Six tips for confidence and success

As life eases into a new norm, we are all beginning to think about our next steps. For some of you, this means how you continue your current work and leisure activities. For others, you are about to try something new.

Whether they arise out of necessity or choice, both options could be a chance to make dreams happen. Both are an opportunity for personal development and growth. 

But because there are still many uncertainties, you might be feeling anxious, or less confident than usual. The good news is, by choosing the way you go about things, you can determine the outcome you get. 

Taking the next steps

If you follow these simple steps, you will take control of how you move forward towards getting what you want.

1. Know what's important to you right now - this will help you make sound decisions. Which of your values is taking priority at the moment: Health? Finance? Family? Work?Opportunities and dreams...? Allowing yourself a moment to know what really matters will lead to authentic decisions you can take with confidence.
2. Remember who you are - you are still the same person that you were before Covid-19 happened. But at times like these, we tend to focus on what we can't do rather than what we can! Write down what you're good at and what you've achieved in your life and notice how good that feels. Believe in yourself, and know too that as you move forward you will surprise yourself with your resilience and strengths that you don't even know about yet - because they only reveal themselves when we are tested. 
   
   
3. Know what you need to improve on - it's OK to think about your weaknesses with the aim of improving them. What's your biggest one? What action can you take to make it a strength?
4. Know what you need to learn - if moving forward how you really want to in the new norm will require a skill you don't yet have - acquire it!! Remember, if someone else can do something, you can do it too. Once you learn it, how well you put it into practice will depend on your own hard work - and that's a choice and up to you. But the option to learn is always there.
5. Be realistic - set yourself targets that you feel comfortable you can achieve. When we try to attempt too much at once, we automatically set ourselves up to fail. This has a knock-on effect on our confidence and our self-esteem with it. In these challenging times, allow yourself to believe in yourself by setting and achieving manageable tasks - notice how good it will feel and how you will be inspired carry on!
6. Stay close to your comfort zone - these extraordinary times will require all of us to leave our comfort zone in some way - whether it be simply getting back into social life, or working and living in new ways and places. If we take too big a leap, we might end up in a panic and give up. Know where you want to go, and then edge yourself slowly outwards towards it, one step at a time. Break your goals down into safer, smaller chunks that take you where you want to be more gradually.

And finally... remember to congratulate yourself and celebrate each step that you take towards whatever "success" means to you in the new norm!  The more we focus on what's positive about ourselves, the more positivity we bring upon ourselves!

 You can do this!