On our confidence and assertiveness courses we frequently find that one or two people have had an extended period of absence from work, or have been out of work for some time. For these people, they describe themselves as having lost their confidence. Sometimes, they return to work and things are not how they were - sometimes processes have changed, staff have changed, or they feel like an outsider. For those who return to work after unemployment, it can feel like you’re starting right back at the bottom of the pile again. This can be hard and unexpected; especially if you are someone who is normally pretty confident.

It can be really quite difficult to regain your footing and return to work as normal. There are a few ideas below that can help you to make the transition as smooth as possible.

1. Expectations: If you have positive expectations about your return to work, this can really help you to get through the initial few days and actually can serve to settle your nerves and put you in a good frame of mind to plan how you will approach it. If you’ve already started back at work, then you can still make the decision to expect a good experience going forward. In my opinion this step is vital - if you have negative expectations (for example that it is going to be difficult) then you are unlikely to be able to think clearly enough to help yourself plan your return or your re-integration.
2.  Ask for help: The last thing you want to do is try and do everything by yourself. Find someone who you trust - either a mentor, a supportive partner, a colleague at work or even your line manager or boss. A lot of companies these days will have a return to work interview, or if you are new, will have a new starters meeting. If not, then ask for one. Use these sessions to ask for support and voice any concerns you have about your return.
3. Plan: This is something that most people overlook - they simply return to work without a plan of action and find life pretty tough. Think about the things that concern you - if it is going back to work with a team who may have gotten used to life without you, then why not organise a team get together outside work. Maybe to celebrate your return - most people will be really happy to spend some time with you and normally this takes some of the issues you’re facing away. The same can apply to a new team you are entering - why not organise something a day or so into your new role and get to know people away from work. Sometimes there may be issues with other colleagues and to find this out when you return to work can be much more difficult. If you can, organise appointments or meetings with these people and get together to discuss your concerns or your re-integration. Most of the time, people find these appointments very daunting, but their experience when they find the courage to do this, is that the people are really nice and supportive of them.
4. Employ someone to help you: A Life Coach or other therapist or specialist can really help you to put together your plan of action and talk through your fears and concerns. For some people it is an extremely daunting thing to find the confidence to return to work after an absence. Understand that you are not alone in this experience and that there are ways for you to succeed on your own, or with help of a professional.

If you are faced with this situation, then don’t enter into it without some planning up front. Find someone who will help you, either someone from work or employ a professional. Expect good things - there’s no point expecting doom and gloom otherwise that’s all you’ll find.

See also: 10 Top Tips for building Confidence

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Technorati Tags: assertiveness courses, Celebrate, Change, coach, colleague, confidence, experience, fear, frame of mind, good experience, Life, mentor, nerves, organise, Plan, supportive partner, unemployment, work

Following the theme of my popular post 10 Top Tips for Being Assertive Without Being Aggressive here are my 10 top tips for becoming super-confident (without becoming arrogant).

Many of my clients have becoming more confident on their list of reasons for wanting my life coaching services. For most of them, they can remember a time in their lives where they felt confident, but then life gave them a few knocks, or they met someone (boss, partner, etc) who dominated them and then before they new it they’d lost all the confidence they ever had.

The 10 tips below are all ways in which you can move towards being super-confident, but helping you to remain a nice person and keep all your friends and family!

