidence
A pivotal part of negotiating is confidence. Having confidence in yourself leads to more chances to improve, more opportunities for advancement in business, and higher performance probability. Women face all kinds of gaps in the workplace and life: wage gaps, education gaps, domestic duty gaps, and even a confidence gap.
All these things add up. A lack of confidence holds us back from reaching our highest potential. Even with years of experience under our belts, we can feel as if we don’t deserve promotions or are not justified to tackle larger projects. While men tend to overestimate their performance, women consistently underestimate their abilities [Forbes]. Without underplaying external barriers, there are things we can do to overcome the hurdles in our head and boost our self-confidence.
Here are six ways you can boost your confidence to increase your business performance as well as establish a more robust work-life balance.
1. Visualize yourself as you want to be.
Building self-confidence is building a mentality. In order to truly understand yourself and your needs, you need to come to terms with who exactly you want to be. Look at who you are now. Are you in the position you’ve always dreamed for yourself? If not, what are things you could change in order to become that person? What are some small things you could change now? Ask yourself, what will my life look like once I achieve my goals? Visualize that person. Where are you? What are you doing? What does your schedule look like? Imagine it as if you were actually living that life now.
Visualization programs our brain into believing anything is possible. Visualizing yourself as the woman you want to be, lends power to the belief that kind of achievement is possible. It also consistently drives us forward by keeping us focused on what lies ahead, which helps us stay focused on our goals. Remember that you are capable of living the life that you want.
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2. Make lists of your achievements and strengths
We constantly forget all the things we achieve on a regular basis and tend to focus on the things left uncrossed off on the list. Sit down with a friend or family member that can help you put together a list of strengths you possess. Put together a list of all the things you have overcome and achieved in the last 6 to 12 months. Once you have these lists, use them to remind yourself of the power and influence that you possess and read through them regularly whenever you need a quick reminder of how fabulous you are.
3. Question your inner critic
The conversations we have with ourselves can be a major obstacle if we are consistently belittling ourselves. We all have that little voice in our heads that reminds us of all of our shortcomings. It tells us that we aren’t enough, that we will fail, that we will never accomplish what we want. These thoughts influence our behavior and repetitive negative thoughts can reduce your feelings of self-worth.
Begin to question that inner critic! We know, it’s easier said than done. And like all things, it takes an awareness of self and constant re-orientation. That voice is there to keep you feeling safe and to protect you because of past pain. However, repetitive harsh self-talk keeps us small. Shift your thinking from self-criticism to self-affirmation. When faced with that self-critic, ask yourself, what evidence is there that I will fail? And what evidence is there that I will not fail? Balance acceptance with self-improvement. Accept your flaws (we all have them!). Constantly visualize success and develop new responses to failure and mistake-making.
4. Know your principles
One key to unlocking more confidence in yourself is knowing yourself and your values. Principles are important because they guide your actions. What principles do you abide by? Is it the Golden Rule? Do you base each of your decisions on strategic plans or do you believe it is important to be flexible and adaptable? Analyze each of your decisions and what is the driving force behind them. How do your principles fit into your life’s vision? Let your principles guide you to take on the next challenge or step that will lead you to greater confidence and success.
5. Focus on solutions
We tend to let our minds wander towards the negative and the first thing we usually do when faced with a challenge is focus on the problem, instead of the solution. This goes hand in hand with shifting our way of thinking and shutting down our inner critic. Think about the things that you criticize yourself for. Instead of repeating the negative and feeling stuck, brainstorm ways to improve. Ask yourself: “How can I solve that?” What is the solution?
Remind yourself that mistakes are okay and failure at times is inevitable. As long as you are constantly working towards a solution, you’ll be reminded of all the things you can accomplish. Building confidence is all about growth. When we start to think about all the ways we can overcome a problem, we are able to grow. Shifting the focus to solutions will ultimately result in more solutions.
6. Empower yourself with knowledge
Always be learning. With knowledge comes power. By looking for ways to improve, you take on the most challenging step of all: empowering yourself. Feeling empowered gives you agency and agency is the surest way to establish confidence. Identify your strengths and your potential.
There cannot be enough emphasis on the importance of engagement. Empower yourself by taking the necessary steps for change. Don’t neglect preparation. Arm yourself with knowledge. Learning something new and having knowledge that you can put into action gives you the ability to show and own your worth. By reading this article, attending WIN Summit (and other) professional development events, and empowering yourself with additional skills training, you are arming yourself with knowledge and the skills to do something with said knowledge.
EMPOWER YOURSELF WITH MORE KNOWLEDGE!
WIN Coach Stephanie Chow is hosting a workshop dedicated to helping you become a more powerful and affluent negotiator! Tune in July 21st from 2:00 - 3:00 pm (EST) for Mastering the Art of Negotiation.