6 Ways to Boost Your Confidence—and Your Career!

look to your career icon for inspiration

There are so many powerful and inspiring women making incredible headway in the world today. If you don’t have one already, then do your research and find the top female leaders that you identify with most. Then write down their best motivational quotes, read their autobiography if they have one, learn everything you can about how they made it to the top, and examine what they did to instill confidence. It’s also a great way to realize that they were once just like you too. We all have to start from somewhere, and the only way is up, if you really want it.

write down your goals

We are all really busy, so busy that we can sometimes forget where we’re going. It’s important to recognize where you’re at and the destination. Knowing your end goals helps to keep you on track, and pushes you to do more every day so you can arrive there sooner. Write down a list of long-term and short-term goals so that each time you reach one along the way, you can pat yourself on the back and have a mini celebration. Each one you strike off will give you a much-needed confidence injection. Try to look at your goals regularly too, because they may change along the way and need readjusting to suit your new ambitions.

try confidence dressing

You know how you feel when you wear that new outfit? Imagine if you could channel that every day in the office? Power dressing is really important for inner confidence. It’s a known fact that the clothes you wear can positively impact your state of mind, so try it sometime. A study published on the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found subjects who donned white coats and thought that they belonged to doctors actually performed better on tests than those who wore street clothes, or those who thought the coats were associated with artists. Your clothing is like social armor; use it to your advantage.

seek outer your mentor often

You’ve probably read this line in many confidence- and career-related articles, but it’s one of the best ways to boost self-assurance. This can be a work colleague, friend, family member, or role model in a completely different line of work. These people are great fallbacks when you’re in a self-doubting mood. Call on them often, seek them out, and you’ll be surprised at how much their believing in you can do for your state of mind, and morale.