Increasing Your Business Confidence
What makes us believe in our own abilities when we have no proof yet? My daughter didn’t want to start walking. I knew she could do it. She would walk with almost no support but needed to hold my hands. She didn’t even try to walk on her own. It was as if she didn’t think she could, so she didn’t try.
It can take time and encouragement to build up confidence.
One she took the first few steps, she looked at me?and looked back at her feet. I persuaded her to keep going. The expression on her face looked like, “Hey I’m kinda doing this!”? I nodded to tell her she was doing it. You could see her confidence building.
Business Confidence: Outside Proof
We need outside proof to build confidence. When someone says that we are smart, talented, or amazing we can look back on those things as examples of our awesomeness. It can take someone else to give us proof of our own talents and amazing abilities. (This seems to especially happen with women!)
Side note: Confidence issues can be directly related to low self-esteem. A great book for that is The 6 Pillars of Self-Esteem by Nathaniel Branden.
I have been listening to the audiobook Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. He said that after he sold his company for $65 million his friends commented on him being more self-confident.
I thought this was an odd statement at the time. Wouldn’t someone that created a $65 million dollar company be pretty confident whether or not he sold the company? I think that while wealth and business building is a process, events solidify confidence.
Since I’ve been in the press I have had a lot more opportunities. I can feel my confidence building. I’ve always been a pretty confident person, but it’s as if I’m the main character of a video game and I’m leveling up.
When I first started coaching I heard a suggestion about creating a special box. When you first start a new skill, you can feel a bit lacking. I created one of these (actually mine was a folder in my filing cabinet) and it helped me build my confidence when I was learning a new skill.
Increase Your Business Confidence – Action Item:
Create a confidence building box. Create a place that contains cards, letters, testimonials, inspiring stories, and impressive things you have accomplished.
If a customer sends you an email saying how awesome you or your product is, print it out and put it in your box. If you have a day of record sales write a little note about it and put it in the box.
A business owner deals with enough negativity. When you are having one those days and you need motivation, go through the box. Remember how awesome you are and how far you have come.
The box also helps when you want to grow bigger than ever before. There may not be outside proof for something that big yet, but you can go back and see your history. You have so much outside proof for something that used to seem hard. It’s just logical that you can do it again.
Have there been times in your business when you have felt your confidence growing?
Tags: business confidence, business plan, Goals, Motivation
Categories: All, Business, Entrepreneurship, Personal Development
Hi I’m Jaime. Each and every week I bring you the top business advice from the people who know best.
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7 responses
Jaime – Hi! Great points in this post. I’ve used the “confidence box” myself, though I called it my “rainy day file.” In one instance, I used it for a business I was working on – collecting notes of thanks from clients, admiration from peers, support from family and friends. In the other instance, my rainy day file was related to my fiction writing. For that one, I collected excerpts from critiques that made my heart go all pitter-patter (They like me! They really like me!).
In both cases, these little treasure troves of positive reinforcement were wonderful to have on hand when I had a really down day (and, we all have them, don’t we?). When everything seemed to be going wrong and I felt like a fraud, I’d pull out these files and read the notes, and my confidence would start to climb back up the mountain of my self-doubt. Worked every time!
Thanks for sharing & for the reminder to take as much stock in the good as in the bad … even more!
🙂
I have never done that! For me, I replay all my accomplishments in my head when I need a booster to finish up something. But writing it down, displaying it seems like a much better idea.
If you don’t mind me asking, how do you submit your articles to the press?
Thanks for sharing, you are such a great coach too 🙂
Thanks Blessing!
Some of my press has found me (when I asked none of the journalists could remember where they found the site). The others though were either through HARO (http://helpareporter.com/) or through sending a press release directly to the outlet. Of course, let me know if you have any other questions at all!
I love this idea! While getting all your validation from the inside is a nice ideal, most of us need the odd reinforcement from other people.
My niece was just the same – we all knew she COULD walk but when anyone was watching, she’d go right back to crawling.
It’s funny to look at kids way too young to know what confidence is and see issues with it! I suppose some of it is just ingrained! 🙂