Six Secrets To Building Your Confidence
- Date: 2010-06-12 - Word Count: 755
Share This!
If you have seen the movie or stage musical The Sound of Music, you likely remember Maria leaving the Abbey to become a Governess.
As she winds her way through town and toward the von Trapp mansion she sings of her uneasiness - and her lack of confidence in her ability to succeed in this role. In the course of the song she convinces herself that she can be successful and her confidence builds.
In fact, the final lines of the song, show her growing conviction...
I have confidence in confidence alone Besides which you see I have confidence in me!
While there are valuable lessons in the song - a quick Google search will find you many copies of the lyrics - it isn`t always as easy as convincing ourselves of confidence in just a few lines of song or prose.
Rather, here are some specific ideas and an approach to help you (or perhaps someone you are coaching) systematically build your confidence level. These ideas can applied for something very specific or just to help with your general overall confidence level.
Look at past success. The best source for building your confidence is your past. Survey your entire life for successes. It doesn`t matter if those successes are in a completely different area of your life than where you are now searching for confidence. Review the times you have succeeded. Times you are proud. Times you achieved. Make a list of these accomplishments and keep it where you can easily review it at any time. Just reading this list will buoy your confidence - after all, if you have succeeded in the past, you can (and will) succeed again.
Recognize your strengths. You will always be more confident when you accurately realize - and honor - what you are good at. If you have a good sense of this, make another list, and put it, again, somewhere you can review regularly. If you don`t have a good sense of your strengths, now is the time to get it! Ask for feedback from those who know you well. Review the common elements of your past successes looking for clues. Think about the things that come easy to you, that you don`t give a second thought. All of these are clues and ways to develop your list of strengths. With your strengths in place, why wouldn`t you be more confident?
Build your competence. As you build your competence in something you become more confident, right? You have plenty of life experiences to confirm that point. So, if you want to build your confidence, build you competence or skills. Read a book, take a class, get a coach, or a hundred other things. And then, practice. You build your competence - and your confidence - when you practice successfully.
Make the mental transfer. Ask yourself "If I have been successful before, is there any reason to think I can`t be successful in the future?" The correct answer to this is "no way!" You can build your confidence by mentally reminding yourself of past successes and then transferring that success mentally as proof that you can do it again.
Manage your mind. You`ve likely noticed your internal talk giving you doubts and negative input - perhaps even since you began reading this article. This negative self-talk erodes your confidence as much as any other thing - and it is all your own doing! When you notice the negative thoughts and doubts, take control of your thoughts by reminding yourself of the other things on this list, including the actions you are already taking to create great results (which is the next and final point).
Take action. In the end, you must take action. Your confidence can`t be maintained at a high level if you are never taking action; never doing anything; always leaving yourself on a conceptual level. And, as you take actions - like learning and practicing and trying (and succeeding) - you create a momentum that further reinforces your confidence as well. Take action!
These six activities really are secrets. Not because you`ve never heard them, but because if you don`t do them, it will be hard to build - and maintain - a healthy level of confidence.
Use them for yourself, and use them as ways to help those you lead, coach, mentor, or parent become more confident too.
Remarkable leaders know their confidence plays a critical role in their success. One way many aspiring and successful leaders feed their competence and confidence is by participating in The Remarkable Leadership Learning System - a one skill at a time, one month at a time approach to becoming a more confident and successful leader.
As she winds her way through town and toward the von Trapp mansion she sings of her uneasiness - and her lack of confidence in her ability to succeed in this role. In the course of the song she convinces herself that she can be successful and her confidence builds.
In fact, the final lines of the song, show her growing conviction...
I have confidence in confidence alone Besides which you see I have confidence in me!
While there are valuable lessons in the song - a quick Google search will find you many copies of the lyrics - it isn`t always as easy as convincing ourselves of confidence in just a few lines of song or prose.
Rather, here are some specific ideas and an approach to help you (or perhaps someone you are coaching) systematically build your confidence level. These ideas can applied for something very specific or just to help with your general overall confidence level.
Look at past success. The best source for building your confidence is your past. Survey your entire life for successes. It doesn`t matter if those successes are in a completely different area of your life than where you are now searching for confidence. Review the times you have succeeded. Times you are proud. Times you achieved. Make a list of these accomplishments and keep it where you can easily review it at any time. Just reading this list will buoy your confidence - after all, if you have succeeded in the past, you can (and will) succeed again.
