Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. We don't push ourselves to excel at work (and maybe in our day to day life) and can end up holding ourselves back. Our consistent judgemental outlook on ourselves can be more damaging than good. Therefore, we need a boost in our confidence to succeed.
Ignore those niggling thoughts! Here are four handy tips to help you boost your confidence at work.
1. Bin those pesky negative thoughts
This has to be the hardest aspect to tackle when conquering your confidence. However, with time and perseverance, you can remove those negative thoughts and let go of anything that may be holding you back (like yourself mainly!).
Quit being hard on yourself and talking yourself out of opportunities such as promotions and commissions. It won’t help you in the long run and when it comes to work, it will only make you feel like you are going backwards, not forward.
Say positive things to yourself. You are a person full of abilities and skills who is able to give so much to a company. Don’t doubt it.
2. The power of positive affirmations
Positive affirmations are an excellent and easy way of reinforcing self belief.
There are lots of great books and material dedicated to this area, so pop down to your local library or have a browse on the internet.
Here are some of our favourite quotes to help kick-start your I-am-going-to-be-more-confident-at-work journey:
· Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy – Norman Vincent Peale
· Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence – Helen Keller
· When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things – Joe Namath
· No one can make your feel inferior without your consent – Eleanor Roosevelt
· Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: Work! – Jack Nicklaus
There are lots more quotes to get inspiration from. You can write your favourite ones and read them everyday to help.
3. Don't be afraid to ask questions
No one will ever push through the barrier of understanding new concepts without asking questions. It can be easy to pretend you know something to avoid embarrassment but will that be helpful any circumstance, particularly in the workplace? Afraid not!
Ask questions! It's that simple. If you don't, you may never know or it may be difficult to reach the answer through other avenues. Push yourself to be the person who isn’t afraid to ask questions. This will help you gain confidence as you will understand what is expected from you and your work.
4. Focus on your successes
Remember the times you did successes: in exams, interviews, projects, presentations and so on. Keep remembering these times! Don’t allow yourself to forget the things that you did well in the past and present. Use these times to help boost your confidence in your ability to continue succeeding in your workplace. This will help keep your mind-set positive and ready to take on new challenges. Forget “failures" or things you deem as being negative, hold on to the positives.
Use these four tips to help you boost your confidence at work. Good luck and we hope you have lots of successes in the workplace!
