All you need is confidence, and the doors of opportunity will burst wide open. After all, you need to believe in yourself before anyone else will.
However, having unshakable confidence can be easier said than done. When you’re living boldly, there will be road bumps and slip-ups, and your confidence reserves can start running on empty.
That’s why trailblazing entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs find ways to build their confidence daily. Without further ado, here are the ways to restore your confidence constantly:
Celebrate on paper
It’s easy to dwell on your slip-ups and forget all the fantastic things you’re accomplishing. The cold hard truth is that people recognizing you for the latter can be far and between. That’s why you need to become your own best cheerleader.
An easy way to restore your confidence and celebrate those daily wins is to write them down. After work, jot down 5 great things you did that very day. They can be big wins, or small victories; the key is that you’re starting to notice your own greatness. Science says this act of journaling has a plethora of confidence boosting benefits.
Fake it ‘till you make it
Yep, it’s a well-worn cliché, but you know what? There’s plenty of truth to it. Harvard Professor and Ted Talk star Amy Cuddy found that those with extreme confidence initially just acted the part – like dressing better and having powerful body language. If you start feigning confidence, you too will eventually develop genuine self-belief.
Go for the small wins
Confidence isn’t an all or nothing scenario—instead, it’s built a brick at a time.
As author and journalist Charles DuHigg stated in his book, The Power of Habit, “‘Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage’…Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win.”
These small wins for restoring confidence are available everywhere. If you just lost your job, send out a few applications. If you got nervous meeting someone, improve slightly next time. Before you know it, those tiny victories will snowball into daily self-belief.
Link up
If you’ve felt you confidence flailing, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in good company–even ultra-successful moguls like Sheryl Sandberg and Oprah Winfrey admitted to encountering the same thing.
People who have been in the same shoes can be the perfect support group to lift your spirits and confidence. Heather Pane, who founded Ladies Learning Code for that exact reason, said “There’s something about seeing someone like you do it. Whether that’s development, entrepreneurship, angel investing, or something else, a mentor who has been there can show you it’s possible.”
Demolish your comfort zone
Remember when you first learned to ride a bike? It was terrifying. However, by stepping outside your comfort zone, you eventually developed the self-confidence to bike ride with ease.
In business and career, successful people never stay in the comfort zone for that exact reason. It’s not exactly enjoyable, but they know that stretching their limits will eventually bring along new wins and self-belief. So take some baby steps today to restore your confidence – apply to a new job, sign up for that coding class, before you know it, your comfort zone will be a thing of the past.
Share the tricks used to restore your confidence
Are there any habits that boosted your self-confidence? We’d love to hear them – share your tips with The LTH Tribe today!
