A group of us was meeting the other day to report in on the recent results of our career planning group. We meet monthly as a follow-up to a Career Planning Program offered here in Tucson AZ. The participants are all involved in mid-life transitions. The key concept we acknowledged needing to be present to make a successful transition is “Self Confidence.” So next question, where do we get it from?
The one woman who has become re-employed spoke of the power and value of engaging in a formal learning process to increase her confidence. Because she could do that, there were probably many other things she could do. It also increased the employment options she was considering
Another person talked about the value of Self acceptance and when asked how she arrived at that, she responded “giving myself permission to continue to explore.” Understand that career search and change, especially at mid-life, is not something that happens over night.
The third response to the question resulted in the response “managing to do what I say I’ll do every day.” Personal accountability is something that others value and makes you feel good about yourself. When you make a commitment – do it!
So, in summary – the key to maintaining or developing self confidence begins with these tips:
- Discover that you love learning and are capable of mastering new information
- Provide structure to your exploration and maximize the benefits of the exploration phase of career search – a legitimate and necessary phase for those who have done the same work for a long period of time.
- Be accountable – do what you say you’ll do and your confidence will increase on a daily basis, especially when you are involved in an extended job search campaign.
I welcome your suggestions. What works for you?
