Success Starts with Confidence.

I promise we'll break down the Career Confidence Code, step-by-step!

But first, let's discuss the significance of confidence when it comes to your career success. Why not focus on "leadership" to help you advance and inspire others? Or "business development" to help you grow your business and, in turn, profits? Or "career fulfillment" to help you pursue more joy and meaning at work? Aren't we all just chasing more joy and meaning after all?!

Confidence builds a solid foundation to advance your leadership development, business development, and career fulfillment.

Most of us don't look for "career confidence coaching" because we've been conditioned to focus so much on concrete external outcomes (e.g., promotion to a leadership role, a certain amount of income, or a better job), that we don't even realize the real work we need to do is the inner work.

In fact, self-doubt can permeate all facets of the ambitious professional's career. Over the years, I've noticed five specific themes where a boost in confidence can make a huge difference in one's career outcomes:

1. Ability to get the job done
2. Decision-making abilities
3. Career clarity
4. Leadership abilities
5. Ability to integrate work and life

If you lack confidence in yourself, you don't believe you can do it. And if you lack confidence in the circumstances, you don't believe things will work out or that others will pull through. Instead of inspiring action or growth, these low-energy beliefs leave us unproductive and cynical. And that's when confidence coaching comes into play! Shifting your energy up empowers you to (i) tap into your strengths, (ii) recognize and address whatever is affecting your energy, (iii) hold yourself accountable to getting more done, and (iv) enjoy yourself in the process.

Let's walk through some scenarios to demonstrate how self-doubt (low energy) versus confidence (high energy) can impact our outcomes with respect to each of the five themes above.

Ability to get the job done

You've received a new assignment, don't know where to start, and are looking for help with motivation.

Self-doubt: "I can't possibly do this. I've never done it before, don't know where to start, and no one would help me even if I asked."

Mid-level energy: "I'm nervous to take on this project, but I know it's important and will give it a go."

Confident energy: "What a great opportunity to learn something new and collaborate with my colleagues who may know more about this assignment. Growth is really important in my career, so I'm going to look for a broader variety of assignments from here on out.

Decision-making abilities

Something's really been bothering you at work, but you're not sure whether you should bring it up because it feels a bit controversial, and you're looking for help making a decision.

Self-doubt: "I never say the right thing, so no matter what I decide, I know there will be consequences."

Mid-level energy: "The conversation is going to be uncomfortable, and I don't want to do it. But I know that voicing my concerns is important, and hopefully my supervisor will try to understand my perspective."

Confident energy: "Striking up this conversation might actually open up a bigger dialogue around teamwork, helps us understand one another, and facilitate more collaboration in the future."

Career clarity

You've been in your job for a few years and are considering leaving, but you're worried about making your next move; you want help figuring out what's best for your future.

Self-doubt: If I hate this job, and I hated my last job, won't I just hate the next one too? Maybe there's nothing out there that will be a good fit for me.

Mid-level energy: The thought of leaving this secure job scares the shit out of me, but maybe I could simply reach out to a recruiter to start exploring other options.

Confident energy: I'm going to consider all pros and cons for staying and for leaving, so I know I'm making a really conscious choice here. I want to make sure my decision is rational, feels right, and follows my gut instincts.

Leadership abilities

You just started supervising someone else's work, which you've never done before. You're seeking support to ensure you start off strong in your leadership role.

Self-doubt: "I have no training, so I can't possibly know how to lead. Who's going to listen to someone like me?"

Mid-level energy: "I have some natural leadership skills, so I'll probably be fine."

Confident energy: "I'm going to seek out some leadership trainings both internally and outside of my office to exhaust my resources and will also plan to ask my direct reports for ongoing feedback so I can make sure to involve them in the learning process."

Ability to integrate work and life

You're working really long hours, regularly missing out on family time, and seeking help with work-life balance.

Self-doubt: "This job sucks. It's always interfering with my personal life, and I can't possibly ask to shift my hours because it seems pretty damn standard in this industry to work all of the time."

Mid-level energy: "I don't love missing out on family activities, but at least this job pays well, which means we can take that big vacation every year. It could be worse!"

Confident energy: "Setting boundaries seems like a really great way to both prioritize my family more and improve the quality of my work, seeing as I'll be re-energized after taking more time off. I'm going to plan a time to have a conversation about my hours with my boss. They've been receptive to requests in the past, so hopefully they'll give it some thought!"

See how that works?

We can shift our energy up from doubtful, judgmental, and unproductive to hopeful, confident, and solution-focused with practice. But it's certainly not easy to do on your own. That's what I'm here for! Career confidence coaching will teach you how to shift your energy up to achieve your goals with confidence and also enjoy yourself along the way. If you're at all curious, book a career vision session today, and we'll get right to work on that very call!