Erika Gombosova

Boost your confidence, boost your business

So how important do you think confidence is in your business? Do you think it matters? I tell you it matters a lot....I happen to witness over the years that confidence is one of the key factors that really determines how you behave, what actions you take, and what results you get in your business.

Confidence creates a foundation for how you not only do business, but also for how you live your whole life. If you don't value yourself, don't feel good about who you are, you will:

• end up selling yourself short,
• you end up not charging enough money for your services,
• overextend yourself to the point of burnout,
• you'll have a hard time asking for what you need,
• you'll worry about everybody's opinion of you,
• you won't speak up when it's necessary to stand your ground because you will be afraid of rejection,
• you'll be likely to give your power away and be easily intimidated.

Any of these sound familiar to you?

I can honestly say that I know these symptoms personally because I've been there. So today I really want to offer you a way to look at confidence in a different light and how you can use it's elements to empower yourself and boost your business.

So what are the 5 most important elements when confidence is a concern?Here they are:

• your childhood conditioning
• your thoughts
• your emotions
• your words
• your body

Understanding these 5 elements and using them consciously on a regular basis will not only make a huge difference in your business but will also put you into the driver's seat of your life.

So let's explore each element.

1) Your childhood conditioning

Believe it or not your present level of confidence started being shaped in your childhood. There are 4 major components that shaped what I call your confidence foundation.

• level of confidence of your parents
• level of encouragement and support you received from your parents and your school
• influence and confidence of other important women that surrounded you
• any major life event(s) that took place in your childhood (divorce of your parents, alcoholic parent, being seriously ill, experiencing death, etc...)

2) Your thoughts

Your predominant thoughts are what create the next level of your confidence foundation. Thoughts can be tricky like diabetes. :) On the surface nothing seems to be happening but underneath there is a lot going on.  You determine whether this is something that supports you or not.

If you mentally criticize and reprimand yourself often, then that is the blueprint you are creating for:

• how you are going to value and treat yourself
• how confident you are going to be
• how others will view you and treat you

It can work the opposite way if you choose to think predominantly supportive and positive thoughts of yourself. The only difference will be the results you will get, because you can't think supportive and destructive thoughts at the same time. It's impossible. :)

3) Your emotions

We have a very superficial understanding of emotions in our society. Because of this, we don't really know how to use emotions effectively. Many women I come in contact with view emotions as simply "good or bad" and end up running away from those emotions that they perceived as being bad or negative. That is where the problems begin. Because said in simple terms: WHAT YOU RESIST PERSISTS.

When dealing with your confidence the basic rule of thumb is the more you bottle up your emotions the less confidence you will have. Take this into consideration. The second part of the picture is your ability to create emotionally how you want to feel or to be able to switch from a less desired emotional state to a desired one with ease.

So to sum it up, there are two important components that matter in the realm of confidence building:

• your ability to experience all your emotions in a healthy way
• your ability to create desired emotional states in your day to day life

4) Your words

Being the queen of words that I am, I see so many people using their words so carelessly.  As if they didn't realize the potency the words have. Actually I believe many don't.  I have learned in more than one way the power that words possess.  And I have to say it wasn't always a pleasant experience. Once I learned that I have a choice to use my words to empower myself and others or I can disempower myself and others, the choice I made was easy. I chose to use my words to empower myself and my environment.

There are two types of words that have a dramatic effect on your level of confidence:

• Confidence building words
• Confidence leaking words

Example of confidence building words:

-absolutely, - positively, -certainly-definitely, - of course, -sure , -naturally

Example of confidence leaking words:

-try, -should, -hope-but, -would, -could-wish, -attempt Which are you using the most in your day to day language?

5) Your body

Your body speaks volumes about you and how confident you are. Most of us just don't realize it consciously. Being a body worker for years I was blown away by how much information you can access from someone's body. Now I want to share what I found, so you can use this info to increase your self-confidence.

Do you ever consciously look at the way you hold your body? If you answered NO then I want to suggest that you start doing so on a regular basis. Why? Because when you walk into a room or interact with people, that is one of the first things people notice about you. And based on what they see they make a "value judgment" about you. What you might not realize right now is the fact that you can use your body as a tool to become a  more confident person. So how do you use your body to become more confident?  The key word we are going to use is POSTURE.

What does a posture of confidence look like?

Stand or walk with your:

• body straight
• shoulders back
• head held high
• tummy tucked and supported
• hands and arm in an open position (not crossing them or putting them in your pockets)
• slight smile on your face
• making direct eye contact
• moving with deliberate steps ( if you are walking)
• body relaxed and lose (not stiff)

What posture do you have and hold on a regular basis? Start paying attention and see how your posture matches your thoughts, emotions and your words. Then change it consciously and see if anything shifts. :)  

These are the 5 elements that you can work with and get results by applying them to your day to day life. You'll become more confident, daring, more outspoken and abundant in yourself and in your business. That is a promise. :)

Let me know how it goes. If you would like more tools on how to create unstoppable confidence, then sign up for the 5 part e-course "How to Create Unstoppable Confidence as a Woman Entrepreneur" by going to http://www.unstoppableconfidencecoach.com/

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

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