Recognize your strengths. You will always be more confident when you accurately realize - and honor - what you are good at. If you have a good sense of this, make another list, and put it, again, somewhere you can review regularly. If you don`t have a good sense of your strengths, now is the time to get it! Ask for feedback from those who know you well. Review the common elements of your past successes looking for clues. Think about the things that come easy to you, that you don`t give a second thought. All of these are clues and ways to develop your list of strengths. With your strengths in place, why wouldn`t you be more confident?
Build your competence. As you build your competence in something you become more confident, right? You have plenty of life experiences to confirm that point. So, if you want to build your confidence, build you competence or skills. Read a book, take a class, get a coach, or a hundred other things. And then, practice. You build your competence - and your confidence - when you practice successfully.
Make the mental transfer. Ask yourself "If I have been successful before, is there any reason to think I can`t be successful in the future?" The correct answer to this is "no way!" You can build your confidence by mentally reminding yourself of past successes and then transferring that success mentally as proof that you can do it again.
Manage your mind. You`ve likely noticed your internal talk giving you doubts and negative input - perhaps even since you began reading this article. This negative self-talk erodes your confidence as much as any other thing - and it is all your own doing! When you notice the negative thoughts and doubts, take control of your thoughts by reminding yourself of the other things on this list, including the actions you are already taking to create great results (which is the next and final point).
Take action. In the end, you must take action. Your confidence can`t be maintained at a high level if you are never taking action; never doing anything; always leaving yourself on a conceptual level. And, as you take actions - like learning and practicing and trying (and succeeding) - you create a momentum that further reinforces your confidence as well. Take action!
These six activities really are secrets. Not because you`ve never heard them, but because if you don`t do them, it will be hard to build - and maintain - a healthy level of confidence.
Use them for yourself, and use them as ways to help those you lead, coach, mentor, or parent become more confident too.
Remarkable leaders know their confidence plays a critical role in their success. One way many aspiring and successful leaders feed their competence and confidence is by participating in The Remarkable Leadership Learning System - a one skill at a time, one month at a time approach to becoming a more confident and successful leader.
Related Tags: confidence, kevin eikenberry, personal development articles, leadership articles, how do i develop my confidence, confidence boosters
Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- A Few Of The Skills Of An A Successful Leader
Among the most important factors in determining the result of a group exercise of any style is the m - What Do Leaders Have In Common?
Who are "THEY"?"THEY" are all the top performers -- the best of the best. But what does it take to m - Lms Mentoring - More Fresh Ideas
Simple and effective LMS training on both managerial roles and staff mentoring strategies are a huge - Leadership Training in the 21st Century. How to Bring Your Leadership Training Up to Date
If you're reading this article, you're probably someone responsible for delivering an effective and - How to Create a Leadership Development Plan
HR leadership and executive leadership training both take a lot of practice and motivation. To becom - Six Ways To Defeat Complacency
Complacency - and its ill effects - is all around us.Consider politics. Democrats held one Senate se - Five Ways To Pick Your Best Development Tools
Personal development.Professional development.Leadership development.Regardless of which words you u - Getting Back To The Basics Of Problem Solving
Everyone has problems. Big problems, little problems, work problems, relationship problems; pick an - Academic Leadership Courses vs Online Leadership Courses
Leadership courses/classes/coaching comes in many names and forms, but the susbtance usually fits in - Are Leadership Courses Going Downhill by Going Online?
Leadership courses are a fantastic way to gain new leadership knowledge - there's no doubt about tha
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Engaging The Five Senses
We were all born with five senses, each one helping us to make generalizations about the world. You - Power Inspires Your Audience
Power is intricately connected to persuasion in that it increases your ability to persuade, influenc - NLP A Personal Development Tool
Like many personal development innovations, NLP - which stands for neuro-linguistic programming - is - Team Building in Bristol
Many employers in Bristol take the vision of their companies very seriously. This is true whether it - Seven Ways to Improve the Results of Your Leadership Development Efforts
Every day we deal with a variety of matters of urgent importance in our organizations. Seldom is lea - Why Most Leadership Development Efforts Fail
George was seen as an up-and-coming leader in the organization. People the worked for him liked and - Occam's Razor And Leadership
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided at - Leadership In The Workplace As A Boss
Do you give your employees the type of leadership in the workplace that they come to expect? What is - Metal Detecting Is Also About Obedience
Are you purchasing a detector to use occasionally at a lake or beach? Or do you now find yourself wi - Get Courage and Build Unstoppable Strength!
What shape are your courage muscles in? Courage is our ability to act despite fear. What honestly ca