Can you name the three most confident people in your workplace? Their names probably come to mind immediately. They seem to flow into a room, commanding complete attention. There’s no topic that they can’t discuss with direct eye contact and a smile.
You may look at those outgoing colleagues and wonder where they get their confidence. Why do they stick their necks out to take on big challenges with seemingly no fear of failure? What makes them so sure that they will succeed even as others fail?
Here’s the good news: They’re not just born with it! You can develop incredible workplace confidence as well. The following six tips will help you do it.
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1. Make reading part of your daily routine.
The more you read up on developing trends in your industry, the more confidence you’ll have in joining conversations at work. Subscribe to industry journals. Find blogs that report the latest news. You’ll benefit from lower stress levels and enhanced cognitive skills as well.
The more you read, the more creative ideas you will come up with as well. Offering those fresh insights will impress your colleagues while boosting your confidence.
2. Look for feedback rather than running from it.
Confidence issues often come from negative feedback, which is why so many people run from it. When you start to look at that feedback as a roadmap to improvement and success, you’ll start to seek it out. Instead of allowing it to defeat your confidence, use it to improve your weaknesses so that your confidence soars.
3. Have a serious talk with your dentist.
Improving your dental health can have a positive impact on your confidence level at work. Instead of hiding crooked, stained, or missing teeth, you will find yourself smiling at everyone who passes. Even if you don’t have any obvious dental problems that require corrective procedures, you may benefit from teeth whitening or other cosmetic procedures.
4. Look for opportunities to strengthen your strengths.
What are you good at? Find ways to do more of those things more often rather than throwing yourself in the deep end with projects that highlight your weaknesses. The best way to boost your confidence is to succeed repeatedly.
5. Team up with positive-minded colleagues.
There will always be negative, overly critical colleagues who make you feel small. Thankfully, you can often minimize the time you spend interacting with those people. Seek out the positive-minded colleagues and spend more time with them to benefit from their sunny outlook and receive advice that you know isn’t designed to make you fail.
6. Know the difference between genuine confidence and bravado faked out of insecurity.
Take some of those cocky, overly critical colleagues down a notch in your head by realizing that many aren’t nearly as confident as they want you to believe. True confidence will build others up because they feel no threat. Fake confidence will tear others down to create the illusion of their own greatness. Seeing through it can increase your own confidence in the presence of fake confidence.
Go back to the three most confident people in your workplace. Start visualizing yourself as one of them. Instead of envying their confidence, start boosting your own and using them as examples of what is possible. Your perspective matters, so put yourself at the top of your mind. That mindset will lead you to greater confidence and more success.