Inspiring confidence

A lot of people who seek out my services are looking to increase their confidence, for all sorts of reasons and in many different areas. Some people see themselves as generally lacking in confidence; some have low self-esteem and low self-belief; others need to raise their confidence in a specific area of their life, perhaps within a relationship, at work, or for a particular event.

We are all confident about something, whether it's a belief, the way we raise our children, political allegiance (well, maybe not so much these days...), whether we like chocolate, or maybe just being confident that we're not confident. The trick is to understand this and transfer this confidence to the area which needs it. Lack of confidence is just an illusion created by fear, more often than not unfounded fear.

One area where people frequently lack confidence is in public speaking, presenting to an audience. I managed to raise my confidence in this area through being a member of The Athena Network, being in a situation where I had to stand up and talk about my business, and then going on to present on different topics. In fact, I can now confidently say that I really enjoy it. When I went on a workshop with Partners With You, and watched Neil Roberts strutt his stuff, I wanted to be up front, not in the audience.

Many people choose Toastmasters to learn how to perform infront of a crowd and get used to writing presentations. I also heard last week of an apparently fantastic Platform Presentation Skills course by Christopher Howard - certainly a considerable financial investment, but also an investment for your business.

But if you want inspiration to raise your confidence, see that anything is possible, look at these 2 videos:





If they can do it, you can.

A celebration and a lesson in honesty

Sometimes, the simplest of things can teach you a great and memorable lesson in life, without pain or strife. The other day, I witnessed this unfolding for an 18/19 year old lad at The Drawingroom. It was early evening, and he was sitting outside waiting to have a coffee with a friend, when he heard something drop to the floor when someone walked by. He didn't pay attention immediately, but when he looked up, he saw a bundle of money on the ground. Picking it up, he found that it amounted to about £350, and when his friend returned, they decided to hand it in to The Drawingroom in the hope that the owner would enquire inside when he came back to look for it.

I happened to be there and had noticed someone I know walk past a few minutes earlier, and when I then saw him striding urgently back through the cobbled courtyard, I realised the money must belong to him. He was over the moon that someone had not only found it, but hadn't decided to pocket it. He had actually seen the young lad counting the money with his friend and didn't know how he was going to approach them. He thanked the boy and handed him a £20 note from the bundle of money.

It was a really great feeling to witness this event. We were so relieved that the money had been dropped outside The Drawingroom, and not on the High Street, where it is far more likely to have disappeared into someone's pocket. Richard, my partner, and owner of The Drawingroom, was proud that his two young customers had been so honest, and also rewarded them with free coffees. When they left, our young hero said that it had been a life-changing event for him, that he had learnt that honesty has its own reward and he felt a little taller for it.