Five Tips For Building Self Confidence At Work

Confidence is often viewed as an admirable quality especially in the workplace. We tend to look up to and place our trust in someone who exudes self assurance. After all, if they trust themselves and their own decision making and  judgements then it gives us the reassurance that we are indeed in safe hands and we will respect that person all the more.

Statistics show that many people do not feel very confident within the workplace yet if we feel confident at work we are ultimately happier so surely this will reflect upon the quality of our work.

So, how can we be more confident at work?

Here are five tips that will prove invaluable to bringing out the best in you. Of course, some people are naturally confident but most do have insecurities so just because someone acts confident, it certainly doesn't mean they are. However, it does mean that they have mastered the art of telling themselves that they are capable and worthy of doing a good job.

Eradicate negative self criticism. Your minds often tell you the worst case scenarios and can eat away at your self esteem by relentless comments which arise from your own subconscious. Therefore it is important to replace negative with positive each time a challenging situation occurs. For example, instead of telling yourself that you have just totally messed up an important email up and no one will understand it, let's change the thought pattern to ‘that was a really difficult email to write but I did my best, checked it over and I am happy to explain in further detail if needed’.

Something that is proven to help time and time again is repeating positive words or ‘affirmations’ to ourselves such as ‘I am confident’ and ‘ I am capable of doing a good job’. The mind believes what it is repeatedly told. Sometimes writing affirmations down so they are visible at your workplace can be really helpful as they act as not only a distraction but also a powerful reminder.

Dressing the part plays an important factor in how you feel at work. If you are dressed professionally, you are clean, well groomed and smart then you will certainly be more likely to give off signals of competence and efficiency than if no effort at all was made.

Training and courses are often available both from your place of work, regular team building exercises or the internet and you can learn some great techniques which once incorporated within your working life, can transform your confidence - these can invariably work on identifying any deficiencies and weaknesses.

Something that is often overlooked in raising confidence is the way that colleagues support each other. The importance of feeling accepted, valued, respected and genuinely ‘one of the team’, where you are happy to give and receive not only praise but constructive criticism often has the power to increase confidence in untold amounts.