Most of us have a day to day responsibility of attending our workstation to perform a job. Most of us seek employment to suffice our lives’ needs. What is that one depends upon to perform wisely at a workstation? It is undoubtedly the feeling of self confidence.
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” These words were once said by E.E. Cummings.
Many a times one needs a lot of self confidence to pursue their dreams and overcome what is known as the ‘fear of failure’.
How do we attempt to overcome this fear?
By building up on your self confidence and self esteem. Fears are a part and parcel in our lives. But the key point to note here is that, how you beat that fear and overcome the same.
People who possess low self confidence and low self esteem would find it near impossible to achieve the above said.
Improve your Self Confidence at Work:
Since, we have realized the importance of self confidence and self esteem. Let’s now discuss a few pointers as to how we could build the same. And what are the positives of building upon the same.
One and all would like to know how confidence benefits us. The following points are laid out for you in no particular order, just read through the same and absorb the contents. That way you feel all the more confident once you have gone through this article.
1. Taking control of your self confidence:
This definitely tops my list as you will soon see why?
First, let us learn one thing, low self confidence is not a genetic problem, it is within you. If you think that you are not street smart, competent or very attractive, think again.
Try and control these emotions. You could definitely take control of your life and can pursue what you want despite any saying of others.
Take strong actions that will make a mark in your life and help you carve a niche for yourself.
2. Let’s groom ourselves:
Grooming ourselves seems quite a bit obvious, but let us face it. A shower and a shave can definitely make your feelings more filled with confidence and esteem.
3. Dress nicely:
A decent wardrobe around yourself and a sense of poise will add to the same. Since this is a corollary to the above I would like to add that when you present yourself really well you will feel successful and ready to tackle the world.
Dressing nicely boosts confidence, it doesn’t mean you turn up in an expensive outfit. Just that you should wear something that comforts you.
4. A dignified self-identity:
Self image or identity means the same. It is about having a mental picture of you and it determines how confident we are in ourselves. Figure out your inner strengths and display this on your face.
5. To think positive:
To think positive is a very important aspect in life. Make sure you remove your negative thoughts and replace them by positive ones.
Make sure the goodness in you is always prominent and that you take situations wisely.
Realize that you have immense potential in you and that you can make a conscious effort to set track your work life rather than being a negative body. One should be diligent enough to recognize these vibes around us and avoid any.
6. Get to know yourself:
When you wage a war it becomes your primary responsibility to know your enemy. In our case here, you are your own enemy.
You cannot defeat the enemy without knowing him, that is you cannot defeat your fears without knowing what they are?
Get to know yourself and start listening to your thoughts. The best way to analyze yourself would be to jot down your self assessment.
Write down what your negatives and positives are. Take help from the positive to combat your negatives. Dig deep and inculcate the habit of knowing your limitations.
7. Be kind and generous:
Being kind and generous to one and all is what makes our life worth a living. Others recognizing that you are kind and generous and respecting you for the same is all the more a reason to live for.
When people look up to you and want to become the way you are, you must be proud of yourself. This feeling surely adds to your self confidence.
8. Get prepared:
One important key to success is self confidence. A key to self confidence is preparation. This was once said by the renowned Arthur Ashe.
Imagine you have a global presentation that is coming up the week ahead of you. And you are to face your firm’s stakeholders.
Most people feel fear and weak due to inexperience or for simply not having prepared yourself. You must beat that feeling by preparing yourself and thinking of it as an exam.
Prepare, study the situation, accustom yourself to the environment, perform mocks and foresee yourself already being successful. This will make you positive and improve confidence.
9. Principles and living by them:
Ask yourself this question, what are the principles by which your life resides?
This question could be answered in sync with the previous discussion where you talk about your pros and cons using that as a hint, define your principles.
If you don’t know and are feeling clueless. It is always good to start than to never know what your life looks like. Also, make sure that you believe in what you write and you perform these rules diligently.
10. Speak slowly:
This might sound dubious. But at certain situations you must be at your best and speak slowly.
It always has a difference when new people are trying to perceive you. These are a few scenarios you must and should know.
A person in authority, with authority always speaks softly, slowly and intellectually.
A person who thinks that he is not worth listening to will definitely land up speaking quickly as he or she would not want to make people wait up on him. Practice this for those important occasions that you might have to use for.
11. Standing Tall:
Stand tall in all situations. Square your shoulders and broaden your horizon at the work atmosphere.
People will respect you for being the most upright. It’s a good feeling and a nice compliment when you stand tall and take things confidently.
