Were you born with confidence?

It’s surely something to think about, is confidence something that comes in-built and are you born with it or is it something that you work on and build as you go and grow? There are ways to work on self-confidence and build it up and work on specific areas to ensure that we do and invest enough on confidence. The impact of working on overall confidence will also impact performance at work… Confident people exude certain qualities and showcase these qualities to the external world.

It’s observed that people who have more confidence, and I can speak for myself, tend to enjoy life and what it has to offer. They can explore and are excited by opportunities and are comfortable with facing new challenges that are thrown their way. Confidence also lends a certain power to opinions and ideas and confident people can express these freely. They also tend to have a great sense of achievement and have a rationale as to how to evaluate themselves and their performance. They command respect from their peers and are at ease in social situations. They are also comfortable in their own skin and are unapologetically themselves.

They tend to know exactly what choices they want to make and what direction they want to take their lives in and take decisions accordingly. They are sure of themselves and have clarity on what they want.

How do you think confidently:

• Appreciate who you are
• Learn to manage your fears
• Stop comparing yourself to others
• Develop a positive mind-set
• Retrain and listen to your inner voice

How do you practice confidence:

• Play to your strengths
• Take compliments gracefully
• Don’t over apologise
• Do things outside your comfort zone
• Learn, don’t fear mistakes
• Stop being a perfectionist
• Be clear about what is important to you
• Seek out and place yourself amongst positive people
• Build a board of advisors
• Manage rejection

How do you appear confident?

• Speak loudly and clearly
• Stand tall with your head high
• Make eye contact and smile
• Dress right and ensure you are well groomed
• Main good posture and body language

Tips and Tricks:

• Remove fear
• Avoid self-critique
• Enable winning
• Help someone
• Love and care for self
• Build personal boundaries
• Nurture and practice equality mentality

Here’s a poem on confidence that I had penned sometime back and sharing it here as it seemed relevant…

What you wear is only the layers,
The ones that cover you up,
They are just the pomp and show,
What lies beneath those layers,
That’s the real you,
The one that is made of grit and gumption,
The one that has empathy and compassion,
The one that is strong yet vulnerable,
That you is the true showcase,
Your personality is your armour,
Your character your power,
Your persona your charm,
The only attire that really matters,
Is your confidence.

Shreya Krishnan

Vice President - Marketing and Communications at Aon India Insurance Brokers

Shreya is a CSR Specialist and Corporate Grooming Consultant. Her interests lie in Activism, Dance, Theatre, Poetry, Blogging, Modelling, Acting. She considers herself an Earth Warrior and is an Event Anchor and Trainer. She is a Pageant Winner and public speaker.