Archive for the ‘Self-Confidence’ Category
Successful entrepreneurs often comment that you don‘t need a “big idea” to be able to go into business for yourself. They point out that it’s not the idea that makes you a success, it’s how well you do what you do that matters, even when your idea is not something that’s going to set the world alight! However, the entrepreneurs who make those comments very often have set the world alight with their business ideas and because of their success they have become a source of inspiration for others who dream of achieving the same success.
Chances are, the people who inspire you are the people who are already living your dreams. Inspirational people are passionate about what they do, no matter how big or small their contribution to the world may seem in relative terms, and they use the power of that passion to turn their dreams and ambitions into their realities. So, who or what inspires you?
If it’s your ambition to set up your own business, it’s true that your business idea doesn’t have to be outstandingly original to be successful but, and it’s a big but, it does have to be something you feel passionate about. Successful businesspeople do what they love and love what they do so the key to generating your own business success is to do what you love. Be inspired by the success of others but be yourself and find your own source inspiration and you’ll find your own success.
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Confidence is a shared characteristic among successful people, so is a lack of confidence a shared characteristic among people who fail to realise their true potential? Only if you believe it is. There’s a link between self-confidence and success but there’s only a link between a lack of self-confidence and a lack of success if you choose to believe it exists. The bottom line is that if you believe your lack of self-confidence will prevent you from succeeding in life, it will.
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right”
- Henry Ford
If you’ve been dreaming of setting up your own business for years but you’ve yet to take any action to realise that dream, why is that? Could it be that you’re doubting yourself and your abilities; could it be that you’re unsure of whether you’ve got what it takes to go it alone? If so, your lack of self-confidence is holding you back but is it really preventing you from succeeding? If you think that your doubts about yourself are real enough to make your business idea a failure then the bottom line is that they would lead to failure. The way you think about yourself and your abilities is mirrored in your reality – what you believe to be real becomes your reality. But, are your beliefs based on anything real?
When doubt enters your mind, the nagging voice of self-doubt begins to give you a running commentary of all the things you can’t do and of all the things that are going to go wrong if you even try to do them; it effectively stomps all over your confidence. It’s a loud voice, but is it telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Related articles
- Be a Confident Team Player (sportspsychology2.com)
- Confidence and The Enemy Within (donmacnaughton.org)
- Growing Confidence From Doubt (sportspsychology2.com)
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In business terms, how would you describe someone with self-confidence?
Someone who looks you in the eye and shakes your hand firmly perhaps, or is it more than that? A confident manner on the outside can certainly create an illusion of confidence but is it just a front – does the same confidence exist on the inside?
Someone with genuine self-confidence is completely comfortable in their own skin. They are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in, even if it means going against the grain, and they stick by what they believe to be right, even when faced with opposing views or even the criticism of others. Someone who lacks genuine confidence on the other hand is influenced much more by the opinions of other people. They are overly concerned by what others think of them and because of this they’ll change their own thoughts and actions in order to fit in with those around them. Someone who lacks confidence may have learned how to shake your hand confidently but they will struggle to hold their own in the boardroom because they don’t have the inner confidence to match.
Confidence is a mental skill and it’s a skill that anyone can acquire. Just as you can learn how to use confident body language, direct eye contact and firm handshakes, you can also learn how to become more self-confident. Learning any new skill takes time, practice, and dedicated effort so the first step is to take positive action by identifying what inner confidence would feel like for you; what would greater self-confidence bring into your life? For example, would it allow you to put your ideas across more positively in boardroom meetings; would it allow you to be more effective as a team leader; would it allow you to sell yourself more effectively in job interviews, or do you simply believe that more opportunities would come your way if you had more confidence? Once you know where you’re going, you can take positive steps to get there.
Related articles
- Self-Confidence – Say It, Do It, Believe It (donmacnaughton.org)
- Self – Confidence and Are Your Doubts Real? (zonedinperformance.com)
When you feel held back by a lack of confidence, you might imagine that all of the confident, successful people you see around you have never experienced a moment of doubt in their entire careers. However, everyone faces doubt from time to time in life and the key to becoming successful in your career is not to never doubt yourself but to never let your doubts go unquestioned. For example, let’s say you’re thinking of making a career change but you’re putting it off because of doubts you have over your qualifications. Are your doubts real? It’s only when you question those doubts that you can discover whether your qualifications as they are really could present an obstacle or whether you’re simply perceiving that to be the case. Could you, in fact, be allowing a career opportunity to pass you by for no real reason?
Self-doubt stems from negative thinking and when negative thoughts take over your inner world – your mind – doubt and negativity will also take over your outer world – your reality. Negative beliefs can only hold you back and by choosing to believe that your qualifications are an obstacle and that they are standing in your way without taking steps to find out if they really are an obstacle in reality, you are effectively holding yourself back. Knowledge is power: taking positive action to find out what you need is also a positive step towards increasing your confidence at the same time. Knowing what you need equates to knowing what you need to do to make the career move you’re thinking of. It’s having that knowledge that then allows you to move on from a place of negative self-doubt to a place of positive self-confidence and to take real steps towards doing it.
Related articles
- Growing Confidence From Doubt (sportspsychology2.com)
- Your Little Confidence Trickster (donmacnaughton.org)
- Confidence and The Enemy Within (donmacnaughton.org)
