How do you get self-confidence when you need it most? Have you ever experienced times where you lacked self-confidence, where you stopped striving for what you were after?
This lack of self-confidence may have happened to you at certain times in your life, as I know it has in mine. Several years ago, I remember I lacked the self-confidence in giving a briefing to my eighty team members every single morning, six days a week. The mere thought of it gave me the shivers.
This feeling of lack of self-confidence was the root of many complications that blocked me from holding these meetings. This lack was like a large thorn that continually burst the bubble of my wanting to hold the meetings in a comfortable and calm way.
The first week was hell for me. I felt as if they all looked at me attentively so as to hide their pity for me.
On my day off, after having given my first six nervous meetings, I went to the local library and borrowed their computer. I decided to do a little research on how do you get self-confidence fast. I jumped hurriedly from one website to the next in search of instant ways to build self-confidence, and discovered that they were all saying the same thing. In a nutshell, they all established that I can learn to have self-confidence.
And the simplest and quickest way to kick-start this is to acknowledge and accept that self-confidence is an acquired process; it can be learned and configured to suit all situations. Great, but they did not reveal a quick way on how do you get self-confidence quickly.
I kept on researching. I discovered that in much the same way there were several areas in my life that I felt unconfident about, there are a few areas where I already feel confident. And if I were to think about it further, I would find that I am even more confident in those areas than I might think.
As I delved further, I noticed that more often than not, I did not give myself any credit for the things I was confident at simply because I took them for granted.
With that in mind, I started to build on my existing areas of self-confidence, so it might flow into the areas where I was feeling less confident. To do that, I took five minutes each day, on my way to and from work, acknowledging and being grateful of the times where I felt confident.
I kept repeating: “I am so happy and grateful that I did well in my training last week.” “I am so happy and grateful that I spoke well in my meeting with the general manager last Tuesday.”
This ‘attitude of gratitude’ had an overpowering effect on me. These three words made all the difference to me. By the end of the second week of holding my meetings, I felt self-confidence surge through me. I felt as confident and as calm as a speaking veteran.
I encourage you to adopt the ‘attitude for gratitude’ not only to build on your self-confidence, but to improve every area of your life. I learned that gratitude is a vital ingredient to having a successful and rewarding life.
Develop the skill that will just naturally attract self-confidence, happiness and success like a magnet. How do you get self-confidence? Be grateful for the areas where you are currently confident.
