I recently read some advice for self-confidence from a teenage girl’s website, and I think it can actually be really helpful to you and your career. Try thinking about these scenarios in a different way to help yourself.
Sometimes when we use our same introduction or phrasing over and over again, we can get a little bit stale. In turn, I think we can also lose a little bit of self-confidence.
I came across this recent bit of advice from a teen girl’s website, actually. It’s something you can share with anyone to help with the idea of self-confidence: “What can I say to myself?”
Instead of “I’m not good at this,” try thinking “what am I missing?” Instead of “I’m awesome at this!” try thinking “I’m on the right track.” Instead of “I give up,” try thinking “I’ll use some of the strategies we’ve learned.”
Instead of thinking “This is too hard,” think, “This might take some time and effort.” Instead of, “I can’t make this better,” think, “I can always improve, so I’ll keep trying.” I think this is something I struggle with in my own office. Likewise, another one that was kind of personal and funny to me was, “I just can’t do math.” I never said I couldn’t do math, but I was never fond of algebra.
Instead of “I made a mistake,” think “Mistakes help me learn better.” Instead of “She’s so smart, I’ll never be that smart,” think “I’m going to figure out how she does it so I can try it (or so I can kick her ass!)”
Another one I really like is instead of thinking, “It’s good enough,” think “Is it really my best work?” I’ve had this situation transpire with me several times over the last year with people I’ve met through networking groups that I hired. I was disappointed in their work knowing that they didn’t do their best, and this is something that I started asking them. I’d say “I’m going to pay you for this, but is this really your best work?”
Finally, the last item was, “Plan A didn’t work,” when you should be thinking, “Good thing the alphabet has 25 more letters.”
Hopefully, this helps you in your networking and your education. If you have any questions for me or there’s anything I can do to help you in your career, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help you out!
