When was the last time you said “I’m confident enough. That’s it, I’m done. No more confidence for me, thank you very much.” Right, Never. Every woman in business wants to be more business confident, no matter if their business is 6 weeks or 6 years old.
The Confident Mother is all about celebrating and loving life as a woman and as a mother. I help women get clear on what they really want and then find the confidence to go and do it. I do this by exploring five key elements, one of which is work i.e. being valued for the work you do. (The other four are Contribution, Wellness, Family and The Feminine).
Most women come to me because they want to boost their work confidence, whether work means career or business. Here are my five powerful ways to be more business confident, NO MATTER what stage of business you are at. But actually these tips can be adapted to your career confidence too.
5 powerful ways to be more business confident
1 – Keep learning
Learning gives you confidence. One of my strengths is my love for learning. When I worked on whole brain goal mapping with my coach, one of my subgoals is “My learning has a purpose”. I believe that all business owners need to keep learning.
However it’s not about learning for learning’s sake – it’s about improvement and self-development. What learning do you need to improve your business? Secondly it’s important that you DO something with the learning. Don’t just collect certificates and courses. Take action. Implement.
Accept that you don’t need to learn everything … you don’t need to be an expert website developer AND a brilliant copywriter AND an eagle-eyed accountant AND an organised administrator. Don’t learn to do everything and then not outsource where appropriate. It’s one thing understand the different activities that make for a confident business, however you don’t need to do everything yourself.
Know your own strengths and keep improving. However if it’s your business, remember that YOUR time is valuable. Don’t waste it doing stuff that you can pay somebody else to do if it takes you away from the core business activities that only you can do.
2 – Be positive
Being positive is about the language you use, the thoughts in your head, and the way you carry yourself – in other words, your body language.
Positive self-talk – Most of us have moments when we think negative thoughts about our ability to do something. What’s tough is if you allow those negative thoughts to become a habit because it can affect your overall mindset. The more you think negative thoughts, the more your brain believes those thoughts represent the truth. Which in turn affects your confidence and your ability; which then reinforces those negative thoughts!
However think positive thoughts on a regular basis – tell yourself what you CAN do, what experience you DO have, your brain accepts these thoughts as the truth, thus having a positive affect on your confidence (and ability). Listen out for negative thoughts – notice what you think and find a way to reframe it in a positive way. More here.
Body language – When somebody walks into the room, do you make a snap judgement based on the way the person presents herself? Most of us do. First impressions really do count. If you want to present yourself as business confident, stand tall. Think about your body language at meetings with clients or suppliers – do you wrap yourself up to make yourself small? This might be subconscious. When you go to meetings (networking or with clients), notice how you sit; how you walk into the room; how you walk.
Sometimes this ‘confidence’ doesn’t feel natural. It’s ok to ‘fake it until you make it’. Try it out next time you meet somebody for the first time and see how it affects their perception of you.
For more tips on how to talk with confidence, check out my interview with Susan Heaton Wright of Executive Voice.
3 – Get connected
When you run your own business, certainly when you start out, you are often working on your own. As human beings, we need human connection for optimal brain health. In other words, you need to connect with other people – and not just your clients. There are lots of ways to do this and I suggest you choose a variety of online and offline e.g. go to networking groups, attend events, join a mastermind, find relevant Facebook or LinkedIn groups, develop connections on Twitter or Pinterest.
You might be working ‘on your own’ but you don’t have to be alone. Get connected to develop your confidence in you and your business.
4 – Be clear on your values
Be really clear on what’s most important to you and your business. I have written in more detail about your values in the past.
Understanding your values is about understanding why you do what you do. It’s about identifying what you feel most strongly about. A value is an intangible such as freedom, creativity, integrity, stability or independence.
We all have an internal value system. Your values are your unspoken rules – your terms and conditions by which you life your life. Your values will affect the way you run your business – in a positive way. My core values (the most important ones) are excellence, integrity and independence. If what you do or how you do it is in conflict with your values, you will feel unease, resentment or even anger.
When you understand your values, you have a stronger foundation from which to make business decisions, and thus you will feel more confident about those decisions.
5 – Have a plan
In order to run a confident business, you need to a plan. It doesn’t need to be a detailed plan. But if you don’t have a plan, if you don’t have a goal or a vision, you won’t know how to make it happen? You need a plan so that you have something to aim towards. I’m not saying you need to know every step of how you are going to achieve your bigger goal or vision – my own business has evolved over time however you need some sort of plan to get business confident. When you have a plan, you can then make decisions with confidence knowing whether the actions will take you closer to your goal.
Getting more business confident doesn’t need to be complicated. Your confidence will grow when you keep learning, stay positive, get connected with others, understand your values and finally you need to have a plan.
Leave a comment below and let me know what other ways you would suggest to get more business confident.
Great article! Concise and insightful. I think the thing I’ve most enjoyed about starting my own business is the constant learning and self – development. When you work for someone else you just do whatever the job requires, but being your own boss allows you to explore what you value and what you want from life and drive your business in that direction.
And networking really does build confidence – I’ve so appreciated the support and encouragement I’ve found being part of your Facebook groups this last year, plus you’ve introduced us to a huge network of other successful and inspiring women which I’ve leveraged too! Thank you! 🙂
That’s fantastic. I love it when women get what they really want from life. Glad you’ve enjoyed being part of my Facebook groups.