Confidence Is Key...

Confidence is key...

This blog is a little snippet of my talk to help and show people why they should feel great about themselves and hints how to do this.

“With confidence you have won before you have started.” – Marcus Garvey

Do you ever say this to yourself?

• “I can’t.”
• “I am not good enough.”
• “That’s too hard for me.”
• Or the worst one – “I am just a _____"

Well STOP. Negative words about yourself need to stop right now.

I want you to

“Inhale Confidence – Exhale Doubt” – Adam P Maxted

So why do I feel I need to write a quick blog on confidence? Well, from my years of working, working with others, and training other members of staff, I have noticed that many people do not have as much self-confidence and self-belief as they should.

“What do you know about needing confidence?” I hear you ask…

One reason is my dyslexia. Dyslexia means I take in information and let out information differently. So throughout my school years my exam results were never great as I was unable to express myself correctly (or as expected) on paper. This is still the same today. The only difference is that I have tools to help me overcome my dyslexia today, tools that I am still learning to use to meet the challenges of dyslexia.

I needed to start believing in myself and my own knowledge and find the right tools for me to overcome this. One tool was belief and self-confidence.

I was extremely obese from my young teenage years to around my late 20s. Whilst I’m not a fit “skinny mini” now, I am a lot better. Now this brought me down, particularly as I weighed more than my age at one point. My health suffered and this then impacted my attitude. Because I was physically unable to do something, I would just say “I can’t be bothered” and then not want to do it. I got to a point where my mum said to me, “Come on, Adam—this needs changing. You WILL feel better.”

So I needed the confidence AND self-belief to get to the gym and do something about it. The more belief I had in myself, the more weight I lost and the more confident I became. Also, over the years due to these factors, I have been subject to bullying at school and even in the workplace.

Bullying is a huge subject and needs its own segment so please look at podcasts or internet articles on bullying. I found the only way to tackle this horrible act is to stand up for yourself, to build self-belief and… gain confidence.

Ok so now some words of wisdom from all motivational speakers.

“You must learn to love yourself, find your own self-worth, and believe in yourself.” If you are confident in yourself, you will come across that way and people/managers will then be confident in you.

Remember it all starts with you.

Do not shy away when you feel proud. Do not worry if you come across big headed, because—so what? You should. Be proud and tell the world your great achievements.

If you do find yourself having self-doubts and low self-esteem and no confidence, at work or at home, here are some helpful tips to make you realise how amazing you really are:

Talk to your nearest and dearest.

If you feel down or you feel overwhelmed, talk to the people who care for you the most and know you better than you know yourself. You will find how they describe you as a person is on a much higher regard than you give yourself.

Write down all your achievements.

If you feel like you are not going anywhere or you feel that you don’t bring much to the table, you are WRONG. If you write all your achievements down for work and home, you will find you bring a lot to the table and do a great job. You will see that people are impressed and very grateful for what you do.

Create a to-do list.

I have said this before on another post. These simple tools will help figure out what you want to do in the correct order with the correct amount of time. Instead of having a million jobs in your head, you will do them one by one. As you do them, do them well. You will tick the box, and every box you tick, the better you will feel, the more confident in yourself you will become.

“To write things down, is to clear your mind” Adam P Maxted

Use affirmations.

Affirmation is the action or process of affirming something to oneself.

So if you repeat to yourself every day in front of the mirror three to five times “I am a confident, professional person, the goals I want, I will achievem” your subconscious will make you and your brain believe it so. Power of mind over matter. It is a powerful and proven fact.

Progress yourself. / Educate yourself.

One of my favourite ways to feel more confident is to do some learning of my own. Take that course you have been interested in, go to that networking/training event you have seen. These will make you feel good about yourself, because you will feel self-reward and self-gain from the learning experience. Plus you will become a master in your field, which always feels good.

Now I know you will think, well… all this is easier said than done. Trust me, from my experiences it is easily done —you just have to think one time, "Hang on I am amazing and I can do this." From then on using some of the above hints, you will feel confident and confidence leads to professional and personal gain.

Do not let anyone make you believe you can’t and you won’t. You stay strong and confident and I swear you will become the top of your amazing profession or even more successful in your home life.

Confidence is key.

Say it with me. “Confidence is key.”

Thank you.