“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started”.
Marcus Garvey.
The wish of every man is to succeed in whatever he or she does. Be it business or any other human endeavors. The question is: Why are some people failing and others succeeding despite having a similar goal of success? The reason for this is self confidence or lack of it.
You can succeed in almost anything you lay your hands on provided you are confident of yourself. Self confidence assures you that you are as good as others or that you’re even better than some people. It gives you the needed impetus to try your best and leave the rest. It boosts your confidence even after failing repeatedly that you have all it takes to make it in your next attempt.
Lack of self confidence is the shortest route to failure. It explains why some job applicants fail repeatedly to get hired simply because they were unnecessarily nervous during job interviews due to lack of self confidence. Lack of self confidence will force you to accept failure, even before you’re pronounced a failure. It makes you feel so little in the presence of others. It assures you never to try because failure is inevitable. It tends to discourage you from speaking up when you really need to speak out.
To succeed in life you need to believe in yourself. Self confidence is all about believing in yourself. You’re confident when you believe in your God given and inane ability. Lack of self confidence simply means you don’t believe in yourself or your inane or God given ability and talents.
Never worry, if before now, you don’t believe in yourself. There is hope for you. You can regain your confidence and be on your way to the next level. How can you achieve this? You can achieve this by following my suggested strategies listed below.
Self Confidence Building Strategies
▪ Develop and improve your skills, knowledge and attitude.
▪Continuous learning, unlearning and relearning.
▪Identify your strengths and weaknesses.
▪Prepare so well for all assignments.
▪Read motivational materials.
▪Learn to speak in public gradually.
▪Develop ‘can do’ attitude and spirit.
▪See others as human with feelings and emotion.
▪Ask questions when in doubt.
▪See yourself as success and not as failure.
▪Dress well and always look good.
▪Motivate yourself daily by saying to yourself aloud: I’m a star.
▪Seek advice and counsel from someone you trust and respect.
Please note that self confidence is different from being rude or overconfidence. It simply means having the assurance that you have all it takes to excel.
Ajiboro Deji is a chartered HR practitioner based in Lagos, Nigeria. Email: jibdej@gmail.com. Tel: 2348027807452.
