You trust your ability to complete certain activities and projects in your life. Right? You trust the quality of your work and you most definitely trust your judgements? Then, why does sometimes the feeling of self-confidence in your body and soul not correlate with your mind?
This is where true self-confidence happens. In your mind. The hardest part of being self-confident is connecting the brain with the rest of your body. If you can overcome that imposter voice the rest will follow.
We all have it! That little voice that speaks to us and tells us “you aren’t good enough” or “who do you think you are?” It wreaks havoc on our self-esteem and our worth and makes us doubt things we would otherwise be more than sure about. I know because I hear it from time to time too. I have been traveling and planning travel for years. I can design the customized vacation of a lifetime for my clients but yet, I let that voice creep into my head sometimes. Especially when I have a very difficult project. I have, at times, allowed that voice to take over and make me doubt every inch of my being and what I was put on this earth to do.
I quickly realized in order to be successful in my business I had to squash that voice. There is no room for a voice that makes me question myself. There is no room for self-sabotage. We have enough critics and people trying to break us down in our daily lives. We don’t need to do that to ourselves as well. So, what did I do to overcome “the voice” and still do because it tries to creep up from time to time? I give myself love. I give myself the permission to make mistakes and, most importantly, I forgive when those mistakes happen. After all, I am human.
Are you looking for ways to kick that imposter voice to the curb? Here are some methods that have worked for me.
Start with your achievements. Think about your life so far and list the ten best things you’ve achieved. I do this with my business. When self-doubt starts to creep in, I quickly reflect on my major accomplishments. Reminding myself makes me feel like I can puff up my chest and provides the quick pick me up I need to keep moving forward.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses. And really celebrate those strengths! Looking at your achievements, reflect on your recent life and think about what your friends or family would consider to be your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you take a look at who and where you are. Just as importantly, make sure that you enjoy a few minutes to reflect on your strengths.
Set Goals. Think about what’s important to you and what you are seeking to achieve. Setting and achieving goals is a key part to real self-confidence. Set your targets and measure the success of hitting those targets. Those goals should exploit your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Once you have identified your goals list out the very first step. It can be a baby step as long as it’s moving in your desired direction.
Manage Your Mind. For me, this is one of the most important things to do. Learn to pick up and defeat the negative self-talk which can slowly destroy your self-confidence. Negative thoughts can become self-fulling prophecies. If we deliberately do the opposite and use positive thoughts the result can be just as powerful and much more helpful. The key here is not just repeating those positive statements but really believing them.
Developing your self-confidence is not something that happens overnight. It requires conscious effort and work. With mindful effort and consistency, you will start to see and feel the difference. Now, I am not going to guarantee the imposter voice won’t try to make an appearance from time to time. It will, but if you implement some of these tactics, you can quickly put it to rest and keep moving forward towards all the wonderful goals you are meant to accomplish and share with the world.
Amarilis Correa is the Founder of Ace Travels Agency, and a volunteer at the Lotus House Womens Shelter in Miami. Her program helps women recover from life’s misfortunes to go on and live a happier, healthier, purposeful life. For more information, email acorrea@acetravelsagency.com.