Pull on your #bosspants and start owning your workday. A simple shift in your mindset can boost your confidence in the workplace, and even help you score that promotion. Make the most of your natural charisma and be a positive force in your office every day with our list of 10 confidence boosting hacks:
Practice Positivity
Start your week with a positive frame of mind to achieve your goals and earn a few brownie points from your boss along the way. Give meditation or one of our suggested alternatives a go before you walk into the office post-weekend. Try complimenting an unlikely colleague or shouting your boss a coffee, you’ll be surprised at how your confidence will improve from random acts of kindness.
Challenge Yourself
Sticking to the status quo may be the easiest way to go about your work day, but it’s certainly not the most rewarding or even confidence boosting. Set yourself a weekly challenge, i.e. to speak to a new colleague, to suggest a new process to your boss, to invite a client to see your offices. Do something you wouldn’t normally do this week. A challenge could be just what you need for a better, healthier day ahead.
Be Self-Aware
Self-awareness is key to living a confident life – especially in the workplace. Instead of constantly multitasking and simply ‘forgetting’ the way you’re perceived to others, take a step back and notice the way your actions impact others, whether positively or negatively. Here’s a few tips on how you can live in the moment and boost your productivity in the process.
Cut the Politics
When the office gossip is floating around the kitchen or break room, focus on you. Take time out when the environment feels more high-pressure than usual. Go for a walk, sit in the sunshine, read a book or meditate under a tree.
Don’t Underestimate Your Abilities
Ever heard of ‘The Confidence Gap’? This applies (mostly) to women and the low standards they place on themselves to achieve at work. In a 2003 study, both men and women were asked how they would rank their scientific abilities on a scale of 1-10. Women answered with an average of 6.5 and men at 7.6. The lesson here is to trust in your abilities, no matter what field you’re in or what gender you identify as.
Learn New Skills
Skill up. Not only will you make yourself desirable to future employers, a new skill or two now will allow you to be more confident when contributing to your team. Try Lynda.com or ask your boss if you can enrol in a short course on the company – win for you, win for them.
Assert Your Expertise
You already know your stuff or you wouldn’t have landed the gig in the first place. Remind yourself with daily affirmations that ‘yes, I am worthy’ and ‘yes, I can complete X task to the best of my ability’. Make it known around the office that you’re good at X through lunch learning sessions or by raising your ideas with your boss.
Ask Questions
Never be afraid to ask. In fact, showing an interest in the work that you and your colleagues do has a positive impact on your work day. You’ll feel accomplished and your team will feel appreciated for the work they do. Remember, contributing builds a stronger workplace – so just give it a go next time you’re one-on-one with someone on the job.
Make Meaningful Connections
This could be the most life-changing confidence boost on the list. Instead of viewing your colleagues as just that, start to see the value you can bring to their day-to-day. Improving someone else’s situation will help you reap all the good rewards of karma.
Take Praise and Criticism on Board
This is a tough one, because no matter which way the feedback pendulum swings, we also seem to have a hard time crunching the words into positivity. Use it constructively, particularly when receiving negative feedback, to improve the way you function in your work life. When your boss or a colleague praises your work, try not to put the perceived effort on to someone else - soak it in, bask in the glory and then move on, as it doesn’t always come around often.
How will you move about your next day at work to be (or rather, appear) more confident? Leave a comment below on your best strategies to having a better day in (or out) of the office.
