Confidence is the Key

Have you ever heard confidence is the key? Do you struggle with confidence? I might come off as having confidence, since I have a blog and a podcast, but truthfully I am not as confident as I might look. I know confidence is the key to so much but I don’t think that I am the only one who lacks 100 percent confidence, I recently had the opportunity to talk with my friend, Erin Summ, on Facebook Live. Erin is a confidence coach who helps women increase their confidence in their lives. She talked about helping people get past the fears of being seen and fears of being unworthy. Erin says you need to develop that deep idea of confidence, which is really about inner love and unconditional love.

Sometimes people don’t use the word confidence to describe their problem, but it actually does come back to confidence because confidence is the key.

First you need to determine if you lack confidence, Here are some questions to ask yourself:  

1. Are you a perfectionist? When you are a perfectionist you can hold yourself back because you’re afraid you’ll be criticized or judged.
2. Do you think you don’t deserve your dream? 
3. Are you holding yourself back from asking for what you want?
4. Is there a lack a belief in yourself?
5. Do you have a negative self-belief?

Really, perfection is a shield that we use to keep yourselves safe.

We think perfectionism keeps us safe, but we use it to keep from being judged. Often, we think if we look perfect, then we won’t be judged. It is important to remember, perfectionism holds us back from our greatness AND our dreams. 

I find it interesting that Erin got involved with sales through Passion Parties AND she actually found it to be a way to move through her lack of confidence. She realized that by getting out of her comfort zone, she would increase her self confidence and increase her feeling of empowerment.

How can you increase your self-confidence?

1. Use friends or a safe place to build confidence. Step out of your comfort zone with people you know and trust. Erin says, “Small hinges swing big doors.” In order to build confidence, you lean on others who believe in you.
2. Ask others who have confidence how they got it AND follow some of their suggestions. Be sure you do not join with “dream stealers,” as Erin calls them.  Use positive people to get where you want to go. 
3. Join in a community with other positive people. Meetups are a great place to meet others. Erin Erin has a meetup called Confident Women Entrepreneurs in Sacramento. Join Facebook groups where positive people go. Join Kim’s Facebook Group Feed Your Soul Community. Go to networking events where there are positive people who want to help others.
4. Furthermore, it is important to stop thinking about it and just do it! Push through the fear and get it done.
5. Be sure to praise yourself for being seen. Pat yourself on the back when you’ve done something towards your goal.
6. Lastly, tell others what you are going to do, in order to make yourself accountable. Tell someone else what you are going to do and what date you will have it done by. We know that accountability helps reinforce that you’ll get things done.

Motivation is so important to getting into action and moving forward to feel more confidence. 

In order to increase self-confidence, here are some of Erin’s tips to get you motivated: 

1. Above all, Imagine your success. Research shows that your brain doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined. It is important to visualize the outcome.
2. Next, get excited about what you are going to do. One way you can get excited is to start listening to music that increases your energy. 
3. It is important to remind yourself that you’ve been successful before. 
4. An important key is to write down your vision. Putting your vision in writing is a clear way to tell yourself your ready. 
5. Be sure to tell positive/safe people your goal. These positive people can be the holder of your dream with you. 
6. Know where you want to go and what you want to do. Embody the feeling of what it will be like when you get there. Use baby steps as one way to move along towards your goal.

In conclusion, no matter if you have no confidence, a little, or a lot; these ideas will help you move forward in your life to feel more empowered. Remember, confidence is the key to success in life.

Let us know how you are improving your confidence in the comments below.

Erin Summ is a Confidence Coach who helps you connect to that deep idea of confidence that helps you shine. She has an upcoming Bold Retreat in beautiful Lake Tahoe that will help you get that confidence juices flowing. You can find out more here: https://www.erinsumm.com/boldretreat/

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Kim McLaughlin, MA is a Counselor, Speaker, Podcaster and Inspirational Coach who specializes in working with people who suffer from binge eating and emotional eating. She is a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. She is the author of the newly released book Feed Your Soul Nourish Your Life! A Six Step System to Peace with Food and the Amazon #1 Best Selling book Discovery Your Inspiration.

Kim has recently launched her podcast Feed Your Soul with Kim. You can find it on all podcast platforms.

Kim McLaughlin has been identified as writing one of the Top 50 Blogs about Emotional Eating by the Institute on Emotional Eating. Sign up for her free Special Report: Top Strategies to End Emotional Eating here or visit her website at www.FeedYourSoulUnlimited.com.