Confidence comes naturally to some people, but it takes work for most of us. We’ve all met the guy (or gal) who walks with a swagger, exudes confidence and succeeds in all they do. What’s their story? How did they develop such confidence and how do we develop confidence in our own abilities to make things happen?
Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. The business world can seem like a pack of wolves at times, sniffing out fear like fresh blood. You have a lot on your plate, and you can’t do it without solid confidence in your ability to get things done. Here are a few suggestions to ponder as you go about the monumental tasks that you face every day.
Focus on Strengths
It is common for a small business owner to want to wear all the hats. You think that nobody will do the job as well as you. Sure there are assignments and tasks that only you can do, but for most of the tasks there are likely others who can do it much better than you.
If you want to develop confidence in your abilities, focus on the abilities that have got you to where you are today, and let others handle the jobs you are less than stellar at. It’s hard to feel confident when you spend most of your time doing things you aren’t very good at.
Fail
In order to attain success, you will need to experience failure. The same is true with confidence. There is true confidence and there is false confidence. True confidence comes with experience. False confidence is merely wishful thinking we use to push ourselves through until we have gained enough experience to really exhibit true confidence.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Once you fail, get back up and keep going. The more times you fail and get back up again, the more rock solid your confidence will be in your ability to overcome great obstacles.
Lie to Yourself
There is an old saying that goes: “fake it until you make it.” This relates to the false confidence mentioned above. Sometimes you have to lie to yourself and tell yourself you are good at something, even if you’re not.
Life coach and motivational guru Wayne Dyer talks about how everything we say about the future is a lie. It doesn’t matter whether you have convinced yourself you are going to fail at something, or succeed, technically both are lies because it hasn’t happened yet. It only becomes truth after the fact. It takes just as much energy to tell yourself you will succeed as it does to tell yourself you will fail. Lie to yourself about success!
Develop Enthusiasm
Develop EnthusiasmThere is a lot to be said about the power of positive thinking. Many experts will tell you that there are forces in the universe that reciprocate the types of energy that you put out. If you are a negative person, you are more likely to attract negativity into your life. Positivity begets positivity, and enthusiasm is the highest form of positive thinking.
If you can truly learn to love what you do and show enthusiasm for it, confidence will follow. It doesn’t matter if you are really good at what you do. If you love it, you will improve, and your confidence will improve.
Associate with Winners
As with the law of attraction mentioned above, one of the greatest contributors to attitude (and confidence) is our environment and the people we associate with. If you’ve ever worked around a bunch of complainers, you will understand how quickly motivation and productivity can be killed by the negative attitude of others.
To build confidence, surround yourself with others who are confident and positive. With so many forces in the business world working to tear you down, you need those closest to you to constantly build you up. Hang out with winners, success and confidence are contagious.
