Every first day of work can feel like the first day of school all over again. And sometimes, a quick coffee with a friend we haven’t seen in years can feel the same. We all get nervous in life from time to time, but how do we feel more confident in business and life in general?
Based in Harley Street and High Street Kensington, Fiona Lamb specialises in helping her clients navigate anxiety, emotional eating, and addictions by using a variety of bespoke hypnotherapeutic treatments. With that in mind, today she’s bringing us five ways to look and feel more confident in business and life:
1. Fear is what holds us back the most in both spheres of life
The heftiest of our fears we all experience is feeling we’re not good enough. Once we get over that ‑ know we’re good enough ‑ means we can feel the level of comfort and safeness we need to truly thrive in business and life.
2. Affirm yourself: I am enough
While British humour is often 85% self‑deprecation, it’s no excuse to be resoundingly negative about ourselves 24/7/365. It’s ok to feel ok about yourself and to speak positively of yourself, not just of others.
3. Presume people are saying good things about you
Any idle chit‑chat within a 10‑foot radius of ourselves always feels like people are gossiping about us. Newsflash: they’re not! We can get in the mental habits of people thinking the worst but learning to assume otherwise helps in re‑shaping how we perceive our own self‑worth.
4. Let go of the need for other people’s approval
When you lean to not take what people say personally, this gives us the space we need to develop as people. As much as we should not assume people are saying the worst of us, we should also be able to, in time, not hook our self‑worth on how others perceive us.
5. Slow down your breathing, do a power pose!
When we feel nervous, our breathing becomes rapid and jittery. Check‑out of whatever situation is making you feel this way and take a breath and slow everything down. When you tap back in, walk in with a stride! Stand taller, chest puffed‑up, this tricks your mind into feeling more confident!
