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Self-Awareness
Embrace the Power Within
Unlock your potential
Confidence — few feelings compare. It propels you forward, empowering you to take on challenges. But how confident are you? Could you use more? Let’s uncover the path to unshakable confidence.
The power of confidence
Confidence is the foundation of achievement. It creates those times when you know that you can do something, fuels determination, and helps eliminate the fear of failure. It empowers you to seize opportunities others might shy away from.
However, like any strength, overuse can lead to recklessness, arrogance, or overconfidence. The key is balance, grounding confidence in reality while pushing past self-imposed limits.
Building confidence isn’t as difficult as you may think. It begins with self-awareness. And who better to understand you than yourself? But before we explore how to strengthen confidence, let’s get to know its greatest enemy.
The inner critic
Imagine silencing the voice that constantly undermines your confidence. Many call this the “inner critic,” a persistent, self-doubting voice that holds you back. To overcome it, you must challenge it.
This critical inner voice often stems from past experiences, fear, or an attempt to protect you. Take my fear of public speaking. As a shy child in a second-grade play, I tripped on stage. Laughter from the audience turned my embarrassment into a dreadful fear. Could a memory from when I was seven influence me into my twenties? You bet. I had allowed it to have a voice in my life.
For years, that moment dictated my choices. My inner critic used fear to shield me from further embarrassment. But as my career progressed, public speaking became unavoidable. I enrolled in a Dale Carnegie course, read books on the subject, and practiced extensively. The more I spoke in front of groups, the more my confidence increased, and the greater the strides in my career became.
Is this critical voice gone? Nope. It’s still there, but I see it differently now. When nerves arise before a speech, I remind myself of past successes. A stronger, more mature “voice of confidence” reassures me: “You can do…
