Am I a self-effacing wallflower?
Self-effacing – what on earth?!? I know, if anyone reading this actually knows me, they won’t believe I am saying those words about myself. But I am.
KiddyCharts Printable Reward Charts has received many nominations through the years. In 2012, for example, we were nominated for the Cambridge Business Mums Conference Best Start Up Award. Someone else (bless them) did the nominating, and I am glad they did.
I didn’t make the short-list, but was very proud to have got where I did.
However, the process got me thinking about how I view myself as a business woman.
Are we all just that little bit too hard on ourselves and our accomplishments. Wallflowers that refuse to speak out about just how much we have actually managed to achieve.
Are you a seasoned business woman or are you looking for confidence tips for business women just starting out I hope you can find some inspiration from this post.
Nominate yourself for awards
You see, I had refused to nominate myself; my website wasn’t launched so that meant I hadn’t actually managed to get anything done.
Thinking about it after the nomination, I realised that was utter rubbish.
At that point I had been around for six months, and done a hell of a lot.
I’d got the business this far with just my slightly frenetic business brain, my wonderful networking friends, my kids and my iPad. So here I was, displaying my badge with pride.
No accomplishment is too small
Many of us will share when we are nominated for awards, but not that many of us will talk about the loss.
You may not have won, like I didn’t on that occasion, but your accomplishments are absolutely worth sharing. Starting a business takes courage and a lot of persistence and hard work – especially if you have a family and other priorities.
Don’t minimise what you’ve achieved and if possible share your accomplishments when you can! Those in your circle will be happy for you and even if they’re not, consider it practice for working on your confidence!
Learn to say NO!
Saying no is sometimes scary. Like, really scary; especially when you are in business. You may feel that you have to take on every job or client or attend every function if you want your business to succeed.
That’s not necessarily true.
By being more selective about what you take on you can be certain that you will only take on what you truly feel you can excel at. Which can be a big boost in your confidence and business!
Practice saying YES!
Whilst saying no may be something to work on sometimes saying yes is also difficult. Sometimes the fear of being too eager or appearing to be a people pleaser can stop us from saying yes.
It’s important as business women to take chances in our businesses and ultimately in ourselves. This means saying yes when the opportunity is the right one, even if the prospect feels scary!
Eradicate the “what ifs”
What if I fail?
What if I look like an idiot?
What if I don’t look the part?
What if this is a waste of time?
There are many ways that we can sabotage our success and one of those ways is by focusing on the “what ifs”. The biggest way that you can mentally prepare for success is by forgetting all about what could go wrong and focusing on the here and now.
If you have any other confidence tips for business women leave them in the comments below or follow KiddyCharts on Twitter and let us know!
We have more articles on women in business for you to read. I have linked some of the favourites below.
- Organise your life as a working mum with My 5 Point Plan to get Organised
- Get ready to go back to work after baby or raising kids by reading our 10 Tips to Help Moms get Back to Work After Raising Kids
- Work at home mum? Then our take on 50 Tasks That Work at Home Mums do in One Manic Day is a fun read.
Find more inspiration from other women in business and working mums by reading some of these great posts.
- Find out how to Land Your Dream Job After Being a Stay at Home Mom with the Soccer Mom Blog
- Childhood 101 can give you some tips on Setting up a Home Based Business
- For those of us who have dreamed of going viral – Redefining Mom has a post on that.
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We hope that you enjoyed this post and hope to see you for the next one!
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!