1. Body Language: In the post 10 Top Tips for Being Assertive Without Being Aggressive I mentioned something called steepling, which is where you press only the tips of your fingers together in a prayer position. You can google a search for this for more details. Also in body language, it’s really important how you stand or sit. The “typical” position for standing involves: having your feet slightly apart toes pointing outwards slightly; your back straight, shoulders relaxed and back and head held high. Then we get to the hands - in confidence stances these are the most difficult! My preferred way is to have my fingers in my pockets with my thumbs showing, or you can hook your thumb in your pocket and have your fingers out. If you do not have pockets, then try holding one hand with the other behind your back - you’ll notice the Royal Family tend to do this as they roam about meeting people. Bear in mind that some cultures have different body language meanings… A wonderful resource for this is “The Definitive Book of Body Language” by Allan and Barbara Pease. The thing about using body language in this way is that it can help you to feel confident just by changing your posture.
2. Looking people in the eyes is a great way to appear confident. For most un-confident people this is incredibly difficult to do - for fear of over-staring. The best way to do this is to look from one eye to the other then down to the mouth then back to the first eye (a triangle). It’s a way of preventing yourself staring at people. More details again in the Allan and Barbara Pease book.
3. For many people their lack of confidence comes from a lack of self-esteem. How you feel about yourself can restrict your ability to be confident. Ways to improve this will be covered in a future article, which I’ll link to here. As well as these, you can begin to build your self-esteem by asking 5 people who know you to write down 5 positive qualities they see in you. To make up your 5, pick at least 1 from each of the following: friends, family, work colleagues/business contacts - e.g. 1 friend, 2 family, 2 work colleagues. Explain only that you would like 5 positive qualities from them, there is no need to go into any detail beyond that. The beauty of this exercise is that the people you ask can do whatever they want to and you’ll be surprised by what comes back! People often recognise qualities in you that you will never see or acknowledge yourself.
4. Affirmations can really help to build your confidence - these are mantras that you repeat to yourself over and over again. Here are some examples:
   • I am a strong, confident person
   • I am confident when meeting new people
   • I am cool, calm and confident when under pressure

   The important features of affirmations are that they are written in the present tense (if you start with “I am” you’ll be on the right track); they are phrased positively - words like not and don’t have no place in affirmations; they are written in your own words - if you find a good affirmation from someone else, phrase it in your own way. If you want feedback on your affirmations, then leave me a comment and I’ll reply with my thoughts. The best way to use your affirmations is to write them down (have a maximum of 3 on the go at any time) and stick them to the bathroom mirror. That way, when you clean your teeth morning and night, you can read them and repeat them to yourself. Aim for about 20 repetitions of each one, it’s better if you speak them, but that can be difficult if you have a toothbrush in your mouth. In the beginning they will feel like a lie, but after about 3-6 weeks, you will begin to notice that you are believing these thoughts about yourself.

5. Find people you think of as confident and begin to notice things about them, such as how they stand or how they speak. Are these things you can copy and begin to implement to build your confidence? If you get chance, ask them what they think about their confidence - some of these people will think they are not that confident! Ask them what they think about your confidence, do they have any advice that can help you? There are very few people who will not help you if you ask them - most people love to give their opinion too.
6. Speak more loudly - obviously don’t shout! For some people speaking more slowly can help - especially if you are prone to mumbling. If you are doing public speaking though, it can help you to speak loudly and a little bit quicker - it makes you seem excited about your subject. Consider the pitch and tone of your voice - if you have access to record yourself speaking with friends you’ll have a better idea of how loud you are and what you sound like. Perhaps consider getting feedback from someone you trust. It takes time to change these things, but it’s really worth it.
7. Be mindful of your feelings - if you notice that you don’t feel confident or you feel frightened then ask yourself, “what is making me feel this way?” Usually, there is some really good personal learning from this exercise. If you get no response, then a great way to break out of this feeling and feel more confident is to…
8. Fake it Til You Make It! This is vital - in order for you to change your confidence levels, you are going to have to do a fair bit of this. The previous tips will help you with this - you can take huge strides forward by observing your body language and tone of voice. At first all of this seems contrived and your affirmations will feel like a lie. If you can spend about 3 weeks making these changes you will begin to see changes in the way people around you react to you. When you seem confident, people will take you more seriously, will be more inclined to listen to what you have to say and may even approach you for your opinion or advice. It’s important to realise that most people fake it til they make it all the time. Most seemingly confident people have their own concerns about confidence, however they instinctively use this process to get them through tricky situations etc. As we begin to speak and act confidently, even if we don’t feel it, the brain will eventually catch up and begin to think confidently, you’ll start to feel confident and then you’re really on your way to being super-confident.
9. Start with easy stuff - get some confidence that you can improve your confidence. Don’t suddenly decide you are going to do some public speaking straight away - that may work, but chances are it’ll put you off for life. How about first of all you make a point in a meeting in front of your colleagues? A challenge I personally use is to try and speak to someone every day who I don’t know. If you do this a lot at work, then make a point of doing this outside of work. This is a great way to improve your confidence in talking with people - and practising small talk.
10. Set some realistic timescales - don’t expect to change your world over night. You’ve spent a long time feeling low in confidence and this isn’t going to happen tomorrow. If you can stick to a process of change and use these tips, you’ll find that after a few months you’re doing things that today, you don’t believe you can ever do. Every few weeks, celebrate how far you have come along your journey and re-evaluate your goals.

