Enter Confidence

What’s on the iPod: Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper

New blog look – what do you think?

Three days back and work is piling up again. I started a small project yesterday that will accompany a larger one. I think I have the bones of these two down so that I can get a draft out quickly. Then a new client contacted me to arrange a conversation. I’m feeling like eight hours aren’t enough any longer.

Interesting feedback on yesterday’s post about mistakes beginners (and not-so-beginners) make. The overwhelming majority felt that most career issues stemmed from lack of confidence. It’s one thing to say you’re a writer – it’s wholly another to actually have the confidence to get the gigs.

I remember a few of my first jobs. I was afraid to ask what they paid (and too green to know that I should have been telling them what I charge), afraid I couldn’t get the job done, afraid to approach anyone new and ask them to consider me for the job. Those fears in anyone can cripple a career and basically bury your chances before you even get started. Obviously, I’ve learned how to be confident enough (and mouthy enough) to stand up for myself and my business. But it didn’t happen overnight.

So how do you build confidence? It’s not tough, but it does take a little work.Try one or more of these things:

Plan for it. Success, that is. Plan your success like you’d plan a party or a project. What’s your goal? What steps do you need to take in order to achieve that goal? Who will you be interacting with and how? What’s in it for them? What do you need in order to make this “success project” financially viable?

Take baby steps. You want to learn the trade magazine market or how to write resumes or even how to score copywriting gigs with corporate clients. Whatever the goal, don’t start automatically at the top (unless you’re confident, in which case this post is clearly not for you). Start at a more manageable level, like with a magazine that has a lower circulation or by targeting mid-sized companies instead of global ones. Hook up with a resume company that will train you how to put together better resumes. Take those smaller steps that will allow you to learn as you go. Confidence comes from gathering the skills and the experience.

Recognize your current accomplishments. Isn’t it true that we notice our faults first? What experiences do you have already that make you a better writer? How have you pleased a client or completed a task that you’re especially proud of? How can you take those skills and apply them to another client with similar or better results?

Meet people. I’ll admit writing in the risk management world was mighty daunting until I met and befriended a number of people in the industry. It’s funny how just a few acquaintances can help you screw up your courage and make you feel a legitimate part of your own career. Friends, colleagues, expert sources, clients — each one can become part of your work network and can help you gain confidence by interacting with them.

Stick your neck out. Sometimes you just have to dive in. Grab hold of a new project and allow yourself to admit that even if you fail at it, it’s better than avoiding it and the experience. I’ve tried tons of new things. I’ve failed at maybe three over the last fifteen years. Those are pretty good odds. And those failures were more of a lack of clarity between my clients and me. Not every project will be successful, and that’s okay. You learn from the mistakes, too.

Stop measuring against others. I remember having to talk a writer friend off a ledge more than once when she compared her ideas to those of another writer who she was competing with professionally. I kept saying “So what if she does that? You’re all about this.” Her focus was so much on trying to outpace this writer that she missed something very obvious — she had skills that surpassed her competition’s skills, and her ideas were unique and much more marketable. She nearly ditched what is now a successful venture because she was so busy trying to compare herself to the other writer. When the light bulb went on, she shined like nobody’s business.

Writers, how and when did you find your confidence? What helped? How long did it take?