Introduction: The Power of Words

We've all been there.

Staring at the elevator doors, rehearsing that pitch in our heads one last time.

Or maybe it's the cursor, blinking incessantly at us from a blank email page.

In these moments of hesitation, what we need is something more potent than a double shot of espresso or more useful than the Superman Pose.

What if I told you the key to getting more confidence in the moment is simpler than you think?

The answer is to ‘maintain your mantra’—a confidence mantra, to be exact. Hold tight; you're about to go from zero to hero in self-assurance.

The Psychology Behind a Confidence Mantra

Before you label this as to woo-woo, let's get analytical. Mantras aren't just for yoga retreats and meditation camps; they have a solid psychological backing.

According to cognitive-behavioral theory, our thoughts influence our emotions, which in turn affect our behavior.

A well-chosen confidence mantra can rewire our thought patterns, creating a domino effect that ends with improved performance. You don't need a Ph.D. to see that a simple sentence could be your ticket to better decision-making, effective problem-solving, and yes, killer presentations.

Finding Your Confidence Mantra: It's Personal

Now, don't just Google "best confidence mantra" and pick the first result.

Personalizing your mantra adds another layer of potency to it. Start with what you genuinely struggle with. Is it public speaking?

Use a mantra like, "My voice matters, and people are listening."

Is it taking risks? Try, "Failure is just a stepping stone to success." The more personal it is, the more it resonates, the more effective it becomes. It's your secret weapon, so own it.

Confidence Mantra for Professionals: Specific Phrases for the Workplace

Navigating the professional arena is akin to walking through a minefield. One wrong move, and boom! So here are some work-specific confidence mantras for you to arm yourself with:

• "I bring value to every meeting."

• "My expertise is my currency."

• "I seize opportunities, not just coffee cups."

• "I'm the solution, not the problem."

• "Every project is a chance to excel."

• "I am resilient in the face of challenges."

• "My contributions make a difference."

• "I navigate change with ease and poise."

• "I'm not just a participant; I'm a contender."

• "Today's efforts are tomorrow's achievements."

• "Courage fuels my decision-making."

• "I cultivate a positive work environment."

• "I grow through what I go through."

• "My skills are unique and valuable."

• "Every obstacle is an opportunity in disguise."

How to Utilize Your Mantra: Practice Makes Perfect

So you've got your mantra—now what? A confidence mantra is not a "set it and forget it" deal. It needs nurturing.

Start your day by repeating your mantra; say it out loud or write it down. Create a daily reminder on your phone or post sticky notes on your bathroom mirror.

Points for saying it four or five times a day, at different times.

The key is to make it so ingrained in your routine that you start to live it. Because what's the point of having a mantra if you're not going to live by it?

The Ripple Effect: Impact on Career Growth

Don't underestimate the incremental gains from employing a confidence mantra. Over time, these small boosts in confidence can lead to significant career milestones.

Whether it's landing a high-profile client or finally getting that promotion, your mantra-fueled confidence sets the stage for long-term success.

And who knows, you might become the mantra evangelist at your workplace. Who wouldn't want to be the office guru of good vibes?

Must-Haves to Cement Your Confidence Mantra

Alright, let's talk gear. Yes, there are actual products designed to take your mantra to the next level:

• Confidence Journal: Jot down how you felt before and after using your confidence mantra. It's like a fitness tracker but for your ego.

• Confidence & Courage Journal Prompts: Never start at a blank journal page again with these excellent prompts to help change your brain and help the confidence practice stick.

• Motivational Desk Plaque: Forget 'World's Best Boss.' How about a plaque that shouts your mantra at you all day?

Conclusion: Your Journey from Doubt to Empowerment

There you have it, a simple exercise for transforming your professional life with a simple yet powerful tool: a confidence mantra.

So the next time you find yourself not feeling so confident, professionally or personally, remember this—the strength to break through barriers and reach new heights is just a mantra away.

So go ahead, embrace the power of words.

Don’t you just love getting a new planner? So much possibility - so much promise - so much opportunity to fill those blank pages with tasks and to-do’s, organizing the facets of your life.  

All a planner really does is help you to implement a framework, a system - an approach that lets you parse your life into manageable pieces. A planner helps you to lasso pieces of time, wrangling them into defined spaces where productivity can flourish. 

That’s all good. Funny thing is - even a blank piece of paper can be a planner. So a planner itself helps you to skip the step of how to organize your tasks, projects, lists, and goals.

It’s important to do your research when it comes to committing to a planning system - and to continue experimenting and refining how you use it.

How using a panda planner helps

Where the Panda Planner really shines is its ability to help you nourish and grow positive life habits, in addition to supporting you in your time management of those daily/weekly/monthly tasks and projects.

How does the Panda Planner (no matter which version you have) help you do this?

By creating several defined spaces with writing prompts in your daily and/or weekly pages to track those habits.

And in that way, the Panda Planner is really more of a brain training system in addition to a planner.

