As defined by the Cambridge dictionary confidence is a ‘feeling of having little doubt about yourself and your abilities, or a feeling of trust in someone or something.’
You know what you want. You know where you are going. You believe in yourself enough to take action. In my years of working with 1000’s of people to find their voice confidence and with life coaching clients (www.coachclodagh.ie), I have noticed how that confidence is primarily an actionable development. What do I mean by that? Confidence comes with the action we take. Confidence is partly about how we think but a lot about what we do. It is like developing a muscle and the more we build it, the stronger it gets.
Confidence building is not comfortable
There is a reason that many of us can at times or a lot of the time lack authentic confidence is because we don’t want to be uncomfortable. The human brain is wired to seek comfort and avoid stressful, intimidating, and disagreeable situations. Our brains release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to encourage us to flee from anxiety-arousing circumstances. Why would anyone want to be uncomfortable? These days, however, the brain’s desire to avoid discomfort is exactly the thing that prevents us from living and essentially building our confidence.
In individual or group sessions, a client would come in uncomfortable. I have seen all levels of vulnerability in front of me. When we get into the work and clients are required to do something that makes them essentially very uncomfortable ( sing solo, speak publicly or change a long-term life habit) and they do this several times- the turnaround in the person is always astounding. People look different, their spirit changes, their eyes brighten, they move differently and most importantly they suddenly have real confidence. This confidence tends to be lasting the more the client continues to face the thing that made them uncomfortable in the first place.
Confidence also means acceptance
Acceptance is one of the hardest things to gain as a natural instinct in our life. We generally tend to want to fight or avoid. But if we can accept the part of our life that is very uncomfortable while doing something about it to change it for the better- this is where real progress happens. This is when we gain real confidence in that part of our life. We took action. We accepted the discomfort and we land in genuine self-confidence.
Confidence & Focus
Confidence and focus is a magic formula, I will take more about this in my next blog next week.
Confidence Practice
What area in your life are you lacking confidence with or feeling very uncomfortable facing? As you read this, what first step could you take starting tomorrow to action this area of your life that you are feeling uncomfortable about?
Feel feel to reach out if you have any questions about improving your life or voice confidence, emailing hello@simplysing.ie
Or if you would like to take it one step further, please check out the upcoming Life Confidence Coaching Course ‘ Make a Life Breakthrough’ Confidence Course starting on the 11th August 2021. This course is run by Life Confidence Coach Clodagh Swords (www.coachclodagh.ie) ‘Founder’ of Simply Sing. Click here for more information.
