Thanks to Jo Painter, Confidence Coach, for guest blogging to kick off 2017 to a confident start!

Confidence Traps to Avoid as Women in Business in 2017

With the start of a new year, it’s natural to reflect on how you’re going to be happier, more effective or achieve more in the coming year.

For women in business to be successful, their confidence needs to be of equal importance to their competence.

With my clients who struggle with confidence I commonly see these 4 confidence traps that they can fall into. The result is increasing amounts of self-doubt, and missing out on valuable opportunities.

Trap 1: Fear of Failure

We would all like to succeed in our work, but is a fear of failure stopping you from taking on new projects or putting yourself out there?

It’s worth being curious about what it is you fear will actually happen if things go wrong, and what the effect would be on you.

Are you actually just scared about how bad you’ll feel? Then remember thoughts and feelings are only transitory and you will soon feel okay again.

Trap 2: Lack of fulfillment

If you feel dissatisfied at work, and that your talents and skills aren’t being used, it can lead to you disengaging from your work and lacking confidence.

If this is you, then focus on the successes you are having at work rather than the things that you find boring. Keep a record of the achievements you’ve made to maintain your positivity and engagement in your business.

If this doesn’t work, then it might be the right time to look for something new.

Trap 3: Negative, unpleasant or intimidating colleagues

I’m sure we’ve all come across some of these in our careers and they can really knock your confidence.

It’s not possible to change another person, but you can change yourself, which may alter the dynamic between you.

Take an honest look at your behaviours and assumptions when you’re around them. Is there anything you could change for the positive?

If this doesn’t help I suggest you remember that it’s about them and not you personally, and if it’s a real problem you can take action.

Trap 4: Listening to your inner critic

Women who are particularly high achievers can suffer the most with perfectionism or a loud and hurtful inner critic.

This inner voice with its disruptive comments about your abilities or what others think of you can do the greatest damage to your confidence.

Realise that this voice is just thoughts popping into your mind and that mainly they’re untrue. So, it is possible to ignore them or distract yourself.

One method is to ‘get out of your head’ and actively focus on other people. This means you’re listening to your critical voice less and are really present for others or your work.

Good luck for a confident 2017

Jo – jo@confidencecoachingforwomen.co.uk

Wendy Jennings Creative can positively increase your confidence in business by helping with copywriting for awards as well as enhancing marketing materials, social media, websites, CVs and more.

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