Whatever the topic I am teaching, and whatever the status of the group, the issue of confidence always plays a part. This is hardly surprising. When do you feel most confident? Your answer is likely to be on the lines of:
Whenever we need to stretch ourselves, or do something we don’t like, there is a possibility of feeling a lack of confidence that it will go “right”, that we will perform well, that we will come out of it “OK”. So, how do you become more confident? There is a variety of ways. The first step is to decide what the lack of confidence is about. Is it due to:
All of these are fairly easily dealt with. Sometimes, however, it is not as easy to define where the lack of confidence comes from. You only know that the thought of doing something or making a change fills you with foreboding and makes you shrink back into your comfort zone. There are several ways of tackling this kind of confidence issue: 1. Looking at and challenging your internal beliefs about yourself and others. The biggest barrier is the belief “I am not a confident person” or “I’m not someone who can do this (well)”. 2. Recognising your abilities, talents and successes. Some people are so good at telling themselves about their weaknesses, that they have lost the ability to recognise their strengths and successes, however small. 3. Achieving small challenges. Pushing yourself a little, and making progress in small steps increases your confidence, sometimes very considerably. You need to take a small risk to gain a huge reward. The issue of confidence is slightly different for everyone. It is a very common issue brought to coaching sessions. Coaching can help you to find your own personal formula for building confidence. If you’d like to know more, please contact us. A useful book to read to help you build confidence is: Feel the Fear and do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers (also available at Amazon.com). Valerie Fawcett
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