Self-confidence can be an illusive beast. I know that I have suffered from loss of self-confidence at certain times of my life. After my first child and on returning back to work, I felt a huge dip!
One of the reasons I set up Woman Ready was to help women navigate those feelings of self-doubt, that can sometimes plague us.
Over the course of this year, I’ve had the pleasure in interviewing some amazing women. And one of my favourite questions to always ask is, ‘what are your tips for building your self-confidence?’
Here’s what 10 female entrepreneurs had to say!
Esther Stanhope, The Impact Guru
Be myself – warts and all. Accept that I am quirky, a bit different, a bit loopy at times but brilliant at helping people to be confident!
Accept the bad bits too; lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, fear of failure and then I stop beating myself up and say to myself “Don’t be perfect”.
Claudia Marcela Guevara Gonzalez, Founder And CEO of Cheerful Buddha
I strongly believe research and reading around topics that interest you broaden your awareness and empowers women to feel more confident in life and their careers.
In business, you need to have instincts as well as knowledge to succeed but the reading I have done in my later years is what got me into this position.
It is equally important to surround yourself with good, genuine and positive people. You feed off their optimism and love – that builds self-confidence in ourselves.
Susannah Davda, Director of The Shoe Consultant
The more I do something I lack self-confidence in, the more comfortable I am to do it again.
I tend to book or plan things I’m nervous about, and deal with my anxiety about them later. I don’t think I’ve ever said no to an opportunity I wanted to take up out of fear. That does mean I spend a fair bit of time in the terrified zone, but it also means I develop and grow as a person and business owner.
My other tip for building your self-confidence is to ask for feedback from people you’ve enjoyed working with. There’s nothing like a glowing testimonial to help you believe in your own capabilities.
Alice Olins, Founder, Step Up Club
Here are some of Alice’s tips on building your self-confidence:
Keep a Positive Belief Record; so much of our low confidence is wrapped up in our tendency to focus on the negatives in our life. To counter this, we encourage women to keep a note of their daily positives. This can encompass work and beyond, so compliments people pay you, new work opportunities, sporting achievements, really anything that goes well in life.
The key is to re-read your journal at least once a week. By taking time to engage in what’s going well in your life – your achievements – research tells us that it keeps the negativity at bay. And when we contain our negative beliefs, the upshot is that it inevitably drives our self-belief, our confidence.
Caroline Spence, Film Producer And Screenwriter
I’ve never been what I would call super confident, however, as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to combat any feelings of shyness or self-doubt. It’s mainly in the mind – you must believe in yourself and acknowledge your capabilities and talents.
I’ve worked in many different industries, have a rich background in sports and outdoor pursuits, and have always endeavoured to be the best I can be in these disciplines. This has helped me to build confidence in my own abilities and enabled me to tackle problems head on.
Natasha Pilbrow, COO & Co-Founder of LeSalon
First of all I’ll get a manicure. I generally go for a nude colour polish but if I need that extra confidence boost I’ll go for a strong red. Having clean and polished nails always makes me feel tidy, organised and capable of achieving anything!
Exercise is a big part of my life because it makes such a dramatic difference to how I feel and how I cope with stress. If I am feeling overwhelmed or tired I know that a high intensity cardio session will give me energy and totally change my outlook. I literally come out flying!
Lisa Johnson, Multi 6-Figure Business Coach
I keep a thank you board with all of the letters from clients who send me thank you notes when they have big wins.
When I get any kind of imposter syndrome, I spend 5 minutes reading these and know I’m doing what I should do. I’m also a big believer in getting out of my comfort zone. It used to be scary to do certain things like speaking on stages. I didn’t have the confidence to do it but then I realised I wasn’t growing if I felt comfortable all the time so now I push myself!
Michelle Vickers, CEO of The Head And Neck Cancer Foundation
Spend time with my magnificent and beautiful friends. I only developed strong female friendships later in life and these friendships both inspire me and lift me up. I also take the time to reflect on my successes and achievements and give myself credit for them. It has taken me a while to realise that they are my achievements.
Sonia Pash, Co-Founder Of Temza
First of all, I constantly study and research. By this I mean all sorts of self-studying methods you can imagine: reading, online browsing, online courses, watching YouTube videos, going for specialist events to listen to industry experts.
Secondly, I talk to people, I listen, I ask questions and I learn from everyone. If there is a meeting with a consultant, I go in depth of the topic and ask questions until I understand what it’s all about. If I am at networking event and I chat with someone, I listen to people’s experiences and I always learn something new.
I believe knowledge and expertise are what gives confidence.
Lisa Reddings, Designer and Owner of Indigowares
I think I have learnt a lot about self-confidence and self-belief along the way. I think it is true that confidence does come with age. A big part of my confidence comes from positive self-talk from within. If you are true to who you are and what makes you happy then this will be a major core to confidence building.
The next thing that helps me with my confidence is exercise. Exercise releases great happy endorphins that feed our well-being. And it also gives you important body confidence. When you know you’ve done your exercise it gives you a pride of self and a glow like non other. And with age comes knowing your own style. Once you figure that out your confidence will blossom.
Great article! Learned a lot from some amazing women 🙂