Stop Overlooking Your Successes

Write down your achievements to boost your confidence. A lack of confidence can mean you failed to take action on your goals, causing procrastination and frustration.

As I was thinking about this, I remembered the TV quiz show, the weakest link because of its catchphrase.Do you remember the show? I know it's quite some time ago now since it aired. The point was that you had to say ‘bank’ to hold onto your winnings.

Bank your confidence moments

So as I was thinking about confidence, I thought, wouldn't it be an idea to bank every moment where you feel confident? So here's a suggestion. Keep a notebook specifically to record every time you experience confide.

Here's a link to The Confidence Bank Handout. 

Now, you may believe it's a waste of time writing down your triumphs. However, when you do, you encourage your confidence to grow. Remembering these previous accomplishments can help you tackle situations you're currently dealing with.

Forgetting is a benefit too

Oftentimes, it's just that you've forgotten you have those skills. As time passes, it's easy to forget your successes in the past. Forgetting is easy. It's easy to forget. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to forget the incidents or situations where confidence deserved you? Just think about that.

An experience of both forgetting and remembering

On the other hand, a client, let's call him Joe, studied video techniques as part of his college. However, he didn't follow that as his chosen profession. In fact, he didn't use those skills for several years. Anyway, one day he was asked to help someone out with a YouTube video. Although his skills were a bit rusty, he needed to get up to speed with newer technology, and lots of what he'd learned in college still applied, even though he'd almost forgotten he could shoot and edit video.

But he remembered he'd been confident in his skills and knew he could do it. Now he produces videos for others on the side, and he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed it.

People from your past

You also might have forgotten people from the past whose faith in you boosted your confidence, or the people who could help you with your current situation.

For instance, your company has announced it is laying people off and you find to your dismay that you are on the list. If you've lost contact with people from your past, you won't be easily able to reach out to them for help. This is why staying in touch with past colleagues and bosses pays dividends.

Then you can ask for references or suggestions, what to do, and how to maintain a positive attitude and confidently seek out new opportunities.

Your confidence master list

As you read back your list of achievements and moments of confidence, you can gain even more belief in yourself because you have evidence of your abilities. You can see your progress and make adjustments along the way.

It also helps when you need to talk about yourself to other people for various reasons. You won't have to try to think up your accomplishments. You'll have them on the tip of your tongue. You could say that a resume or a curriculum vita, is a list of your accomplishments, but is it really? Because you'll often pick or choose from your star qualities depending on the job you're targeting.

Instead, keeping a master list of accomplishments will give you a quick reference and a boost when needed. With this list of times you are bursting with confidence, you can tap into those confident feelings and speak about your abilities convincingly. By maintaining a master list of skills and accomplishments and reviewing it from time to time, your confidence increases because you know what you can do at a glance.

Previous life experiences all count, and many people too often let them fade from their memory. Sometimes when you go back and remember previous skills, they offer new insights and build your confidence even more. Why not experiment with it?

Download the handout now.

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