Stay prepared in order to cultivate confidence

This year’s Australian Businesswomen’s Network Businesswomen Hall of Fame is filled with incredibly accomplished and confident female leaders. And that confidence is exactly the thing we’ve noticed all of these successful women have in common — they all exhibit the Confidence Habit. The Confidence Habit can be a difficult quality to embrace, especially for women who, studies show, are far more likely to encounter self-doubt compared to men. So, how do the women in the Hall of Fame manage to stay confident and continue to take action? One way that they cultivate this confidence method is simply by being prepared. The more prepared you are, the more confidence you experience. And one of the best ways you can prepare is through consistently staying in the learner’s seat and accessing regular education. So you can stay up-to-date with what’s working in marketing, sales, management, finances, personal development, and leadership. Staying educated is also a great way to combat feelings of the Imposter Syndrome, which is a surprisingly common condition even highly successful businesswomen like Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and leading fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg have suffered from. Perhaps you’ve felt it at times… that voice that wants you to believe the success you’re experiencing is just a fluke and that you’re really just a fraud who’s been fooling people all this time into thinking you know what you’re doing and one day they are going to find out you don’t really have a clue. Hall of Fame Inductee, Cathie Reid of Epic Pharmacy, says she found the best way to overcome feeling like an imposter is to reflect honestly and realistically on what you have achieved, and then be prepared to own those achievements and be proud of them. And Audette Exel, Hall of Fame member and Founder of Adara Group, says that voice of the Imposter Syndrome is a voice of the past, not the present. She says “It’s the voice of conditioning that told us when we were small girls that we were ‘bossy’ when assertive little boys were told they were leaders. It’s the voice that tells us to get back in that cage that history has created for us.” Being prepared is not the only key to confidence though. Find many other strategies for cultivating the confidence habit by downloading our Keepsake Booklet. Listening to our Breaking Through webinar is another beneficial way to get inspired, especially if you’re feeling bogged down by the challenges that face you in your business. You are not alone.