The secret to growing your confidence.

(Short read: 2 minutes)

I present – me, one month ago, in London:

LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT: "Would you like to be interviewed alongside Good Morning Britain’s Ben Shephard, on the power of personal branding?"

ME: "Yes please, sounds great"

ME: 2 seconds later - “Oh sh!t…”

I had accepted this offer and now I was going to have to do it.

At this point my inner critic, who I affectionately call The Director of Doom (D.o.D), piped up...

That’s the frustrating thing; the part of me that said yes was excited! She could see that it was a great opportunity. It was the part that knows I have a story to tell, and it's valid (even if I’m not a rather charming TV anchor).

When D.o.D. kicked-in, she brought fear and self-doubt. She killed the excitement and left me feeling stressed and anxious instead.

Does this resonate? Do you often find yourself drawn to ideas and opportunities only to talk yourself out of them?

>> If you answered yes then don’t worry, you can learn to tune out your inner critic and grow your confidence. I share how I do it below.

How to grow your confidence

I use a 3 step process that covers these areas: information, preparation, and courage. This is how I prepared for my interview:

Information:
I got clear on the brief, I listened, I asked questions. I understood the agenda and what they needed from me.
Preparation:
I wrote my key points and reviewed my personal brand key (more on this below). I asked a friend to run through practice questions with me, so that I could answer more fluidly. I also used I my inner critic taming tools* (a lot!).
Courage:
There is no easy way around this - courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. It’s taking a risk. It’s stepping out of your comfort zone. The best way to do this, is to commit to something that scares a little. It’s that simple. Sign-up. Put your name down. Just get out there and do it!

So, I told my personal brand story alongside Ben (I’d love to tell you I wasn’t nervous but…)

Afterwards people thanked me, they told my story had resonated. I’d been able help them. I gained experience and it expanded my comfort zone a notch.