One of the qualities that every entrepreneur should strive to build is influence. That is the only thing that could actually get people interested in following you, doing business with you and giving you their trust.

One strong quality that directly affects one’s influence is their level of confidence in their idea or mission.

Although a lot of people are shaped by bad experiences and have grown with really shattered self-esteem, there is a way out of the mess, and I’ll tell you just how.

Confidence is a state of mind!

It all first starts as a thought, “oh, I don’t think I will pull off this sale.”

Then it goes on to your emotions and you start to feel some emotions as a result of those thoughts. Maybe fear, anxiety, etc.

And it all then finally manifests fully in your behaviour or actions that you start to experience shaky hands, racing minds, fast breathing, etc.

Your client then starts to feel uncomfortable around you specifically based on the “vibes” he’s receiving as a result of your actions.

If you didn’t pull that sale off, it was never because you didn’t know how to, but because your mind actually affected the outcome.

So, your mind is the first point where you begin to deal with esteem issues.

1. Think back to where you believe that thought originated

We, humans, are shaped by experiences that we have come to accept as reality even if it was true or not. But just because it happened, we automatically took it as truth.

Think back to any point where you first got the idea that you weren’t good enough as an entrepreneur, or you wouldn’t be successful. Because every action or reality that we have come to believe started from a specific experience or series of experiences. So, do the thinking and meet me in the next step.

2. Question it!

Ask very important questions like, “Is this true?” “Is this valid?” “Haven’t someone else pulled this off?” “Can’t I do the same?” “Why?” Then, beware of thoughts like “Oh, I just said I’m not good enough” coming up again as you ask yourself those questions. Those are just conclusions and not really questions that tackle that thought.

Do all in your power to really question that thought. Question it and then write down your conclusion. And if you do, you will come to realize that a lot of things that you have come to believe were so just because someone somewhere made us believe that it was our reality.

3. Practice affirmations

Finally, it is time to tackle those thoughts when you have realized that they weren’t really true, and were just unnecessary hindrances to your self-esteem.

And for a very long time now, we have come to understand that we can actually affect our lives by affecting our state of mind. And one of the best ways is to tell yourself positive stuff. However, there is already an article you could read up that covers this.

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4. Set goals and pull that off

Just like influencing our minds, this also makes us believe that we could achieve anything that we put our minds to. Set goals, no matter how small and celebrate your victory, and then set another bigger goal as you rinse and repeat.

Building your confidence is something that takes time if you are serious about getting it right. You may fail at times, but don’t let that define you. You may have bad days, but have an abundance mindset – more is on its way.