When I was a child, I loved pretending to drive a car. From as far back as I can remember, when in the car with my parents I would be turning the imaginary steering wheel, change gear using the clutch and I loved navigating corners and putting my foot down – from the back seat of course! Even going for country walks I could be seen pretending to drive along tracks and paths – the narrower and twistier the better!
No surprise then, I have always loved driving, I feel super confident in my ability to drive…and I’m told I’m good – even by my son! So where did this come from? Practice from an early age perhaps? Even if it was in my head, by the time it came to get in the car for the first time I was comfortable, excited and had no doubts whatsoever, it seemed totally natural.
So why is it then, nearly every woman I meet cites a lack of confidence in some form or another as the reason they are holding themselves back -at every level?
Even the most successful and seemingly confident women have doubts, lack self-confidence in certain areas that they aren’t expert or familiar with.
One such senior exec I interviewed was totally confident in her field and in her leadership style, but when it came to public speaking, the palms were sweaty, the heart raced and she often had moments of wanting to race for the door or for the ground to swallow her up, she stumbled over her words and avoided any opportunity to stand and deliver any talk or presentation.
So, here’s the thing, confidence is learned, it’s a skill and that’s the good news. The bad news? Well, when it comes to developing a new competency, skill, trying something new, facing uncertainty it can create real fear and doubts.
So when faced with these doubts and fears, the first thing you need is courage, the courage to step outside your comfort zone, as after all, ‘A comfort Zone is a beautiful place to be, but nothing grows there’ and there’s the challenge,
If like me and so many other women you too pull the handbrake on just at the moment of fear, uncertainty – and you know exactly what I mean…the procrastination, the hesitation – the impact of that can be devastating on your aspirations, the opportunities you may miss and the frustration of knowing there is so much more going for you!
Isn’t time to Be Bold, Be Brave, Be more of your Brilliant self?
Perhaps it’s time then to crack the confidence code!
Over the coming weeks I want to talk to you about how to find Real- or RAW confidence…the one thing I have lacked in nearly every part of my life – apart from driving!
I’m going to share some insightful interviews with women who in my opinion ooze and epitomize self-confidence but who let us into some secrets that give us all hope!
And before you scream, “men lack confidence as well as women!” – yes they do and they also suffer from ‘Imposter Syndrome’, but here’s the thing, they don’t let it hold them back in quite the same way women do, they see it differently too – in my experience, and we will explore this along the way too.
I know there are those women who are – or who appear to be super confident, and they stand out because they are the exceptions, although I challenge this too as some of the most successful women you would know confess their lack of self-confidence and still feel they have to prove themselves in a man’s world at the top of their field.
I’m going to explore with you, what confidence is, why some of us have it and others don’t, but more importantly, how to get it!
So whether it’s to embark on a new project, idea, raise your profile, speak up or step up into a new and exciting role, you may find these conversations useful.
Why not join me on my live-online Power of You programme.
Tamsin Napier-Munn
CEO, RAWtalks academy
Mob: +44(0)781 0202491
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