The Panda Planner Daily (blue, please) is the one I started with - it’s smaller than your full-page layout and offers monthly and weekly sections which are great to have a bigger-picture view of your time and your goals.

You can also pick up and start with this planner at any point in the year - it’s undated. Which means it’s awesome.

No more waiting until January 1 to implement that goal to get organized or buying a yearly planner with months already unusable.

After experimenting and refining my own process, I did move over to the Panda Planner Via - I love the letter-size book with Project sections - and areas in the book to flesh out those projects so you can schedule tasks and continually move things forward.

But how do you know the Panda Planner is right for you?

There are so many new and great planners out there. And most planning systems will work if you work them.

But you’ll know if the Panda Planner is for you if:

1. You’re new to a planner and organization system or you’re not quite feeling it with your current system.

2. You’re looking to keep yourself accountable.

3. You’re looking to build specific positive habits (specifically, a meditation/mindfulness practice, an exercise habit, gratitude practice, or optimism) into your routine.

Remember above when I said any system works if you work it? That is the key - working the system.

Spending at least 10 minutes in the morning as a routine utilizing that space in your Planner to lay out your day, capture your gratitude, and write down an affirmation or confidence mantra (this book has a year’s worth of great ones).

And magnify the power of these new habits by building upon the practice each day.

Panda also makes this AMAZING poster that helps you track by weeks. It reminds me of the habit-building approach called ‘Don’t break the chain’ (Jerry Seinfeld is known for using this early in his career to write) - at its core, daily marking of habit-doing in and of itself is a motivator.

The poster provides a constant - large - visual piece of motivation. Once you start marking workday progress, you’re not going to want to ‘break the chain’ and will keep going as you gauge your daily progress within the year.

How do I know the Panda Planner is right for me?

It’s not for everyone. But if you’re not looking to build positive habits (who isn’t?), or if daily affirmations are not your thing...I get it. It’s just important to know that going in.

Some aspects of this planner won’t appeal to everyone, and although you can track any new habit with this planner, there are so many other planning systems available that might be a better fit. (You may want to check out a more straightforward system like the no-frills Artfan.) 

Panda Planner Hacks for ideas and tasks

One additional piece of my workflow that has been really useful in my organizational practice is adding these large tabbed sticky notes as thought-capture areas.

I use one note and color for admin tasks and keep a running list. At the end of each week if there are tasks left on the list (I make it a habit of scheduling these out as I go) allows me to capture all those little pieces that float through my head at any point of the day. 

I use another note and color to capture ideas (hello, Strengthsfinder top result of Ideation...I need somewhere to put all those ideas!) - again, getting them out of my brain onto the paper.

Writing the ideas down doesn’t mean I’ll act on any of them soon, but I can then look at those notes, schedule items from them, and carry the notes forward as I turn planner pages. 

The key to how to use the Panda Planner (or any planner)

Because it is a system approach, Panda Planner publishes excellent videos on how to get started. And they are great...for getting started.

But after watching those videos, my answer to how to use a Panda Planner? 

By using it. Circular answer, I know. But really, it’s the answer. 

The Panda Planner can be a habit-building powerhouse.

But only if you can sit down at your workspace every morning and spend the extra ten minutes to get your mind right and build those habits. 

And then spending five minutes in the evening - the ‘evening routine’ allows you to recap these pieces - much like what we do in our confidence-building practice of The Three Things. And then thinking positively about getting better tomorrow. 

Give Panda a try.

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What to read next: The Top Ten (Well, 11) Reasons You Need the Panda Planner.

What to read next: How One Small Hack Can 10X Your Results

What to read next: 5 Productive Things to Try When You Can’t Concentrate

how to begin building confidence at work

You want to build your confidence at work.

You know more confidence is vital for your future, your career.

You also know you don’t want to feel this way anymore…shrinking away from opportunities, holding yourself back, not speaking up.

Seems like a big, overwhelming thing to tackle.

Where in the world do you start?

Start here

With a baby step. A small, deliberate, prescriptive action.

That's what I ask my clients to take. 

Not teenager-size steps, and definitely not adult.

Building confidence, especially at work, is all about taking action...any action.  

Not All Action is Moving Forward

I used to have this habit:  When I wanted to learn something new, I'd do some research about the topic. Like most people.  Like my clients.

Often, my clients will have started their research on building confidence at work with Google.

Searching “How to build confidence at work” or “How to have confident communication.”

And researching IS a good place to start. 

And me, I’d start with research.

And then I'd research some more.  Capture articles, bookmark Facebook posts, collect items of interest. 

And this could go on...for days.

Guess how much progress I made on learning what I wanted to learn? 

A bit. I could tell you a lot about what I learned from all the crud I read. 

But I didn't know how to DO it.

Yet I felt so productive!

I'd get stuck in this form of analysis paralysis: thinking about learning something new. 

Collecting information.

But the real problem was that the never-ending research felt like progress.

It was a trap.

