Develop self-confidence

- This seems so straightforward and simple, doesn't it? Be self-confident and believe in yourself. We watch seminars from outgoing and charismatic presenters telling us how to be better, we read books about how to be the person we always wanted to be, or we watch webinars or read articles about the subject too. The fact is, I think developing self-confidence is probably one of the hardest skills to learn and to maintain over a period of time. You could be the smartest person at the university or the one who barely passes; the most brilliant employee at the company or the one who barely meets minimum requirements; and you could be the life of the party or the more conservative reserved type.

I don't care if you're a CEO or a brand new entry-level salespersons, the reality is, self-confidence is a challenge for all of us at times. The difference though, is the experience some people have and knowing the techniques to overcome the lack of confidence that hits all of us from time to time. Very often you'll find that having an upbeat personality and being confident go hand in hand or feed off each other. Surrounding yourself with positive people versus negative people can often help you feel better about yourself.

The same holds true for the managers we work for and the colleagues who are our peers. Those who are supportive, give good quality feedback to you, and recognize or reward your efforts, can motivate you, and build your confidence. You can't change jobs in a flash, or the people around you. But be very wary of the impact of a poor leader and negative people, as they can drain your self esteem and enjoyment of your work. However developing your confidence is more than just improving your surroundings.

It's how you assess yourself and how you feel deep down about your work, your personal life, and you in general. Frankly, some people just have the ability to feel good about themselves the majority of the time. In fact, we all know a few who sometimes are overboard with their confidence and actually need a lesson in how to keep their ego in check. For me, I found that every so often I try to take a step back and evaluate how I think things are progressing in my work, my career, and my personal life.

I do this in an informal way and don't try to over analyze things and I review things in small pieces. I used to be very hard on myself in the middle stages of my career, and then as I studied confidence more, I realized that okay, I'm not perfect and maybe I could have done things differently. But I'm happy and I do feel good about myself. Pick a time for yourself someday, maybe it's a quiet hour on a weekend or a peaceful walk some evening. When you do this, I guarantee you'll probably be overly critical of yourself, that's quite common.

However, I think we all should be more proud of our accomplishments, big and small. I also think if your self-esteem has been in the dumps for too long then the smart move is to seek some additional, professional guidance and there's nothing wrong with that. With a career in sales, you have to be able to accept the highs and lows of business and being self-confident is such an important skill. Buyers respond to salespeople who are upbeat, positive, and self assured. Yes, building your self-confidence is not easy to master.

But it's a critical ingredient for your business success and person growth.