Building Confidence for Entrepreneurs

Why Building Confidence for Entrepreneurs Makes a Difference

I have gone from living a life that was not serving me to creating one that is more than I could ever imagined, simply by boosting my confidence and taking action on a daily basis to shift my thinking and mindset. I speak and write on this topic regularly as a way to serve the people I come in contact with in my daily life. Let’s discuss how building confidence for entrepreneurs will make a difference in your life and in your results.

My colleague Benjamin Hardy has this to say about confidence.

CONFIDENCE, from a scientific perspective, is the byproduct of prior performance. In other words, confidence must be earned. Your confidence is the emotional evidence of what you’ve done and where you’re currently at.

Confidence, then, becomes your foundation.

Without confidence, your imagination is weakened. Having confidence allows you to think bigger about your life.

The more confidence you have, the more imagination and courage you can have. You need both imagination and courage to create a better life.

In order to have real confidence, you not only need to succeed at what you’re doing. You need to COMPLETE things (of course, some things should be dropped).

If you’ve been avoiding things in your life, then you can’t have confidence. Avoidance means you’re living in and dragging the past with you, wherever you go.

Confidence comes from being congruent with yourself. It also comes from completing hard things. As you become increasingly congruent with yourself, and as you complete big stuff– your confidence will soar. This will open your future up in amazing ways.

What are you avoiding?

What must you complete?

How can you become more congruent in your life?

Benjamin mentioned “prior performance” in regards to confidence. I honestly believe that past mistakes can trip up your confidence.

We all make mistakes. Some of them may be big ones. These mistakes can often derail someone and prevent them from living a quality life. This is sure to rob you of your confidence. If you continue to dwell on those past events, you’ll have a difficult time moving on.

If the mistakes are small enough, give yourself permission to laugh at yourself. You will find that it can help you overcome that experience. Not taking yourself too seriously will help you forgive yourself that it happened.
People change, and that can be a great way to move on from the past. You are not the same person you were even just ten years ago. If you have been taking steps to improve yourself, it’s likely you will think back to previous experiences and wonder why you acted in that manner in the first place. But, you can take comfort knowing that person is no longer who you are.

Another important factor is that there is nothing you can do about what has happened. There is no way for you to change it and that is reason enough to move on. Most likely, everyone else has moved on.
When you expend energy on previous events, you cannot use that energy towards events that are more important, i.e., the present. You can achieve more by using your energy to make a difference now, rather than dwelling on events that cannot be changed. If you concentrate on that fact, this should make it easier to put the past where it belongs. Work on building confidence for entrepreneurs.

Sometimes, the past events are a bit more serious, especially when they involve others. If you said or did something that hurt others, you may have a bit more work to do. Even when you apologize, they may hold a grudge. Hopefully, they will eventually get over it and forgive you. Most people will take this road. Some people won’t, and there’s not much you can do about that. They have their own issues with the past when they act this way.

There is one thing you can count on. When you let go of your past, you will free yourself to live a better life. You will have the confidence needed to forget your mistakes and focus your energy on what is most important and what you have the power to change. You can be grateful for that. This is what building confidence for entrepreneurs is all about.

My long time friend Brendon Burchard addresses the concept of building confidence in this way:

Confidence is the BELIEF AND FEELING that things will turn out well…because you are willing, worthy and capable.

DO YOU HAVE IT?

Authenticity, action and adaptability in changing or challenging circumstances are the hallmarks of confidence.

DO YOU FEEL IT?

Confidence is knowing I can cope, act as I intend, and succeed in a given situation. It’s trusting that I will reliably show up as my best self and do a good job. Confidence is not blocked by fear, is a combination of mindset and movement, and is best developed via trust, intention, congruent action, and self-reflection.

Building Confidence for Entrepreneurs with Congruence

Both Benjamin and Brendon mention the idea of “being congruent” in what I have shared here with you. I have written and spoken on this topic many times over the years and use this phrase in my everyday vocabulary. But what does it mean to you if you are in the business of building confidence for entrepreneurs?

The definition of the word congruent is “being in agreement or harmony.” In the world of entrepreneurship it takes on a meaning involving your thoughts, beliefs, and corresponding behavior.

If you think and believe, as I once did that employers don’t care about the people who work for them, you will have great difficulty building a business and having others, typically outsourcers and freelancers complete work for you.

If you think and believe “rich people” have all the luck and opportunities handed to them, you will have even greater difficulty in growing a business where your income increases each year and you suddenly find yourself able to afford luxuries you could only have dreamed about in years past.

Without taking the time to build confidence necessary for entrepreneurs you could find yourself self-sabbotaging your success and headed for business failure. I’ve seen this happen on more than one occasion and it isn’t easy to watch.

Entrepreneur Sujan Patel adds this, in an article titled “6 Ways to Build More Confidence as an Entrepreneur.” He believes in order to succeed as a new entrepreneur, you have to actually believe that you have what it takes.

So many entrepreneurs fail to see the value in having someone to talk to and confide in. A mentor offers a wealth of experience; they’ve been there and done that. They can easily point out the pitfalls so that you don’t make the same mistakes. When you have that kind of experience lighting the way, you’ll move forward with far more confidence.

And as an additional thought, this is why we must use facts to maintain our confidence:

How many times have you spoken to others and they make statements that you know are not correct? If you call them out on it, they seem even more adamant that their statements are true. It isn’t until you prove it to them by showing where you learned it from them, that they may turn around, if at all.

Building Confidence for Entrepreneurs by Getting Your Facts Straight

Getting your facts straight is an important aspect of confidence. When you have the right information, you can easily back it up. This is a strong reinforcement. Do this often enough, and people won’t even challenge you after a while.

I was sure there was a higher percentage of oxygen in the air when you were at the beach. It just made sense to me and I thought I remembered someone talking about that in the past. I was ready to include this in one of my books and keynotes and began to do some research. There is no scientific evidence showing the percentage of oxygen in the air to be higher than elsewhere on the planet.

When facts are on your side, it’s a good idea to be respectful when presenting them. The person arguing may even overreact and become upset or agitated. Maintain your composure and calmly state your case and show the supporting facts. If you lower yourself to their level by blowing up at them, it will make you look weak. Confidence is about knowing when you are correct and staying on an even keel. You will also win others when you do this.

Think about your prior performance, work on being congruent in your thinking and actions, hire a mentor to achieve your greatest potential, and get your facts straight when presenting them to others as you are working towards building confidence for entrepreneurs. I would love to hear your thoughts on these concepts and ideas.

I’m author, publisher, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and would love to connect with you. If you are new to the world of online entrepreneurship please check out my comprehensive training on how to set up Funnels That Click and learn how to gain an unfair advantage when it comes to building a lucrative online business.