In a previous post (Women Need Support to Reenter the Workforce) someone had rightly commented that when reentering the workforce the woman faces the major roadblock of conquering her shaken self-confidence. The doubts and fear of whether she would be able to do it again or with the large career gap is she capable of entering the workforce with confidence. On this topic the importance of positive thinking and attitude cannot be overstressed. The first step towards self-confidence is to believe in yourself.

There is no secret to success. It just needs to be re-discovered. The answer lies within you, how positive can you be towards the action? How motivated can you be to take that action into a real step? How persistent can you be to achieve what you want?

For all of the above to happen you have to have confidence in yourself, a belief in yourself that you can do it. Once you get over the hurdle that is you, the forces around you will come together to assist you towards achieving your goals.

Answer these questions honestly:

  • Why are you stressed? What do you fear?
  • Why are you feeling it? Is it because of lack of self-confidence or your circumstances?
  • What can make you rise above the overwhelming pull of stress / negative emotions?
  • How can you overcome them? Can it be true that you have just created such an environment for yourself?
  • What happens if you drop that negative emotion right now and let only the positives stay with you?
  • Can you do all such things today that make you feel good?

Focus your energy to the positive spectrum and feel good about yourself. Often we are too critical about ourselves and tend to focus on what is not working, what if we shift our perspective to all that is working right?
To be successful you have to have the perception of being successful. The positive energy is much more infectious than a negative one. Engulf yourself in positive emotions and you can conquer the negative energies.

“While the positive state of mind governed by positive emotions can do wonders in realizing one’s aspirations and goals, the negative frame of mind, harshly controlled by negative emotions, can cause havoc and destabilize, dislocate and demoralize a person to unimaginably lowly depths. Positive thinking and high morale can lead one to incredible heights of achievements and success, low morale and pessimistic outlook can drive people to ignoble defeats and tragic failure.”

Always remember that you must feel within yourself and have the self-confidence to have been a person with good life balance. You have been there for your kids or family when they needed you the most and were dependent on you. Your sacrifice or decision to be with them rather than at an office should instill within you the confidence you need to exude during the interview or even before – while making a job search or career transition plan.

You have to think on these terms;

  • I have to know what I truly want. I will invest my time now to work towards finding my dream career or job.
  • I will spare this time every day for the next few days or until I find out what satisfies me the most.
  • I will talk about my future plans with my family, friends and see how viable it seems. Perhaps they have some related suggestions.
  • I will have complete confidence in myself and my abilities; I will focus more on my strengths and plan on how to strengthen them further. My strengths will overpower my shortcomings.
  • I will persist with faith and confidence.

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
– Frank Lloyd Wright