Why strive for Self-Confidence in the workplace?

“Drop me anywhere, the Sahara Desert, in the jungle, anywhere. I will not be scared. I am confident that I will succeed anywhere.”

- Safwan Shah

Safwan Shah’s statement is not an ostentation of confidence, but rather one of incompetence. I define incompetent people to be the ones who are inadequate at their role but will never be able to recognize their lack of capability.

In this case, Mr Shah decided to ignore his limits and will never be prepared when faced with a challenge. On the other hand, those who are able to recognize their weaknesses as well as their strengths can aspire to succeed, as they focus on solutions — rather than problems.

What is Self-Confidence?

It is possible to affirm that self-confidence is fundamentally developed through self-awareness and a growth mindset (as explained by Tom Stocky). “Self awareness” is the ability to fully understand one’s strengths and weaknesses, without being hypercritical or too lenient. Once you’re able to accurately assess your abilities, criticism will suddenly turn into a catalyst for growth rather than something that can be held out against you.

Retaining a “growth mindset” means believing that one’s skill set is not fixed: abilities and talents change and most importantly develop all the time. Ultimately, a confident person knows that a skill can be developed through hard work and commitment.

In a cyclic process, developing your strengths and abate weaknesses will feed into your confidence, leading to further successes and improvement in your career.

Here are 3 tips to further develop your self-confidence at work:

Learn ’til you drop

The easiest way to start thinking of what skills you want to develop or improve on next is to think about your next role. This is the starting process of building a bridge to your success. Every drop of knowledge is a brick to build your bridge. Ask people to help you out, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Embrace challenges outside of your comfort zone

It is fundamental to remind yourself that challenges will aid your personal and professional growth, regardless of the outcome. Committing to a difficult task, never giving up and being able to complete it will boost your confidence and push your limits a bit further, providing more space for growth!

Celebrate every success; whether big or small

Once a hiker told me a story that I will not easily forget.

As the sun set and the temperatures finally dropped, him and his group started to climb a mountain. He hiked and climbed throughout the night and at last stood on the peak of the mountain just as the sun started to rise again. He contemplated the horizon in admiration and his eyes fell on another peak. Suddenly, he felt the urge to climb that mountain and then the next and became overwhelmed with anxiety and restlessness.

A friend noticed his discomfort and approached him. He said: “Enjoy the view, you deserved it: Mount Agung is the tallest peak in the country”.

After completing a challenging task, take time to reward your hard work and your achievements. Being fully aware of your successes will provide a supportive perspective on your next project. Your self-confidence will inevitably improve as you realize how much you have achieved up until now!

Self-confidence is not a quality one is born with. Self-Confidence is part of your skill-set and as such should be built over time with patience and commitment. Nevertheless, it will lead to great accomplishments to pay off the efforts!

Talking Circles empowers employees to take ownership of their careers in order to achieve long term goals and develop professionally by focusing on their skills and goals!

Find out more at http://talkingcircles.co/

By Mia Meroi, TC Marketing Team