Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet many people struggle to find it.
How would you feel with more confidence? Studies have shown that people with more confidence feel more successful. They set goals and achieve them with more ease. Confident people tend to feel happier, both in their personal and professional life.
So, how do you build this sense of balanced self-confidence, founded on a firm appreciation of reality?
The good news is that you can learn to be more confident.
You can build your confidence!
The goal of my upcoming blog posts is to give you plenty of inspiration to choose from. I’ll explain 7 major hacks and use examples to clarify them. Some will probably appeal to you more than others, and that’s OK. It could be that what doesn’t relate to your life now will perhaps be useful later. From time to time, review all of them to refresh your confidence or find inspiration.
My goal is to give you the inspiration and tools to help you grow your confidence.
You have a choice. You can choose to raise your self-confidence, or you can just let it be. You can try to do something new and as you do it, you will build deeper confidence. It’s all up to you — your own choice and your own decision.
Read, consider, and take action today!
Confidence Hack:
Take ACTION & Repeat it.
Taking action is an effective way to build lasting confidence. It’s also very important. When you decide to do something and then go out and make it real, it gives you proof of your own talent and capabilities, which boosts your confidence.
Once you have taken action, repetition is needed to master that particular skill. In other words: practice, practice, practice. If you need to give a speech, then practice it in the mirror, or give it in front of your family and friends. When I was applying for jobs during my university years, I practiced interviewing over and over again with another student. I practiced until I felt so comfortable with it that every interview afterwards went smoothly and even pleasant. During all my years of karate competitions, I had to practice my kata over and over again. Kata is a detailed series of moves executed while attempting to maintain perfect form. The closer to perfection, the higher the score. There was only one way to get that high score — and that was to practice, practice, and did I mention practice?
Taking action always starts with one first step. This reminds me of my own experiences of door-to-door selling while living in France. As a commercial manager, my role included finding prospects for construction materials. I was a woman in a male-dominated field and had never done this kind of job before, and you can imagine my feelings!
“Take action to see reward. Do nothing and be ignored.” – Matthew Fryer |
I could feel my heart beating in my throat before entering that first door of a huge building. There I was, standing all alone in the middle of construction sites, in a foreign country, speaking a foreign language. But then, I knocked, entered, and with a polite bonjour, started my speech.
After this first step, I realized it was not that bad after all. From there on, it went smoother every time. I also learned to focus on the positives instead fear.
In his book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie sums up the need to take action: “The secret to being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. So don’t bother to think about it. Spit on your hands and get busy. Your blood will start circulating, your mind will start ticking and soon this whole positive upsurge of life in your body will drive worry from your mind. Get busy. Keep busy, it’s the cheapest kind of medicine there is on this earth. And one of the best.”
This advice reminds me of every time I moved to a new country. In the first weeks of my arrival, whenever I took a moment to stop, sit down, and think about my circumstances, it was easy to feel overwhelmed. I was in a new house, in a new area, I knew nobody and nothing — or so it felt. Feeling worried or miserable was right around the corner. But when I got up, ventured out, and started talking to whomever I encountered, helped. I was in action, I kept busy, my mind was distracted, and I felt perfectly OK.
Keys to Confidence:
- Make a plan to do something and go do it. Follow through on your plans.
- Actively look for opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to you.
- Practice, practice, practice!
The most important message for you is this: You can awaken your confidence. It can be built or grown like any other skill. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.
Life changes, and so can you.
Let your light shine and take charge of your own success. Use the power of confidence and you will transform your life.
If you like to learn more, check out my book Awaken Your Confidence, 15 People Share Their Journey to Success. Available on Amazon globally, Kindle and paperback.
Together with the book, you receive invaluable Bonus material of 15 Video interviews & 15 interview audio files for you to download.
For more suggestions on improving your confidence, check out my website, www.rachelsmets.com. I enjoy sharing insights from personal experiences as well as finding new inspiration from others.
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If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading, and best of luck!