Self-assurance and confidence in the workplace are invaluable traits linked to greater success, fulfillment, and career progression However, developing unshakeable confidence at work is easier said than done.
Even the most competent employees can sometimes struggle with self-doubt, anxiety about how they are perceived, and hesitation in exhibiting their full potential. The good news is that confidence can be built with intention and consistency.
Follow this 7-step guide to begin cultivating higher levels of confidence in your professional life.
Step 1: Reflect on What Confidence Means to You
People often casually throw around the notion of “being confident” without taking time to reflect on what confidence truly means to them. The first step is to get clear on your personal conception of confidence by asking yourself:
- What does confidence look and feel like to me?
- When do I feel most self-assured at work?
- When do I feel unsure of myself?
- How would I behave if I felt very confident within my role?
There’s no universal definition – confidence means something different to each person Defining what it means for you provides a vision to work towards,
Step 2: Identify Your Strengths
Confidence emerges from a place of self-awareness. Take time to honestly identify your talents, skills, accomplishments and strengths as an employee.
What do you bring to the table? What are you good at? What achievements make you proud?
Keep a running list of your capabilities and reflect on it frequently. Internalizing your strengths and abilities is essential for building confidence at work.
Step 3: Recognize Your Potential
Next, focus not just on your current abilities, but also your potential for growth. We all have room to improve – identifying your areas of untapped potential will highlight how much you are capable of achieving.
Ask yourself:
- What skills can I still gain?
- How can I continue improving?
- What future achievements can I work towards?
Recognizing your potential stirs motivation, ambition and self-belief to reach higher.
Step 4: Adopt Confident Body Language
Physical posture and body language significantly impacts how we feel internally. By adopting confident body language, you can reinforce self-assurance from the outside-in.
Ways to display confident body language:
- Stand tall with your shoulders back.
- Hold your head high.
- Make steady eye contact when conversing.
- Firmly shake hands.
- Speak slowly, clearly, and loudly enough to be heard.
- Claim your space by spreading out materials around you.
Consciously practicing confidence through physicality leads to emotions and thoughts following suit.
Step 5: Use Empowering Language
The language patterns you use – especially self-talk and internal dialogue – greatly influence confidence. Monitor your inner voice for disempowering language that breeds self-doubt.
Replace limiting phrases like “I can’t…”, “What if I fail?”, “They’re going to judge me” with empowering language:
- “I got this”
- “I am prepared for this”
- “I can handle anything that comes my way”
- “I am worthy and capable”
Speaking affirmations creates mental schemas of confidence and certainty.
Step 6: Re-frame Setbacks
When facing failures and setbacks, our instinctual reactions often verge on the extremes – either catastrophic thinking, or avoidance and denial.
To build confidence, re-frame how you interpret setbacks using a balanced mindset:
- See failures in context – as single events rather than indicators of self-worth.
- Avoid exaggerating the severity of failures. Put them into perspective.
- Rather than dwell on disappointments, pivot to reflect upon learnings and how to improve.
- Have the confidence to acknowledge and discuss mistakes openly, without self-criticism.
This balanced approach prevents setbacks from torpedoing your confidence.
Step 7: Celebrate Small Wins
Finally, consistently validate and celebrate small daily or weekly accomplishments. Recognize achievements like:
- Making progress on a project.
- Speaking up confidently in a meeting.
- Having a productive brainstorm with colleagues.
- Successfully resolving a conflict.
- Hitting a new sales milestone.
Savoring small wins fosters confidence through positive reinforcement of your capabilities.
Putting It All Together
Building unshakable confidence requires patience with yourself as you undo old patterns and ingrain new empowering habits. But the effort is well worth it.
By combining self-awareness, body language, thought patterns, resilience and celebrating small achievements, you can steadily boost authentic confidence across all facets of your work. The result will not only be increased career success, but also greater fulfillment, security, and ability to show up as your best self.
You have the potential within you right now. Have confidence in yourself, take it one day at a time, and enjoy the journey of growth.
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How to build confidence at work (what to do when you feel dumb or stupid at work)
How can I boost my confidence at work?
Here are some ways to boost your confidence at work: 1. Recognise imposter syndrome and counter it. Imposter syndrome is surprisingly common. If there’s a little voice in your head telling you your rubbish at your job and you don’t deserve it, you probably have imposter syndrome.
How can I become more confident?
To become more confident, achieve goals. Try new things. Set reasonable goals and divide them up into steps, then work on them one at a time. Therefore, we can celebrate small accomplishments, which causes us to see how our goals become more achievable.
Do you know how to be confident at work?
Those who want to contribute more to their teams and who wish to improve their reliability may prefer to know how to be confident at work. This self-confidence typically requires reflection on your needs and goals. By knowing how to improve your confidence, you can also improve your well-being and perform more effectively.
What should I do if I’m not confident at work?
If you are not confident or are losing confidence in your ability at work, ask people you respect to be your mentor. Share with them what you’re doing and be vulnerable about your feelings. Good mentors who are close to your work will often see the good things you’re doing that you miss. Take their advice and follow up on the effect it has.
