5 Ways to be more confident..

If you have ever watched 'The Apprentice' you will see at the beginning every contestant portraying their version of what it means to be confident. Chin up and proudly self-proclaiming they are the best apprentice that has ever appeared on the show.

Unfortunately, a great many of them come off as looking like a bit of an idiot!
Confidence can seem, at times, like an elusive quality that always appears out of our reach; some people have it, some want it.

What would you do differently if you raised your confidence levels to just 5%? That's right, just 5% because that is all you are required to do at first to be more confident.

What would you do more of in your business if you were to kick the confidence scale up a notch? If that moment of hesitation which instigated that inner talk wasn't activated, what would that allow you to do?
The advantage of confidence is that confidence is not a genetic, engrained component. That means that by spending time enhancing the components involved in confidence you can notice changes in both yourself and your business
Here are 5 ways you can do that;

1. Segment - Too often people label themselves as lacking in confidence, but don't segment out where they are lacking in confidence. Is it doing presentations? Is it talking to strangers at networking events? It is very rare someone lacks confidence in every area of their life. Become clear on what you would like more confidence in. One of the problems with people that lack confidence is that they can globalise what they lack confidence in so instead of 'I'm not confident presenting in front of my peers' (specific) it is 'I absolutely bomb at presentations' (Global)

2. Focus outwards - Typically people who lack confidence are 'in their head' too much. Internal dialogue takes over and they disconnect with the world because their inner thoughts consume their awareness. Begin to focus on what is in front of you, becoming a keen observer of what you notice. When you have this down, expand your scope of awareness so you can notice what is around you and behind you. When you focus outwardly, you are not focussed so much on your internal thoughts. This extends to when you are speaking to people as well, whether it is a customer or in a public setting. Focus on them and guiding them into a level of comfort around you that they would be willing to buy or just have an interesting conversation with you.

3. Breath comfortably - Become aware of how to breath when thinking about the situation you would like more confidence in. Breathing is affected when in an anxious state. When you learn to breathe in a more comfortable and fluid manner you will find it is harder to go into an anxious state. Start by learning to breath in for 4 seconds and then exhale for 4 seconds. This is a nice comfortable pace and that is similar to if you were just talking to a friend.

4. Stand tall - A confident posture is different to one who lacks confidence. Their posture is taller, their shoulders are back and their head is up. This goes back to an evolutionary capacity when those who were not afraid to expose their vital areas (heart, genitals, neck) were seen as warriors. Begin looking at your posture and start to adjust how you stand. If your shoulders protrude forward due to a lot of slouching, spend time to adjust that with a lot of rowing type exercises and physically stretching them back.

5. Give yourself a break - Normally the person who is bashing our confidence like a sledgehammer is ourselves. We are continually hard on ourselves to the point that we believe the bull**** we say in our head. Learn to call out your bull**** and change it to a way of speaking that is more productive. Ask yourself better questions ("Ok, how could I do that better next time") and be more specific rather than generalise ("I need more work in talking on the phone" rather than "I'm rubbish, I can't sell")

Confidence is like a formula; change what's in the formula and a new outcome emerges. By applying these 5 tips you can begin to see an increase in confidence that can only mean good things for your business and the other important areas of your life.