Top tips around building confidence to make next career move or step

INTRODUCTION

I love this quote, it’s a great reminder that time is limited! Steve Jobs quote focuses on not letting others opinions stop you from moving forward, but what if the person stopping you, holding you back, criticising you, is YOU?

Your success is in your hands, whether you do or don’t is really up to you!! I have had set backs over the years but one of the main things I have been able to hold on, is knowing what I want (even if I did not know how to achieve/get it)!

Create a compelling vision for your life and career/ business, that is so amazing, that it makes you unstoppable!

There are three main areas to focus on to support you in increasing your courage to take your next career/life step:

1 Get to really know yourself, through honest factual self-reflection.

2 Take action – nothing happens without action.

3 Shift your mindset – if your mind is not controlled by you, your life can’t be either. Without number three, the other two areas can’t be effective!

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. ”Steve Jobs

“

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Georgina Terry FCCA, PMPGeorgina Terry FCCA PMP, the ‘Passions to Profitability’ expert is a qualified accountant, qualified coach, project management professional, change management consultant, local and international inspirational speaker, TEDx speaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlCxyXPWACM) facilitator, trainer, accredited InfoDev (division of the World Bank) facilitator, Trinidad Ambassador for the Global Movement – Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and author of the best-selling book ‘The Amazing Race to Entrepreneurial Freedom’. Georgina is also the managing director of Business & People Development Associates Limited (BPD). Georgina Terry’s purpose in this life is to assist people in living their lives and developing their businesses/careers by desire and design, rather than by default.

1 MAKE TIME FOR SELF REFLECTION

• Document what you like/don’t like doing – so when faced with a new opportunity, you will know if it fits your criteria

• Document your career journey – not job titles, but the journey you’ve taken to arrive at today – it’s like a trip down memory lane

• Write out 50 reasons why you would be an asset to any organisation – yes 50, you can include behaviours, results, your personality etc!

• Highlight minimum five examples where the work you did made an impact:

– Describe the situation;

– State what you did to address the situation; and

– explain the overall impact you made – this will be great input for interviews.

2 TAKE ACTION

• Become a volunteer – volunteer for something you are interested in, become a board member, committee member etc, this allows you to step into new roles, experiences, meet new people and also give you experience for future roles and also looks great on your resume

• Ask for opportunities – either at work, associations etc – this allows you to gain new experiences

• Ask for what you want – allow the ‘right’ people to know your career aspirations, you never know who they know

• Ask for feedback on your strengths and areas of improvement – ask people you know will be honest, not just people who will only give you ‘nice’ feedback

“ People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot.” Bryant McGill

“ Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Dale Carnegie

“ I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela

• Focus on applying for roles that you are interested in – even if you don’t have all the requirements. Focus on applying, not on getting the interviews, focus on what you can control

• Develop new skills – be 21st century ready. Find out what is trending in your field and also develop your soft skills – remember the ACCA Quotients. Sign up and read the weekly complimentary 60 second business/career tips

• Work with a coach or mentor – it always helps to get some outside help, to support you to push through your limiting beliefs, quieten the inner critic and to keep you accountable to what you say you want.

3 SHIFT YOUR MINDSET

• Create a vision for your life including your business/career – create a vision of your ideal day, from waking up to going to bed at night – visit your future life each day and see how this compels you to take more action to make this a reality

• Come out of comfort zone – do one thing a month that stretches you, this will demonstrate to you, that you are able to do more than you think

• Become comfortable with self promotion – how can you advance if you don’t speak up for yourself and your accomplishments. It’s not bragging, it’s just letting people know what you have accomplished, so they know what you bring to the table.

• Make failure your trusted adviser and teacher – if you fail at something, so what? You now know what to do differently next time. Repeat after me:

‘Failure is one of my best teachers and I welcome the lessons!’