How to Build Self-Confidence in Your Professional and Personal Life

Self-confidence isn’t just an innate quality. While a healthy view of oneself can be rooted in childhood through the work of parents, teachers, and other people of influence in a child’s life, true self-confidence develops over time and through a myriad of experiences.

Confidence comes from the Latin word “fidere”, which means “to trust". So having self-confidence means trusting your own abilities, qualities, and judgment. When you trust yourself, you hold yourself in higher regard, you know your worth, believe you are an asset, and know that you deserve respect. Having a healthy level of self-confidence can serve you well in your personal life and carry you far in your professional life. 

Tips For a More Successful You

Building self-confidence will lead to better relationships, more opportunities, and higher levels of life satisfaction. Here are 5 tips to discover a more successful you, both socially and in the workplace.

1: Eliminate Negative Self-Talk

Self-talk is your inner voice. It’s a very powerful dictator of our thoughts and feelings, so if it’s used properly and practiced regularly, it can be a very effective tool in regulating our emotions and our energy levels. Being aware of what we are telling ourselves, focusing on the positive, and using affirming mantras can rewire our brains and rewrite our self-talk, leading to an increased sense of self-confidence.

Parlaying off of the importance of self-talk in how we view our reality, the language we use to communicate with others is also impactful. Don’t allow negative language to limit you in your personal and professional relationships. Focus on the solutions instead of potential problems, issues, or drawbacks. When you start to shift your communication style to focus on the positive, you will likely experience a shift in perspective, and that will reframe how you see yourself entirely. You are powerful, tenacious, and resilient. 

2: Capitalize on Your Strengths

It’s important to strike a balance between acknowledging both your strengths and weaknesses when you focus on how to build self-confidence. If one becomes fixated on their weaknesses, they can get stuck in a negative place and dwell on them, which will zap their self-confidence. Instead, people need to focus on the skills and talents they have—those that make them valuable in relationships or an asset to an employer. When you lead from your strengths, you begin to feel empowered, engaged, and self-assured. 

3: Identify Your Weakness 

Just like acknowledging and capitalizing on your strengths is important in building self-confidence, so is acknowledging our weaknesses—so you can transform them into potential strengths. An important part of personal and professional growth is recognizing your limitations so you can improve. Take a hard look at yourself and write down the areas where you seem to struggle. Is it organization, communication, time management? Wherever you can find room for improvement, seek out classes, mentorships, or resources that will help you develop those weaknesses into strengths.

4: Cross Train

One of the best ways to build self-confidence is to grow your skill set. If your company allows it, inquire about cross training. This type of training allows employees to learn each other’s job functions—either within the office or across departments. It provides opportunities to become proficient in various roles and get a better understanding of the inner workings of the different sectors of the company. It makes you a well rounded employee who takes initiative, making you more marketable for promotional opportunities. 

5: Challenge Yourself 

Becoming stagnant in your personal and professional growth will quickly lead to deteriorating levels of self-confidence. Seeking out and accepting new challenges is a surefire way to expand and sharpen your skill set, and stretch you out of your comfort zone. It is in these places that you can prove to yourself just how capable you really are. Your new accomplishments, big or small, will positively impact your sense of self-confidence and ignite your passion for personal and professional growth. 

ASAP 

To learn more about how building your self-confidence can propel you up the corporate ladder or provide you with more leadership opportunities, keep scrolling thrhough our blog.