What’s Confidence Got To Do With It?

Question for you: Are you confident?

About yourself? About your competencies? About your professional status? About your career in general? About switching careers? About your ability to make changes when needed and do what you truly love?

I watched a video by Marie Forleo last week about this topic. (She focuses on women business owners so you may not know her. But the same principle applies to career professionals.)

Marie said confidence is overrated, and I agree.

Why?

Because, if you let it get in the way of moving forward, you'll never get anywhere.

It's nice to be confident and build your confidence up when you feel insecure, and this is something that usually happens when I work one-on-one with my clients – but it's true…if you're waiting until you're 100% confident to take that next move, you won't go anywhere.

Confidence is a great good in America; it's often seen as a must-have to succeed at anything. Of course, how you project yourself influences how others see you, so there is definitely a psychological component there.

However, it's better to take a shot at something with the possibility of succeeding, than just day dreaming about it because you're not 100% sure of the outcome.

Guess what – you never will be! And even confidence will not guarantee success.

I think especially for us, Renaissance Personalities, it is important to realize we'll most likely feel some apprehension whenever we embark on something new. We spend a great deal of our lives outside our comfort zone. Not because we want to, but because staying put in something boring or something we don't enjoy is just not an option.

So please realize that it's okay and normal to feel hesitant and insecure about your next endeavor, or about aspects of your job or a new project.

I do.

It's about keeping it moving.

So, as much as I like to help my clients boost their confidence and make them feel better – which is still very valuable – I agree a warning is in place: don't confuse not feeling 100% confident about your next step with some sort of "sign" you shouldn't move forward with your plans or projects.

In fact; usually, it's the other way around. You push yourself out of your comfort zone and watch your confidence grow as you take steps toward your goal. Often succeeding, don't you?

My tips for taking the next step anyway, even when you don't feel 100% confident:

• Get some real perspective; what is the absolute worst that could happen? Could you die? (If yes – forgo the above advice.)
• What is the "cost" of not doing what you want to do? Is it… staying stuck in a field you hate, forever wondering what could have been, taking up mental space by obsessing how you'll do it once?
• Ask yourself what you want to look back on – 5 years from now…10 years from now. Truth is – what may seem so awkward or scary now, you tend to forget the second these feelings vanish. Looking back, you typically remember the things you did, the things you tried, and the things you wanted to do but never did. Especially those. So try to keep that list as short as possible.
• Talk to people who have gone before you, and ask them what it was like. Was it what they expected? Were they confident about their move beforehand?

Do you have additional tips to get past that "lack of confidence block?" Post them as a comment and we'll compare notes!

Ilona Vanderwoude, founder of CareerBranches, is a career designer who helps her clients fit a million passions into one lifetime while providing the tactical support to actually make it happen.

Thanks to Ilona Vanderwoude / Careerealism
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