‘Reboot Your Confidence’ Blog n# 4 – Love the one you’re with: get clarity and feel proud of what you’ve got to offer!

Who do you see when you look in the mirror?

We want you to see a woman ready to start turning her work dreams into her new reality.  A fabulous woman confident in her knowledge and abilities. A woman ready to do work she loves!

But do you find the mirror can get fogged up?

We know that you need to wipe away the steam and get clarity about your future. To do this you’ll need to recognise what you’ve got to offer in all the areas of your life. Then you can begin to confidently put these talents and skills and strengths to good use.  You’ll need to be a bit of a detective!

With a bit of effort, we CAN identify and make the most of our talents, skills and strengths!

Proudly identify your key work-related strengths and skills

We often shy away from looking too closely at our achievements and don’t want to seem boastful.  Or maybe we tend to think of things we do as “just being part of the job” and “nothing special”.

Let us assure you – your achievements are well worth celebrating and give you clues to uncover your strengths.  So make a start on identifying your strengths and skills by answering these questions.

1. What do people rely on you for?
2. At work (or elsewhere) what have you been the “go to girl for”?
3. What do you most enjoy doing in your roles – and know you’re good at?
4. What are 5 things you’re really proud of that relate to work?

Once you’ve made your list you can look for the patterns.  What’s consistent in your achievements?  What might be other ways of describing your achievements? And what stands out that can help put your future plans into action?

How can you start recognising your achievements and feel the strong positive energy?

Leverage your character strengths

As you proudly identify your achievements and work focused strengths, we also encourage you to think about your character strengths. Each of us possesses a range of qualities which influence what we do and how we choose to do it.  Using our most developed character strengths feels natural, energises us and gives us our point of difference.

Are you the person who raises spirits and smoothes conflict with your sense of humour? Maybe you’re the superbly organised team player who helps keep everyone on track?  Perhaps your creativity and curiosity mean that brilliant new initiatives often start with you?

So now you’re focusing on all that you already have proven you can do (and so definitely can do again!).  There’s one pitfall to watch out for!

Don’t forget to banish the biggest threat – your inner critical voice

Quieten your worst critic!

It’s easy to notice and dwell upon the stuff that annoys or disappoints us in ourselves (those anti-achievements), but we need to avoid getting derailed by our self-criticism!  We can accept that we’re not perfect. Then we can make a habit of looking for our strengths and benefit from that energy and engagement to work towards our goals.

So, love the one you’re with!! We’re in your corner!

Flourishing Mothers

If you’re interested to investigate your character strengths have a look at www.viacharacter.org or get in touch to find out how you can use your strengths to super-charge your life.

About Debra and Kate

FlexCoaches Debra Close and Kate Wilkie are specialists in Positive Psychology coaching for mums. Whether you are at home raising a family, or are balancing a career with family commitments, Debra and Kate can help you to solve challenges you struggle with and answer life’s big questions.

FlexCareers offers a free 30-minute introductory meeting with our FlexCoaches, to help you establish if coaching is right for you.  You can contact Debra Close and Kate Wilkie through FlexCareers here, and you can find out more about their practice, Flourishing Mothers, here.