This month, personal growth will be the focus of our upcoming blogs, as we explore the skills and attitudes that are needed for individuals to be successful within their respective fields. In this instalment, we look at self-confidence, and how without it, people struggle to reach their full potential.

In all walks of life, self-confidence is needed to clearly communicate key messages, as individuals are more likely to trust and believe words that are delivered confidently, by somebody that appears to have a thorough understanding of the issues discussed.

Naturally, you may be reluctant to fully back a project that’s being pitched by someone who is nervous, fumbling and overly apologetic. Confident people inspire confidence in others, and gaining the confidence of others will help you find success.

The good news is that self-confidence can be learned, developed and built on. Even if you are currently lacking in it, there are ways of boosting your own self-belief, so that you can enjoy the levels of success you deserve.

What makes self-confidence?

There are two key components of self-confidence; self-awareness and self-esteem. Self-awareness is developed when we see ourselves mastering skills and achieving goals that matter in those areas. This is confirmation that if we learn and work hard, then it’s possible to succeed.

With this type of confidence, individuals are happy to accept difficult challenges and persist in the face of setbacks. It’s the belief that if we put our minds to the task, then we can compete successfully and overcome any obstacles that stand in the way.

Whilst some people believe self-confidence can be built with affirmations and positive thinking, it’s just as important to build confidence by setting and achieving goals, as you establish an underlying competence that is proof you can achieve what you put your mind to.

Although there is no ‘quick fix’ when it comes to building self-confidence, with the right focus and determination you can stay on track and see things through from start to finish. What’s even better is that the things you’ll do to build self-confidence will also deliver success, as no one can take away your achievements and progress along the way.

The three-step journey

There are three key steps to building self-confidence, labelled as; preparing for the journey, setting out and accelerating towards success. In order to become the confident leader your organisation needs, you must follow each step closely, to put yourself in the best position possible.

Step one: Preparing for your journey – This involves getting yourself ready for the journey to self-confidence. At this stage, it’s important to take stock of where you are, think about where you want to go and get yourself in the right mindset for the journey ahead. This involves reviewing your past achievements and reminding yourself of how far you’ve already come.

Take a closer look at your strengths and visualise where you want to end up. By understanding what skills you have at your disposal, you can make the journey more efficient by playing into your strengths. Begin to manage your mind too – once you learn to pick up and defeat the negative self-talk, you will be ready to commit yourself to success.

Step two: Setting out – At this point, you should begin to make progress towards achieving your goal. By repeatedly doing the right things and enjoying small and easy wins, you will put yourself on the path to success, building the self-confidence that comes with this. This involves building the knowledge you need to succeed through your own personal studying.

One of the most important parts of this step is to build momentum with your success. Once you get into the habit of achieving small goals, then you can focus your attention on the much larger tasks that deliver the most value.

Step three: Accelerating towards success – By this stage, you’ll feel your self-confidence building, having completed some of the actions you started in step two. You should have plenty of success to celebrate, but instead of taking your foot off the pedal, now is the time to stretch yourself further and make the challenges tougher and the goals bigger.

By increasing the size of your commitment, you are doubling down on your efforts to build self-confidence. Before you know it, setting and achieving goals will become second nature and a normal part of your daily routine.

Becoming a confident leader…

Put simply, to experience the levels of success you are capable of, it’s paramount that you build strong self-confidence so you can deliver key messages clearly to those around you. Ultimately, your colleagues will only trust you if they can see you are confident in your own actions.

Even if you are currently lacking the confidence needed to realise your full potential, that’s not to say it can’t be achieved. If you have the willpower and determination needed to build self-confidence, then you can do so effectively.

By following the three step process outlined above, you can embark on a journey of building strong self-confidence, and make the developmental progress and growth needed.

Keep an eye out for next week’s blog, where we will discuss conditioning and changing past thinking, which could be holding you back from success.