5 Small Steps to Be More Confident
by Parker · 30 things on Twos
- "Confidence: You must believe in yourself if you expect others to believe in you." - John Wooden
- Set a goal
- Set a one-month, one-year, and 5-year goal.
- Knowing where you want to be gives you confidence along the way knowing you're doing the work which will lead to your goal.
- I once set a goal to work at a startup company in San Francisco. I practiced programming every day for over a year and eventually got a job.
- "Begin with the end in mind." - Steven Covey
- Pick something you can do consistently
- Being consistent helps you practice and practicing builds confidence.
- The key is picking something so small that you can do it consistently.
- If you want to read more, read one page a day. If you want to start a side business, designate 30 minutes to it per day.
- I’ve used this tactic to meditate, read, wake up early, program and many more.
- “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
- Make a plan
- Being prepared will make you feel and perform with confidence.
- Plan your day the night before. Plan your week on Sunday. Knowing what you need to do will give you more confidence.
- This also applies to conversations, meetings, and speeches. Plan out what you're going to say or do before it happens.
- Planning out my days gives me confidence that I’m moving toward my goals.
- “Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” – Thomas Edison
- Take on challenges
- The more you embrace fear and do things that challenge you, the quicker you'll learn and build confidence.
- You'll also learn that things are often harder in your head. Once you try, it's rarely as challenging as you thought.
- You'll quickly improve and become more confident in your abilities.
- For me, programming used to be a challenge. I spent days, weeks, and years embracing the challenge so I could take on harder and harder problems.
- “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
- Stick to your word
- Nothing drains your confidence faster than lying to yourself.
- If you say you’re going to do something, start small, but follow through
- Sticking to your word builds trust in yourself and makes you feel more confident
- Nobody is perfect. I make mistakes all the time, but following through on what I say I'm going to do always makes me feel better and believe in myself.
- “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” — Jerry Rice