Full disclosure: This is going to be a bit of a personal post. I am going through some ~transitions~ with Blush (you may have noticed our new app and unlimited chat service, yes?!) and am on the brink of needing to level up in order to take Blush to where it needs to go. So while this post is still about *you* and how to gain the confidence for personal growth – I’m also simultaneously giving myself my own pep talk for my own personal growth! 🙂
Personal growth is hard. Moving forward is intimidating. And while it arguably might be harder to stand still – that doesn’t diminish the fear of transitions. We’ve all learned they come with their own set of self-doubts, insecurities, triggers, and other fun little stress monsters hiding under our adult beds.
But change comes whether we welcome it or not – and my preference is to gain the confidence to take every opportunity for self-exploration.
Guess that’s the life coach in me.
So…here we are. I’m going to detail how I mentally prep myself to gain the confidence for my own personal growth, and I hope you can relate – or even learn! – from some of my tips.
Double Down On Your Strengths
This the oldest trick in the book, and one of my personal favorites.
I am so TIRED of the false narrative that we need to be all things in order to succeed.
Think about it. Apparently we need to be logical, warm, considerate, tough, detail-oriented, big picture-minded, commanding, approachable, professional, relaxed, easy-going, in-control, flexible, structured, introspective, communicative….
Like what gives, y’all?
It’s impossible to adopt every quality you “should” have in order to fit the American ideal. And I don’t know about you, but I personally feel like I’m the exact opposite of what most leaders traditionally possess. I’m messy, not professional in the least, disorganized, and randomly enough I hate wearing shoes or pants with any sort of button on them.
The list goes on.
But so what? I do happen to have a lot of qualities that are pretty valuable in my humble opinion, even if they don’t fit the norm. So that’s why I lean HARD into them, and so should you.
I don’t want you wasting any time feeling like you need to fix something about yourself in order to gain the confidence for your own personal growth.
You are going to succeed because of the strengths you already have – and those who are smart, know that it’s much more 1) productive and 2) fun to expand your strengths rather than hyper-focusing on your weaknesses.
Yeah, I know – as a life coach, I should be telling you to double down on self-improvement, which usually means tackling those weaknesses one by one.
But I call bullshit. Unless your weaknesses are totally ransacking your life and preventing you from true personal growth, let’s hitch our wagon to your strengths and see where it takes us. Otherwise, how are you ever going to gain the confidence for what’s next?
Double down on your strengths. Put time in on your writing. Hyperfocus on your networking. Spend your time organizing. Dump your attention into problem solving. Whatever it is that makes you unique – bold it and capitalize it. You’ll be so much happier, and people will value you for exactly what makes you special, rather than any shortcomings that don’t even matter!