Building Confidence

I delivered a seminar yesterday to a wonderful group of women on the topic of Building Confidence.  Here are some questions I asked the group – and their responses….

Where does confidence come from?

Faith, experience, values, beliefs, morals and your support system

What does confidence look, sound and feel like?

A presence, a strong open posture, an energetic enthusiastic tone of voice, positive words, relaxed, calm

We also talked about several ways to build confidence, these included:

  • Stretching out of your comfort zone often – in small steps
  • Trusting yourself to make choices and decisions, then accepting them
  • Celebrating your achievements, recognize what you have done (not just what’s left to do)
  • Act “as if” you already are confident – “wear” the confidence you have in some situations to the situations you need greater confidence.
  • Shift your language (and thoughts) from “I can’t” to “I CAN”!

How do you build your own confidence?

 

 

Comfort vs Possibility

My husband and I had created a very comfortable life back in New York.  We created our home to fit our needs as best it could and we both had careers we loved.  Our home and life was nice, cozy, very familiar and pretty secure.

At the same time, we felt a pull to a different lifestyle that existed somewhere other than New York where we could have greater possibly.  Thus began our journey of exploring what different places (cities and states) had to offer, which places felt like a better fit for our needs and wants.  We were both excited about this journey but also very uncomfortable with the unknown.

Would we like this new place?  Would we be able to create the careers we wanted?  The lifestyle we wanted?  We didn’t know for sure.  What we did know was that we were ready to go for it, ready to leave the comfort we created for a little while to create new comfort – that looked and felt different – somewhere else.

That readiness helped us leap out of our comfort zones and make the move to North Carolina.  Those first few months in a new place were both very exciting and very challenging.  It was exciting to explore a new city, meet new people and buy a new home.  It was challenging emotionally to feel adrift with no anchor, no connections and no sense of where anything was!

We let the excitement win and soon enough we began to find new comfort as we made friends and made a home here.

What possibilities are you ready for?

What comfort must you leave behind to reach for those possibilities?

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Recharging: Staying Focused and Energized

How often do you find yourself completed depleted and exhausted?   I will venture to guess that it’s too often.  This is especially true at this time of year as we add holiday planning and festivities into our already packed lives.

One of the most important things we can do for ourselves (our work and our families) is to stay focused and energized.  To do that you have to make “recharging” a priority in your life and create habits that support it.

How do I recharge?

In my work it includes:

  • Taking breaks throughout the day – Whether it’s just 5 minutes to walk downstairs to get a cup of tea, do a few stretches, or get the mail…  These short breaks reenergize me and allow my brain to take a breather as well.
  • Finding my best schedule – it took a while but I have found a work schedule that aligns with my energy level
  • Conversations with like minded colleagues to keep me inspired – I love sharing ideas, information and getting feedback!
  • Days at coffee shop to write – I have found that getting out of my office in stepping into a bustling coffee shop awakens my creativity and offer a better writing experience.
  • Leaving enough time in my schedule to breathe – I am grateful that I have full control of my schedule but even then I have to stay aware of leaving room for me in the schedule.  It is too easy to become overcommitted.

In my personal life some of the ways I recharge are by:

  • Being in nature – I love being in nature whether it’s walking/running in my neighborhood or going to a park
  • Painting– allows me expression of creativity
  • Exercise – energizes my body the whole day since I do it first thing in the morning

How do you recharge?