I Got This

            Welcome back to another day and another post. If I asked you to go up to a stranger and introduce yourself, could you do it? Would you say, “no problem, I got this” or would your response maybe be, “are you out of your mind?” If someone were to ask me to do this, chances are that my response could be somewhere in the middle. It really would just depend on the day. Although, to be completely honest it would probably more often be like the second answer. This leads me to todays topic, Confidence.

            Confidence can be a weird thing sometimes. It’s something that can be difficult to achieve depending on your own mental and outlook. It is absolutely something that can be worked on and increased when you put your mind to it, however. Confidence to me is directly corelated to your own self-image and self-esteem. If these are low than your confidence is most likely to be low. If these are high, then you guessed it, your confidence is more likely to be high. Confidence is also more than just if you can go talk to a stranger or not. It is a part of your daily life and is so important when trying new things.

            If you were to go and try anything new today, chances are that your confidence level will help determine how great (or bad) that experience may be. I will give an example of both sides of the spectrum with job interview scenarios. Before I took the job that I am currently in, I was actually looking at multiple jobs. I had narrowed it down to 2 potential jobs. One job being an assistant warehouse manager for a family owned flooring store and the other being for a maintenance apprentice at Bedrock Detroit. As you can see, these jobs are very different in the type of work, location, and responsibilities required. My previous job was for another family owned flooring company where I worked in the warehouse but not as an assistant manager. I had an interview at both within a week of each other.

            Going into the interview for the flooring company I felt more prepared as I had experience in the field, I know I am capable to fulfill the job requirements, and I felt confident. To be transparent, I went into this interview with almost complete dumb confidence. I didn’t exactly expect to land the job as I was asking for more than what the position was listed for. I had no real expectation that I would get it for that reason and figured it wouldn’t be the end of the world to stay at my previous position. Going in with this much confidence, however, was a huge benefit. I answered every question quickly and positively. I essentially went into the interview cocky, and let me tell you, the interview went perfect. They fell in love with me and offered me a position on the spot. I didn’t accept right away because again I had another interview to go on and I felt confident that they would wait another week for me to say yes.

            The second interview with Bedrock Detroit was not nearly as smooth as the previous interview. I am not super familiar with navigating Detroit and that added its own set of issues. I didn’t have experience in the field whatsoever and did not feel confident. Realistically I probably only got the interview because of a buddy of mine that worked for this company at the time. In the interview I was stumbling answers, had longer pauses, and was just nervous the entire time. It ended with being told that I’m not exactly what they were looking for but to give them a week and they may call me to check in on some homework they had given me to do. Although I knew I was under qualified for the position, if I would have been confident in myself and put more emphasis on the type of employee and person that I am, the interview could have gone a lot better.

            You see it is not always about having the right answer or having all the knowledge. Confidence is shown through your body language, the way you articulate answers, and your overall presentation of yourself. When you are confident you can go into something with your head up and be aware of the different outcomes but be rest assured that it doesn’t matter what the outcome is if you give it your all. It may not work out in your favor but guess what, you can go back to the drawing board and figure out what you need to do better. Like Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that wont work”. Confidence can allow you to take that leap and not worry the entire way. Building confidence takes time and you have to allow yourself to become vulnerable. Overtime though it gets better and better and you will notice yourself gaining more opportunities. Leave a comment below about something that has helped you gain confidence or a time you were confident.

 

            Much love and God Bless.