One of the most common hesitations I see in the brilliant business owners that I work with is an initial lack of confidence.
It is rooted in the Four Fears®, this wobble around not being ready, not being good enough (etc) to do the thing they need to do in order to move forward. And I have lived this too. We skirt around the edges of an opportunity, pretending to take action, when we're in fact filling our time with busy-ness to avoid the necessary plunge that follows the deep breath.
Confidence = Bravery + Experience
There is a reasonable argument that confidence and bravery are the same sides of the coin. I would challenge that slightly, in that the difference between the two comes from experience - the story you have already lived - the journey you have already enjoyed / endured.
Your confidence grows when you reach back into the tool kit that your life story has given you, to remind yourself "I did it once (or I did something similar), so I can do it again."
When did you last look back at those moments when you 'did it once'?
There was a first time... the first time you put your hand up in class, the first time you went for a job interview, and so on... Each of these 'first times' demonstrate the bravery that you are capable of: the results from that initial bravery become the learnings that grow into experience.
If confidence = bravery + experience, and you already have examples of bravery combined with the experience those 'plunges' have given you... you have proven, beyond reasonable doubt, how capable you can be. This is a starting point to embracing that initial wobble. It will feel smaller and less daunting once you reconnect to the magic you have shown that you are capable of
Thus, logically, confidence will follow. And as time passes, and your experience grows, simple rules of maths dictate that confidence should grow also.
And ultimately, the 'constant' of bravery will be nudged forwards and upwards.
Writing in the abstract
This all sounds good in principle, but it won't stick until you apply it to a genuine example. If I may, I'll point you back to my first blog (warning there is a horrible picture of my right foot in this article) which demonstrates how, if you have evidence to prove that you CAN do something... you can talk yourself up into doing it well, again, even when your confidence feels like it is slipping.
Leaning into that experience gives you the bravery to keep going. The results dial up your confidence and success starts to 'self-fulfil'.
Over to you
What is the wobble in confidence you are butting up against right now? What do you have in your experience tool kit to dig into, so as to remind yourself how ready/good enough you have been in the past? If you need some help looking back (it is always easier for someone outside of your own head to pick up on those wins), who can you turn to*? You've got this. Let me know how you get on when to turn into the wind and embrace that hesitation. Good luck! (*PS I'm also here to help ;-)
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