“A person’s belief in their ability to complete tasks and achieve their goals”
SELF-BELIEF
It’s a funny one isn’t it.
Looking at your lives and careers there are probably moments where you have had a strong sense of belief. Perhaps as the result of external validation such as being offered extra responsibility or getting the new job you had been interviewing for.
There are probably more common moments of a lack in self-belief. Moments where you have doubted your ability. Where you haven’t said yes to something because you worry about failing. Where you’ve made a decision that you aren’t sure is the right one, but you felt pressured by others to make.
You aren’t alone in feeling this way.
There is a gender confidence gap. A study by Cornell university (via Forbes) “found that men overestimate their abilities and their performance, while women underestimate both”.
It’s not surprising when you think about it. As we were growing up boys were praised for what they achieved and the steps they made, whereas girls were praised for how they acted and their looks. It’s no wonder there is a female confidence problem.
Closing the confidence gap is key to addressing gender inequality.
But what can you do on a personal level now?
Document examples of where you’ve done things that you didn’t think were possible or felt really hard at the time. These can be in both your personal and professional life. As you document them, really visualise where you were, how others responded, how you responded and how it made you feel. Having detailed visualisations that you can come back to when you need to are super powerful!
When making decisions - connect back to your intuition and gut instinct. Over time we’ve stopped connecting with our instinct and sense of knowing, choosing instead to garner opinions from others which can often leave us feeling more lost than we did at the start! Practice is really key here, but look out for signs in your body or feelings you have when making decisions. The more you are aware of these things, the more powerful they become
Be kind to yourself. Our internal language that we use to talk about ourselves is really powerful. We want to be expanding our energy and presence, not diminishing it. Over the next week be aware of the voice in your head and how it sounds - is it positive or negative? Are there small changes you can make to make it more positive? This will have a huge impact!
The work I do with women like you, whether through group coaching programs or 121 coaching is all about ‘reconditioning’. Whether that is from work or even society. Leading you back to yourself. Not the self that others want or need you to be.
If you’d like to explore how working together can improve your self-belief then book in a free, no-obligation discovery call
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