The people who know me will probably tell you that they believe I’m a reasonably confident person. Truth be told, I struggle with confidence.
I’ve found this to be true with others as well, including leaders.
Confidence can be a struggle for leaders for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes leaders get things wrong. Or they have a relationship go sour.
There goes that confidence they once had.
But, if you’re like me, you can build, or regain, the lost confidence. You have to work at it but you can do it.
We’re going to look at 4 things you can do to become more confident. Let’s get into it!
4 Confidence Building Tips
1. Get things done:
Want to feel better about yourself and your title? Then get things done.
The more you accomplish, the more you can look back on and feel a sense of accomplishment. Doing so helps you to see that you do add value, that you are making headway, and that you matter.
Don’t slouch on the items on your to-do list. Attack them with ferocity. Get them done. Then feel confident that you can make progress.
2. Find a hobby:
Hobbies are a great way to build confidence. How so?
Start with a hobby that you are interested in but have little to no skill. Begin learning about what it takes to be successful in this hobby. Then, start working on the skills you need to learn. Maybe you want to learn a new instrument to complement what you’re already playing? Or do you want to take your current instrument playing up a level using equipment such as a Drum Machine for Guitarists?
You’ll find yourself quickly ramping up your skills. You may go from beginner to mediocre. You may not think that is much but it is.
Take a look back at the start of your hobby to where you are six months from now. You will see the improvement. You will see that you can improve your skills.
Getting into a hobby is a confidence builder because you see yourself progressing. Find a hobby, get better, feel more confident!
3. Change your thought life:
A lot of my lack of confidence came from my thought life and self-talk. It was easy to think less of myself. It was tough to see myself in a positive life.
These thoughts of me being worth less than others plagued me. It damaged me. But I was able to change my thought life.
You can change yours too. You can begin thinking positively about yourself. You can find yourself discovering that you are valuable, meaningful, and worthwhile.
Don’t let your thoughts crush your confidence. Instead, change the way you think about yourself.
4. Get okay with failure:
Perfectionism is the killer of confidence. Perfectionism tells you that you’re not good enough because you made a mistake or, gasp, you failed.
There’s nothing wrong with striving to do great, even perfect, work. The problem comes when you let the desire for perfectionism determine your worth.
Knowing you will fail can create a cushion in your confidence levels. You can explain to yourself that failure is something we all do. More importantly, failure is something we can learn from.
Get comfy with failure. Failure is your friend. Your confidence can rise when failure is your friend because you know it’s okay.