A competency you can’t Afford to Ignore
One of the most critical attributes we all need to explore and master is confidence. The capacity to feel you belong, you deserve a seat at the table and your voice has value.
We all have had problems with confidence. Young adults are still trying to identify who they are. Mid-level professionals are looking for the right model to succeed. Women of all ages and professional backgrounds tend to have difficulty embracing confidence, mostly because they feel that they need to learn more or have more experience before they see themselves achieving a higher level. This feeling is called the impostor syndrome.
For some it is “old voices” telling them “they do not have a right to feel good about themselves and be proud of who they are.”
Yet without confidence we can’t make good decisions, we can’t develop fellowship and people have a hard time trusting you.
I always say that the best antidote for lack of confidence is to make an objective analysis of two things:
- All the things you have accomplished–all– and spend time thinking about these accomplishments.
- Is the voice or feeling that you “believe”, that is saying you are not ready or not good enough real? Is it true? Is that voice applicable to your realty today, right now?
I always get a variation of this answer: “I have not given myself time to reflect on all what I have done! It is quite a lot! Actually if this list came from someone else I would be quite impressed!”
The answer to the second question is also quite revealing. “The voice I have allowed to walk into my office all this years is of my mother, or aunt, or father, or relative, who did not know any better and instead of giving me hope gave me fear or doubt”.
When reflecting on how real the voice is today, usually the answer is “not at all, or never was, I just brought this mind set with me!”
Today, take inventory of any narrative that keeps you away from success. Once you face head on these voices, confidence will surface, quietly and without effector.
I close with a reference to a great article, 9 signs that show you are Confident, enjoy the read.
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/9-signs-you-are-genuinely-confident-without-seemin.html