Five ways to build confidence at work

What is it about work that brings out our inner insecurities and doubts about ourselves?

Work can feel like a pressure cooker, trying to prove you are capable, while at the same time feeling inside like you aren’t good enough and panicking that at any moment you will be found out and rejected by work colleagues. Our minds can create fear-based stories that hold us in this no-confidence place.

There are many ways our confidence can take a hit. It could be a boss who is just a bit too interested in what you are doing, feeling like your job isn’t playing to your strengths, feeling that you just aren’t good enough, getting negative feedback on work you’ve created, or perhaps dealing with the new starter who is ultra keen and ultra capable.

These can all fuel feelings of not being good enough and make us feel unconfident in our own ability.

This can show up as anxiety about certain work tasks, or not wanting to put ourselves forward for projects when we know that we should be able to do them. Something holds us back. Something that makes us feel incapable, unsure of ourselves and anxious.

This can get us into a downward spiral. The more we do to cover up the fact that we are feeling unconfident, the more we feel it deep inside, and the more we feel like a fraud.

But what can be done when we are in this confidence conundrum?

Lots.

Five ways to build confidence at work

1. Reflect

Start by reflecting on what specific situations make you feel unconfident. Is it in meetings, when you need to speak up? Is it over certain tasks at work? Or perhaps it’s around certain people?

The starting point is to become aware of what is stimulating the feeling, so that you can pinpoint it and work with it. Often, we know we feel unconfident, but we want to turn our back on it and ignore that it is happening. This can make the fear grow even more.

2. Turn the spotlight internally

What is going on inside? What thoughts come up? What beliefs are you buying into about your ability and who you are?

Often, when we become consciously aware of the beliefs we are buying into, we can start challenging them and asking ourselves whether the thoughts are true. Often they aren’t, or there is only a very small element of truth in them.

3. Use your breath

When you find yourself in challenging work situations, practise breathing out for a longer time. This can help calm the body and, like an anchor, connect us to our bodies and into the moment, so we can choose how we react.

4. Focus on your strengths

Often, we get consumed with what we need to improve in ourselves. But by refocusing on what you are good at- your strengths- it helps build you up.

There are some fantastic online tools for finding out your strengths. This gives you information on what you excel at, not only what you need to improve.

Ask yourself, “How can I use these strengths in the area I feel unconfident in?” Write down any ideas you have.

5. Set a daily challenge

Set yourself the challenge of doing something small every day to push through your fears and increase your confidence. By pushing our comfort zones out gradually, we can become more capable of growing into who we are meant to be.

Confidence is something we can change and grow. By being aware of what is going on internally, challenging the beliefs and stories holding us back, and using our bodies as a tool to help us, we can slowly but surely change how we feel and how we project ourselves at work.