What would More Personal Confidence do for You?

Personal confidence is vital to business success. It generates the will, the means and the opportunity to build a thriving business. Personal confidence is the driving force behind success. When people are feeling confident they unlock their positivity, creativity and determination - the most powerful triad in business. Personal confidence comes from a belief in ourselves and what we think is possible. Therefore we have control over it and can change it to suit our needs.

So how can business owners increase their personal confidence? We put this question to a team of corporate psychologists led by Katina Cremona. 4 levers for increasing personal confidence have been identified.

The 4 Levers for Increasing Personal Confidence
It is likely everyone has experienced highs and lows in personal confidence. It ebbs and flows. This is particularly the case for business owners since we are constantly challenged to put ourselves in new situations and to get out of our comfort zone.

The 4 levers presented below are designed to provide useful strategies for when our confidence needs a boost. The content is not new but the way we have brought it together in a simple, comprehensive model is. We have built the 4 levers into an easy to remember acronym, B.E.S.T. Are you at your B.E.S.T?

B - Beneficial Beliefs
Beliefs are the filters we put on the world to help us make sense of it and take action. We need to be careful about which filters we choose to use. We need to make sure they're useful to us and not hooks holding us back. Some beliefs are challenging to change and other can change very quickly. The first step is to become aware of them. Right / wrong statements, cause / effect statements, generalisations and rationalising are indicators that beliefs are at work. When you identify a belief take time to consider if it is useful in your current situation.

E - Empowering Experiences
Have you ever been able to achieve goals in other aspects of your life? Have you ever done something that you initially thought would be too difficult? These experiences provide powerful analogies that you can translate into business to help find new gumption. If you feel like you haven't achieved any goals lately, set yourself something small to do and go do it. You might be surprised at the impact it has on your business life.

S - Support
You need strong positive support on all levels; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. This means surrounding yourself with people who believe in your dream and constructively challenge your thinking. It also means providing self-support, that is, looking after you! Fit, healthy, well-balanced people look on top of things, usually because they are.

T - Thinking Through
When you think through how you are going to achieve a goal it becomes much more achievable. Instead of seeing it as a big mountain to climb it becomes small achievable steps. This is why research and planning are so important in small business. It's not the report at the end that is important but rather the profound impact the thinking process has your courage, confidence and persistence. It makes the elusive, tangible. It makes a clear pathway appear where before there was thin air.

Are you at your B.E.S.T?
Take a quick look at these descriptions, where are your strengths and weaknesses? All 4 levers are equally important so target any gaps to maximise your personal confidence. You might be pleasantly surprised at the impact it has on you and your business.

Republished with permission
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