Confidence and Courage
Confidence is a topic that comes up a lot with my clients; research shows that women especially struggle with this. In fact, in the workplace, often it’s not the men holding the women back – it’s the women themselves. While women are busy behaving and trying to get everything perfectly right, men pass them by. (For example, men will apply for a job if they feel they meet 60% of the job requirements; women prefer to meet all the requirements.)
One of the many reasons I love coaching is that it builds my clients’ confidence. As the client explores their values and strengths, challenges old beliefs, and embraces their perfect imperfection, they begin to own who they are. They also build awareness that guides their decisions and choices – and fuels the actions that move them toward their goals.
Need a shot of confidence right now? Then make sure you watch Amy Cuddy so you know how to do the Wonder Woman pose before that next interview or critical meeting.
Confidence is important, it’s true, but sometimes we’re better off having a little courage instead. You can’t always wait until you feel confident (that may never happen!) to make an important move. You’ll never be perfectly prepared. Identify when you are ready “enough” and go for it. Even if things don’t go quite how you wanted them to, you’ll still gain confidence because you’ll have learned how to take a risk and how to handle a less-than-perfect result.
So if someone asked you today “who are you?,” could you easily answer? Are you holding yourself back, waiting until you are perfectly ready or confident? If you exercised some courage, what risk could you go ahead and take now?
Wishing you confidence and courage!