Confidence
Most of us struggle with confidence. Some of us are better at hiding it than others, but even the most successful people sometimes struggle with imposter syndrome and feeling confident in themselves.
You may have your dreams and goals all outlined for the upcoming year, but if you lack the confidence that you can achieve them, it makes climbing the mountain even more difficult. Women in particular grapple with issues of confidence more frequently than men.
So what can you do about a lack of confidence? Fortunately, confidence is a skill that can be improved just like any other.
To build up your confidence, try the following:
Surround yourself with positive, encouraging people
Work on changing from a negative to a positive mindset
Daily affirmations, such as “I am a competent and confident person.”
Stop comparing yourself to others – you are enough just as you are!
One of my favorite exercises to help build up my confidence is taking time to celebrate your previous successes. Download the worksheet below to help you remember how much you’ve already achieved.
Courage
Courage is “doing something afraid.” We all have fears and it’s scary to try something new. But you’ve been there before. As you reflect on your past successes, you saw courage in your previous actions. We must face our fears - what’s the worst that can happen? Let’s work on this together.
Some of the most common fears are the following:
Fear of failure
Fear of trading security for the unknown
Fear of being overextended on resources
Fear of what others think
Fear of pushing others away
Identify your personal fears (what’s holding you back), determine the action you need to take (where you will have to muster your courage), and then list the worst possible outcome.
What I hope you found in this exercise is that thinking of doing something new and out of our comfort zone is many times far worse than acting. Our emotions run wild, but when you apply a little logic, you might discover the risk is not as great as you feared.
Doing new things often takes a lot of courage. But as Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You must do the things you think you cannot do.”
My hope for you is that in the upcoming year, you will have the confidence and courage to go out and boldly face the challenges that arise and overcome them to make your dreams come true for Your Best Year Ever.
Tomorrow we will be Day 7 of Your Best Year Ever and I’ll be guiding you through exercises to help you plan your Goals for the year.
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