Are you someone who has been pretty hard on yourself for most of your life? There are a lot of people who struggle with self-doubt, even if they have decades of experience under their belt. Fortunately, it’s never too late to turn things around. The truth is, and LinkedIn experts can attest to that, “Although confidence may be considered a “soft skill,” it impacts a person’s entire work performance.”
Here are a few simple tips to help you learn how to build confidence:
Begin to notice the language you use
People tend to use the word ‘can’t.’ When they would talk about something that they wanted to do but then add the comment ‘cannot,’ it meant that two things were happening:
- The first was that there were negative beliefs in my subconscious mind telling me that it was impossible and completely out of reach; and
- The second thing happening was an internal lack of confidence in my ability to achieve whatever goal or task came next in line for me at that time.
Separate your identity from your performance
Performances can sometimes be scary, and it’s important to remember that they’re just events. It’s impossible to prevent an outcome from happening, but you can control how you react after it does. A better focus for when your performance has ended is thinking about what you may have done differently. Have you made any mistakes lately? How did things go after the fact? What might we have done to make it better next time?
Reframe perfectionism as a desire to improve
Perfectionism is a desire to improve. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about trying your best and making an effort. It can be a very positive thing! You might think of yourself as a perfectionist, but if you want to grow and improve, embrace this mindset.
Push yourself to do new things
One way you can build self-confidence is by trying new things, which I mean unique things. Try something every day that you’ve never done before. Take up a new sport or hobby if you like, but don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something completely different than what you usually do.
Shift from self-doubt to self-belief
As you get better at identifying your self-doubt and learning to replace it with self-belief, the next step is to shift from self-doubt to self-belief.
Self-belief believes in yourself and your ability despite fear or discomfort (or lack of training). Self-belief means being confident in your knowledge even if others doubt it or tell you otherwise. Self-belief means knowing what opportunities are for you without having someone else tell them first because they don’t know what’s best for YOU!
To be successful, you need to learn to believe in yourself. That’s not easy when we live in such a self-doubting culture, but it’s possible, as we have seen with the examples above. We have all had moments where we doubted ourselves, but by practicing these strategies, we can learn how to overcome those doubts and gain confidence.
