Take a risk

Women often speak to me about wanting to feel more confident, professionally.

There’s a whole lot of work that you can do to encourage thinking patterns that enhance confidence. I am also a big believer in boosting confidence through doing.

One thing you can do to build confidence is take a risk.

When you identify a risk, then work towards and overcome it strategically, you gain a deepened sense of capacity – a belief in your agency or ability to influence your life. This informs a heightened sense of confidence [well I did that scary thing so surely I’ll be able to do x,y,z..]

Here’s how to go about it.

+ Identify the right risk

Of course, when I say risk, I’m not talking about behaviour that has the potential to harm you, physically or emotionally. I’m talking about the scary stuff that deep down you want to be doing, to advance your career, but that you’re holding back from pursuing because you’re s-c-a-r-e-d!

So! Start by getting clear on where you want to be in your career, in a year or maybe five. Then identify five challenging [for you] steps that will help get you there. It might be: sharing your written work at an open mic session; presenting to the partners; speaking to the bank; putting yourself out there on social media; or emailing a woman who you really admire and would love to collaborate with.

+ Reframe

Scary stuff often gets automatically lumped into the ‘threat of failure’ category but can usefully be reframed as ‘opportunity to succeed…and enjoy!’

To reframe it can be helpful to identify the worst possible outcome: I might waste some time, I might feel a bit embarrassed, I could feel rejected. Then write down all the things that could come from taking this step: I could have a great chat with someone; I could share my work; I could expand my skill-set.

It can also be helpful to shift what it is you’re wanting from an experience. Instead of aiming for total perfection – an immediate book deal, salary increase, standing ovation! – maybe you could aim for engagement with life, connection with others, exploration, having a go, seeing what happens etc

+ Then act

The next step is to take a step. And to keep on taking steps.

Do one thing towards the risks you’ve identified. And build risk-taking activity into your weekly practice. You might like to schedule it for a Sunday afternoon. Or a Wednesday night [after a glass of wine!] or before you head to work on a Tuesday.

Keep track of your efforts, in a Risk Taking Tracker – using an app or simply making a list in a notebook.

Tags: career-coaching, life-coaching, Melbourne