The confidence trick

No, it’s not a scam, it’s a way to start building your confidence. 

Confidence is the stuff that turns thoughts into actions. Here’s the good news – you don’t need to become a super confident person; confidence can be specific to the thing you want to change. For example, do you need help to 

• get over the line at interviews 

• have that difficult conversation with somebody at work  

• make a decision to change your job 

• give a presentation to a room full of people 

Here’s some more good news, it’s within your power to boost your confidence. Try these tips. 

Tip 1 – Practice and celebrate 

• Identify small steps you can take, prepare and then act 

• Expect to fail – it's how we learn. Fail fast if you can – test out your ideas early on to see if they can work. Discard the ones that don’t work and focus on the ones that will work.  

• Every time you succeed at something – no matter how small - celebrate  

Tip 2 – Challenge your negative thoughts 

• Write down your negative thoughts 

• Consider an alternative point of view, for example ‘I haven’t finished that task yet’ becomes ‘I’m doing a good job managing competing priorities’ 

• Reframing your negative thoughts will reduce the attention you give them 

Tip 3 - Perfectionism is your enemy 

• Perfectionism is unrealistic and time consuming 

• Perfectionism delays action for example, by the time you’ve perfected your question the conversation has moved on 

• Remember the 80/20 rule. Sometimes it's ‘good enough’ 

Tip 4 – Be kind to yourself  

• What are you good at? If you want another view, ask a friend or colleague. Write it down.  

• Be compassionate with yourself, for example if something doesn’t work out don’t dwell on it – remember Tip 1? The chances are you’ve just learned something useful, now move on.