03 Jan 15 Keys to Self-Confidence in 2021
via Thrive Global by Shyam Ramanatham
Wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year. As 2021 dawns on us we all want to feel more self-confident. However tough 2020 might have been we can make a fresh start in 2021. This is a great time to recalibrate our priorities. Self-confidence is wonderful quality strongly correlated with success. A lot of times we see people who are highly successful and it is a direct result of their self-confidence. It is not something that you just have when you are born but rather it is something internalized after years of hard work and proving your competence in your area of expertise.
Here are the 15 ways I have identified to become a more self-confident person.
Keep track of your accomplishments – Everyone has had success at some point in life either in school, extracurricular activities or college. Write down every single achievement you have ever had right from your start. This can be anything from learning a language, learning a sport, or academic achievements. This will give you a good start on your journey towards increasing self-confidence. Some authors advise to have a victory log of all your accomplishments and looking at this daily increases your self-confidence. The other thing you can do is to write down all your victories from 2020.
Celebrate your strengths – Write down all your strengths that you can think of. It could be self-discipline, honesty, friendliness, courage etc. This boosts your self-esteem and confidence. It gives you a track to run on. A lot of us haven’t taken the time to understand where our strengths lie. Some tools like Strengths Finder 2.0 are great and get to the heart of this task. Once you know your strengths and concentrate on those your self-confidence soars. Everyone has some unique strength and understanding where your strengths lie is the key to get your self-confidence up. It is also the key to your personal growth. At work focus on your strengths and complement your weakness by delegating those tasks to others who are stronger in those areas.
Set some career goals – A lack of self-confidence can also be due to a lack of direction in your career. Setting some long-term goals for your career will surely energize you and boost your self-confidence. The fact that you have a vision forces you to think positive and creates a rush of endorphins and propels you forward. Breaking down those long-term goals into 90 day increments is another great step towards becoming more self-confident. On the side setting some personal goals and achieving those also result in greater self-confidence.
Study your job description – A well prepared mind gives confidence. Learn everything about your job and the expectations before stepping onto the playing field and your confidence will sky rocket. When you align your day to day activities with the overall objectives that you have been hired to accomplish you will be on the fast track in your career. When you know with acute clarity on what is expected of you and prepare accordingly your confidence will be enhanced.
Read books in your area of expertise – Being the most well-read person increases self-confidence. Now with the internet you can get access to the masters in your field much easier than at any point in history. Read their blogs, listen to their podcasts, document what you have learnt and share it with your network. Other books like Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, How to Win friends and Influence people, The Magic of Thinking BIG, and Linchpin are great starting points in the quest for better skills, strategies and confidence. Some recent books I read are Conscious Leadership, Winning Now Winning Later, How I built this, The Practice, and Post Corona…
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