It can be hard work making these changes, especially if you have little confidence. I’d recommend to those people that you find someone who can help you as you grow and change - there is a lot to be said for finding someone who can believe in you until you can believe in yourself. In the long run, the journey will not seem as hard as you thought it would be. Remember that confident people are not normally arrogant, although that is certainly a consideration. If you are a nice person, there is little chance that your new found confidence will lead people to think any less of you.

Technorati Tags: Allan Pease, Assertive, Barbara Pease, body language, Celebrate, confidence, fear, feelings, goal, journey, self-esteem, thoughts, tips

The people I encounter in my coaching work never cease to amaze and astound me. The most common theme amongst people who make something of their lives (by their own definition of course) is that they always use their circumstances to their advantage. Be it ill-health, lack of money, lack of education or skill, whatever their circumstances they do what they want to do anyway; nothing stands in their way.

I’ve certainly met plenty of people who are the opposite - in my network marketing days I encountered so many people for whom their circumstances were the reason they chose not to succeed. Ultimately it all boils down to one thing… EXCUSES!

Life is littered with examples of people who have made fortunes and built incredible companies, organisations and charities in spite of their circumstances and upbringing. To them, it is just a part of life, something to be celebrated and used to motivate them towards their own greatness.

Today, I’d like to ask you which of your circumstances is your excuse for not moving toward your goals and dreams? Ultimately it doesn’t matter what your excuse is - it will prevent you from achieving what you set out to do.

Start by celebrating your circumstances - after all you would not be you today without them!

Technorati Tags: Celebrate, circumstances, Coaching, dreams, excuse, EXCUSES, goal, Goals, goals and dreams, greatness, health, ill health, lack, money, upbringing

A colleague of mine from a few years ago gave me a wonderful idea for New Year and I’d like to share that here. At midnight as the year changes click your fingers. Then the following year do the same, as the year changes click your fingers. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to quickly review your year and remember all the goals and promises you made to yourself for that year. It’s also incredible to find yourself clicking your fingers again so soon after you last did it! I recommend that if you decide to do this, you personalise it to yourself - for example, I make 1 or 2 key promises or goals to myself and then next time I click I can review, celebrate or fix if necessary.

I hope you will find this simple thing as rewarding as I have over the last few years.

On behalf of Aquarius Coaching, please accept my wishes for an incredible year ahead and we look forward to working with so many of you and your goals, dreams and aspirations in the times ahead.

Kind regards, Dan O’Neil

Technorati Tags: Celebrate, Clicks, Goals, midnight, New Year, promises

I’ve been playing with the idea that life is my playground for a few weeks now and it’s really been quite liberating for me. I’m finding that I’m meeting challenges and new experiences with a refreshed vigour and I’m really enjoying all that life has to offer.

When I look about and consider the people who I admire, or consider to be living life, rather than simply existing, they appear to be treating life in this way. The playground is a safe place to explore and discover yourself, your environment, other people and ways of communicating and interacting with all these things.

Children have a wonderful approach to life, especially in their early years and this way of playing, exploring, developing and learning is something that I try and use in my adult life and growth. There’s an element to this whole process that I am not taking myself too seriously, if I make mistakes, then that’s all part of play and discovery. When I do something well, I am able to celebrate the achievement and when others do something well I find joy in celebrating their success with them.

So I encourage you to think of your own life as your playground and to enjoy all the experiences and learnings that it has to offer.

Technorati Tags: Celebrate, Communication, existing, experience, joy, learning, live life, playground