Today I Choose To Be SELF-CONFIDENT Part 2

photo by fauxels from Pexel

 

We’re continuing this blog on finding confidence in yourself when you most need it in your professional and personal life. Knowing yourself means knowing your own values, beliefs, fears, passions and  purpose. Truly understanding and accepting yourself is at the heart of being self confident.  

1. It’s our values and beliefs that ground us and drive our behavior day to day,  both consciously and unconsciously. 

2. Your fears demean your confidence and wreak havoc with being all we desire to  be. We all have them. Gaining confidence means knowing what your fears are and  understanding how they are getting in your way. “Our deepest fear is that we are  powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most.”  Nelson Mandela 

3. What is it that makes your heart sing…that will lead you to your passions and  purpose? Each of us has special gifts. You love using these gifts and feel totally  confident about expressing them!  

4. So what’s the solution, you ask? Gaining a deeper understanding of yourself.  Knowing what causes your confidence to come and go is a necessary step in  holding onto your confidence when you need it the most. 

TRUST

Do you choose to trust yourself? The word for trust in French is “confiance”.  Sounds a lot like “confidence” doesn’t it? To better understand this relationship,  read this quote from Rachel Naddor: 

Self confidence comes from self-trust. We feel confident when we listen to our own  inner guidance, our intuition. We make the best decisions when we still our mind get introspective and ask ourselves "What is the best choice for me…what feels  right for me?"  

Listening to what everybody else thinks can make you crazy. Listen to what your  intuition is telling you…trust yourself! 

4 PILLARS

Patrice Dickey, a wise author and friend explained further that there are four pillars of a happier, more confident life: 

1. Be more self aware – of yourself and your impact on others in your life. “Self  observation is a vital habit”, says Patrice; 

2. The hallmark of high self confidence is self acceptance…that’s right accepting  your strengths and accepting your limitations; 

3. Having self respect, yes respect for yourself is essential to gaining self  confidence; 

4. Love thyself is the last and most important of the four pillars.  

Think about it this way. When you can achieve these four important elements to  become more self confident and happy, you naturally will project or transfer  awareness, acceptance, respect and love to others in your life. Which of these four  pillars do you need to focus on the most? 

SUMMARY

We’ve talked about tips and tools for you to get and keep your self confidence to  create repeated successes for yourself everyday: 

1. Raise your self awareness of how you are showing up - nonverbals

2. What you are saying to yourself; 

3. How are you saying things to others; 

4. Learn how practice and preparedness can keep you on track; and 

5. Finally, the essence of self confidence - your relationship with yourself.  

By consciously getting to know yourself, you can move from self acceptance, self respect and ultimately to self love. The last step of self love enables self confidence and confidence in your relationships with others. Don't let the pandemic interfere in your journey to be self-confident. Pass this along!