One of the things that hold people back from pursuing their dreams are fear of failure and the lack of self-confidence that is needed to overcome that fear.
In its simplest form, confidence is the feeling of trust in something. When we’re talking about self-confidence, it is the belief that you can trust in yourself and your abilities or knowledge. Self-confidence (also known as core self-evaluation) is made up of two elements; self-efficacy and locus of control.
Self-efficacy refers to your belief in your ability to succeed in specific situations. Factors such as direct experience, observed experience, and social persuasion shape our self-efficacy.
Locus of control refers to our belief in our ability to influence situations in our lives. Those with an internal locus of control believe that their own hard work, attributes, and decisions determine their success. Those with an external locus of control are more likely to believe that good or bad luck, circumstances, and fate determine their success.
Self-confident people believe they have the qualities, skills, and intelligence to be successful; even in the most challenging of situations. Self-assured and positive, they often face their fears and are likely to pursue challenges and goals, no matter how difficult they seem.
Having confidence in the workplace can be crucial to your overall success. Confidence can make you more motivated and ambitious, less anxious and stressed. Unfortunately, however, not everyone’s born with self-confidence and must instead learn how to develop this inner strength.
1. Surround Yourself with Positive People
Positive people are those who spread positivity, optimism, and hopefulness. When you surround yourselves with positive people, you tend to feel more motivated, inspired, and confident in your abilities. Positive people are also great sources of support during challenging times. They offer encouragement, empathy, and practical advice that can help you navigate difficult situations. In contrast, negative people can drain our energy and bring us down with their pessimism and lower our self-confidence. Therefore, it is essential to be mindful of the people who you surround yourself with.
2. Practice Positive Self-Talk
Another effective way to boost self-confidence is through positive self-talk. Positive self-talk involves using affirming statements to counter negative thoughts and beliefs about oneself. By replacing negative self-talk with positive affirmations, you can improve your mood, reduce anxiety, and increase your confidence in yourself. For instance, instead of saying “I’m not good enough,” one can say “I am capable of achieving my goals.” Replace, “I can’t” attitude with the “I can” attitude. This shift in mindset can have a significant impact on your self-confidence.
3. Increase your Competence.
How do you feel more competent? By becoming more competent.
And how do you do that? By studying and practicing small bits at a time.
Empowering yourself, in general, is one of the best strategies for building self-confidence. You can do that in many ways, but one of the surest ways to empower yourself is through knowledge.
If you want to be a more competent writer, for example, don’t try to tackle the entire profession of writing all at once. Just begin to write more. Journal, blog, write short stories, do some freelance writing. The more you write, the better you’ll be. Set aside 30 minutes a day to write (for example), and the practice will increase your competence.
4. Face Your Fear and Get out of Your Comfort Zones
Fear is a natural human emotion that can be both helpful and harmful. It can protect us from danger, but it can also hold us back from achieving our goals. One way to conquer fear is by acknowledging it. You must identify what you are afraid of and why you are afraid of it. Once you understand the root cause of your fear, you can take steps to overcome it. Another way to overcome fear is by taking action. You must confront your fears and push yourself out of your comfort zone. The comfort zone is a place where you feel safe and secure, but it can also limit your potential. When you step out of your comfort zone, you open yourself up to new opportunities and possibilities. This may involve taking small steps at first, but over time, you will become more confident and less fearful.
5. Emulate Confident Peers
Consider the successful people you know, or find someone who appears confident and self-assured in their job and observe their mannerisms and how they interact with other people. You can incorporate some strategies you observe confident peers applying in their careers to help you develop your confidence.
6. Set Goals for yourself and Achieve it.
People often make the mistake of shooting for the moon, and then when they fail, they get discouraged. Instead, shoot for something much more achievable. Setting short-term and long-term career goals can impact the way you perceive your strengths and success. Consider setting a goal for yourself to develop an overall capability or new skill. Further, measure your success by targeting small objectives to help you reach your results. Evaluating every small success in achieving a larger goal can help boost your confidence because you can see where you are applying effective strategies to further your development.
For example, you might set a goal to increase your overall work productivity. You can then set smaller target objectives to help you reach that goal like improving your time management skills or focusing on single tasks rather than multitasking. As you find each success toward your goal of increasing your productivity, you can become more confident in your competence to perform effectively in your job.
7. Focus on your Strengths
Focusing on your strengths can help you boost your confidence, as it requires you to measure your success and abilities. Often, professionals who focus on perfecting their work can focus too much on small missteps or errors rather than the overall success despite these minor details.
If this is the case, one way to reduce this tendency could be to make a list of your strengths and abilities and a second list of your achievements. You can make a daily habit of reading through them every morning and anytime during the day if you need a confidence boost.
8. Learn from your Mistakes
Mistakes are usually inevitable when implementing improvement plans and goal-setting strategies. The key is to examine your mistakes and learn from them. It’s difficult to accept failure, but failure can influence how you apply your skills in future trials.
For instance, you might have formatted the code for a data entry software incorrectly, but instead of identifying the mistake and starting from scratch, you might examine where you entered the defect code and evaluate whether your mistake was a careless error or a specific, faulty code. You can then learn from this mistake by applying the information you gathered upon self-reflection to correct the error.
9. Eliminate Negative Language
Another influencing factor in building confidence is assessing the way you perceive yourself. If you find you are overly critical of yourself or you entertain self-doubt regularly, you may take steps to change this mindset. You might practice self-affirming techniques such as focusing on all the successes you have had in the past week or journaling what professional skills you admire most about yourself.
Continue to evaluate the positive career improvements you have made and continue to praise yourself when you satisfactorily complete work projects or when you exceed your manager’s expectations.
10. Ask Questions
Asking questions and being assertive in your self-learning can work to boost your confidence in your career. Consider making a habit of asking at least one question during team meetings, project planning sessions, or conferences to help clarify any information that might otherwise be convoluted to you.
This can show your team members and supervisors that you will take initiative when you feel you might need more direction, and when you do this as part of your work routine, you can increase your feelings of confidence and self-worth through contribution. Likewise, you may have co-workers who are also working to build their confidence, and offering your initiative to speak up and ask questions may help to relieve their anxieties.
11. Act Positive
More than just thinking positive, you have to put it into action. Action is the key to developing self-confidence. It’s one thing to learn to think positively, but when you start acting on it, you change yourself, one action at a time. You are what you do, and so if you change what you do, you change what you are. Act in a positive way, take action instead of telling yourself you can’t, and be positive. Positively talk to people, and put energy into your actions. You’ll soon start to notice a difference.
12. Get a Hobby
Try to find something that you’re passionate about. It could be photography, sport, knitting or anything else! When you’ve worked out your passion, commit yourself to giving it a go. Chances are, if you’re interested or passionate about a certain activity, you’re more likely to be motivated and you’ll build skills more quickly.
Remember that it takes time and persistence to build your self-confidence. For more information on how to build your self-confidence, you can schedule a FREE Strategy Call with one of our Coaches to get personalized support