12. Increase competence:
Study and practice. That is how you become competent. What should you study and what should you be practicing?
Study the aspects of the atmosphere you are into. Study the competencies of your partner or competitor.
Practice being more confident and stronger than him. Always remember that practice will increase your competence.
13. Setting small goals and achieving it:
Like Mr. Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India today, rightfully said that he is committed to a goal that will actually help him succeed and fulfill his aspirations.
What he meant was, by setting small goals and achieving them diligently, it makes your personality big. This boosts your confidence and encourages you to take up more such challenges.
Never do the mistake of aiming to reach the skies in no time when you haven’t actually prepared yourself for the same. Nothing comes to you in a jiffy.
You must dedicate yourself and prepare in the same way to achieve your goals. By doing so you are not only strengthening the roots of your confidence but you are also instilling tremendous courage within yourself.
14. If you know there is something wrong:
When you know that a small habit in you is actually quite a bit wrong then you must urge yourself to get over it.
For example, you just love sleeping but you also know that this attribute is also hindering your growth process. Then talk to yourself out of it and get over with it.
May be its troubling you in terms of being punctual to your work place. But you do know how much of a persona it shows when you turn up late. It also shows how much you respect your work.
So you have actually started your step towards combating the same. But how?
Well you have identified your problem. That is, you know you are not being punctual and that is because you have a problem of oversleeping.
So snap out of it! When you have accomplished the same, then there is no other feeling that you may want to be in. You would feel like you have just earned a million bucks.
15. When you are in trouble:
Let us now try and help you with how to focus on solutions than brooding over a small little trouble that eats up all your time and stamina.
Energize yourself and channelize that energy to find solutions for your problems. Take one step back and assess the degree of trouble.
Once you have gained information as to where the key problem lies, you have carved your path to finding solutions.
Beyond this, it is highly recommended to engage with your mentors and well wishers who could help you out of this situation and lead you to a brighter path.
16. Keep Smiling:
A smile can bring you near to so many people. Somebody far from you may think you are too proud or pompous. That’s only because he or she doesn’t know you. But the minute you smile, you are inviting that person to be your friend and know you better.
So keep smiling and make as many friends you can. End of the day, when you reach your peak it’s an amazing feeling when friends and peers cheer you for all your accolades that you have won.
17. Volunteer:
This is completely related being kind and generous. Find that time to volunteer for a good cause and bring a smile on those who really need it.
What better way to spend a holiday season trying to make the lives of under privileged people better. It would be the best spent time of your life.
This act will make you feel good instantly as you being a human have helped and reached out to one of your kind when he or she needed you.
18. Be grateful:
One should firmly believe in gratitude. When you are grateful about something only then will you receive appreciation for your actions.
You should know this because, when you recognize the importance of thanking people around you, only then will they realize the humbleness within you. And this character of yours would enlighten you as a person and yet again help in boosting your morale.
19. Exercising:
Exercising has been the best mantra to achieve most difficult things in life.
It empowers the body, mind and soul. This empowerment is absolutely necessary for you and hence I urge you to go out.
Take that walk and get it in the system to do so every day.
20. Empower yourself:
Empower yourself with all kinds of knowledge. This is a beautiful strategy to build your self confidence.
By becoming more knowledgeable you become more confident. And how is that you become knowledgeable?
By studying and researching. Be that erudite person, you could spread and gain knowledge too.
21. Internet:
Hey! How did we forget this powerful weapon that is in everybody’s hands today?
If mastered the art of learning online, then one can become scholarly in no time. And being scholarly will ultimately make you confident because you are now aware of news around you.
But don’t you ever forget the books, magazines and those articles that have also been around the ancient times empowering many minds.
22. Procrastination:
This is one thing that we need to keep in mind not to do. Right from our young age till that we start growing white hair, it’s the general tendency to procrastinate something that you fear or feel weak about etc.
Get it out of your way. I would say, after you are done reading this article, the first thing you go do is that something you have been procrastinating.
23. Get an active lifestyle:
Making the effort to live an active lifestyle. Encouraging family to be active and making sure that this phase remains for a really long time helps you in more ways than one.
It keeps your mind clear and helps you take responsible and good decisions. Physically or mentally be active and set an example to others who look up to you.
24. Mistakes:
They are the loveliest. It is this amazing feeling that most of us don’t know how to deal with.
Make mistakes, make them worthwhile. Don’t make them for the heck of it. Making mistakes is an art. And learning from the same is the second.
Learn the fact of it gracefully. Forgive yourself judiciously only to make sure that you don’t repeat the same.
25. Choose your projects carefully:
Don’t accept tasks that are very intimidating and daunting. Trying to take on something bigger than you can handle can be very overwhelming.
Hence, here is a simple advice. Choose your projects carefully and make sure it is in the vicinity of your capacities.
26. Capacity and Ability:
Well my last sentence just reminded me of these two similar characters but yet so different. In terms of humanity, capacity could mean the amount of something that you can do.
Whilst ability means the possession of the means or skills that you have to do something. Both used in the right combination will make wonders in your life.
27. Dreams come true:
Why do most people think that dreams are something weird?
They don’t actually. It is an entire different world that you could choose to live in when you are not living in the practical world.
You could be that magnet where you link your real life to the dream life. When this happens, you tend to seek answers, solutions and solace.
It is rare but yes it happens. That you actually find what you are looking for. And when it does, you are stronger and brighter.
28. Productivity:
How do you measure productivity?
It is a measure of how much you are worth in a given time and space. How does this impact your self confidence?
It reflects upon you as to how usable and worthy you are to your firm. It is your efficiency that you demonstrate.
If done in the right way, it displays your dedication. And indirectly the stakeholders of your firm realize the importance of your existence in the firm.
29. Don’t jeopardize your hobbies:
It is very wrong to jeopardize your hobbies. You never know when they actually come handy. It is important that one respects the art and talent within you.
And after all who would not like a multi talented and skill filled personality? It makes you an important human in the society.
30. Be respectful:
Respecting elders, young ones, policies and reforms is another quality that one must possess.
The minute you display an original sense of respect you gain more in return for the same. It is a positive feeling of esteem.
31. Self -appreciation:
Take 2 minutes off occasionally to pat your back and appreciate yourself for all that you have done to one and all. Whatever it may be.
You tried and that is what is important. Think about the things that you have done which is worthy of a self praise.
Award yourself for what you have done. And in case you don’t find anything, then don’t worry you have reached the first level where you are now aware that you need to try and do something to feel proud.
32. Perfection:
Don’t aim to be a perfectionist but practice like you want to be one. Although we know practice makes man perfect, we also know the contradiction that no one is perfect.
You could only be near perfect. Don’t worry so much anyway. Just give your best!
33. Be your own best friend:
Here we mean that you should lend a shoulder to your own self when you need one. So what if someone else doesn’t understand you?
Be your own good friend as it is you who knows every single second spent in your life.
34. Be something new:
Be a new person to yourself and others. Try something new. Strive to be different than others and keep that spark alive in you.
Which would make others envy you and a few others who want be like you.
35. Don’t compare yourself:
The Lord has all made us differently. Then it would be wrong to compare one’s ability with another.
Why should you? When you know that every one of us has a unique trait in ourselves. Spend time on finding out that true unique trait rather than comparing yourself.
36. Don’t doubt yourself:
You have just enough time to live the life for yourself. How does one think of doubting the very existence of you?
You are different. Realize the importance of your existence.
37. Childhood pals:
From the time when you are a young one till you are an adult, you would always have an idol in your life that you would look up to. This is a very good sign.
Don’t stop this. Go ahead and have those mentors or idols in your life.
38. Mix well:
Not the sugar and milk. I mean network and socialize. Don’t shy away, that would be wrong. Network and establish yourself in a community or a group.
Let people recognize you for your personality and character. The minute they grace your presence, that is it. You have a place for yourself.
39. Understanding the world around you:
Know your facts right. Learn and understand the world around you. Research the needs and wants of people.
Adapt and adopt yourself to the situation. Do not be threatened by the same facts and reality.
40. Live for them who live for you:
Lastly, be that person who wants to live for others, to bring a smile on someone’s life. To actually make your parents proud of whom you are.
Live for those who want to live for you. Respect the feeling and happiness you bring to them while they bring to you as well. Remember, making a kind soul happy is all about making the Almighty happy.
Conclusion:
This brings us to the end of our discussion. I think here is a new window of hope that I am hoping to have created. I earnestly believe that for most of you who have been through this exhaustive list are actually happy while you’re done reading.
It is a sincere request for all of you to share and review your experiences, feedbacks and anything that you may want to add; May be even your life changing scenarios.
Also do not forget to bring out the key takeaways when you walk into a leadership forum the next time. Here is wishing everybody all the very best to leap ahead in your life with a strong foundation of the traits outlined above.