Designed to keep me stuck.

And I fell right into it.

Think of Confidence as a Skill

Same goes for learning any skill. 

Information, when retained, equals knowledge. 

Knowledge is good.

But it's in the doing where skill is built.  Competence.

I find this happens often with my clients - they come to me because they've been in the analysis paralysis part for too long.  They've acquired some knowledge - maybe gathered some tips for more confidence at work. 

But they aren't DOING anything differently. 

Or if they did try something different, they did it once or twice. It didn’t stick.

Maybe they aren’t taking action due to fear. Or due to not knowing what to do - which is its own form of fear.

With this type of inconsistent action, there’s not enough progress to gain anything resembling momentum.

Jen Sincero, in her great book You Are A Badass, says it this way:

"If you want the new life you say you want, you have to do the work instead of just studying and discussing and wishing and wanting."

Wow.  ‘The new life you say you want.’ That sentence alone kind of calls you out, doesn’t it. You say you want it, so why aren’t your actions supporting the change?

Confidence comes from practicing confident actions, not just reading about confidence.  

Reading IS a first step.  Reading, learning, thinking...

Then doing.

It's a lot easier to conquer the fear that holds you back by taking a small step towards the goal - cementing a quick win - acknowledging what went well from the practice (and being objective about what didn't) and then doing it again.  

What is a next small step forward for you?

Need some ideas on what a small action might look like?  I put together a few right here:  How to Be Confident at Work

Another idea for a small action:  Get the book You Are A Badass. 

Then read it.

Then do:  take action.

Jen writes with such wit and creativity (with an occasional cuss word, keeping it real) - you will be able to leap giant buildings with ease when you're done. 

Or think you can. 

And honestly, that's just as good.

“Everything in your life follows your behavior. You choose your behavior and the universe returns in likeness. The more bold and aligned your behavior, the more abundant the outcome.” - Ben Hardy

Ready to Develop Your Confidence at Work?

Are you ready to take action? Not just any action.

Not just random action, but guided action that helps you build those confidence-at-work muscles?

Good. I’ve created a five-day challenge to get more confidence at work. It’s like you + me meeting every day for 5 days to start you on the path for more confidence at work.

Do this and you’ll be well on your way. Even part of it.

Go.

Get in the Challenge here!

Connecting a network of people is one of those activities - almost like keeping a resume updated - that we tend to put off and off.

And off.

Or maybe the need to work on your networking connections doesn’t come across your radar at all.

And then one day, after a job loss or a business opportunity, you find the network you need right now -- the professional and social infrastructure we could leverage to support us --  doesn’t exist.

 Stop thinking of networking as a ‘singular’ activity and start thinking of it as a way to continue connection while creating new relationships and strengthening existing ones. Reframe networking activities as ways to connect with other professionals. the act of connecting can be the reward itself.  

 I didn’t come up with that phrase, ‘build a network before you need it.’

 That’s from author J. Kelly Hoey who wrote the book Build Your Dream Network.

 But it’s the perfect catchphrase, isn’t it?

 As a Leadership Coach who often coaches on building the confidence skill, I have found that confident professionals consistently network.

 And those that lack confidence, don’t.

  How Confident Leaders Socially Engage

1. They view building a network as a positive, necessary, mutually-beneficial, and interesting activity.

2. They find (or create) opportunities to build authentic professional connections.

3. They ask open-ended questions, not viewing this as ‘small talk’ but as a way to learn about others or find a mutual interest.

4. They know most people, including themselves, like to be asked about their expertise.

5.  They actively participate on LinkedIn and/or other professional industry platforms and social groups.

6. They view networking as a way to not only connect but to contribute (‘what can I give’ v. ‘what can I get’). And because they have a positive view of networking, they actively seek opportunities to do it instead of actively avoiding it.

 I’ve coached some leaders to come up with a strategic networking plan: an approach that involves creating a map (formal or informal), establishing a baseline and defining gaps in connections so that they can seek to fill those gaps, effectively rounding out their networks with a diversity of thought and opportunity.

 What exactly is networking?

“Networking needs a rebranding,” says Hoey.  She says we seem to be stuck with this outdated version of what build a network really is: making connections so you can benefit from them.

Yikes.  No wonder we avoid it.

The dictionary tells us networking is an exchange of information or services among individuals groups specifically the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.

....snore.

Hoey offers a reframe by taking the root word ‘net’ for inspiration to offer the view of networking as an ongoing process of establishing and strengthening relationships, not some one-time activity that we do in order to get something (although that's what it can become when we wait to do it).

Why would someone avoid building a network?

First, it’s the way we view it. So let’s consider additional ways to productively reframe the way we think about it. 

I like to think of networking or building an online infrastructure as the act of ‘connecting.’ Susan Cain first introduced me to this concept from her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.

Instead of viewing the activity of networking as akin to making small talk, challenging yourself to find areas of connection.

Also, for us introverts and ambiverts out there, actively engaging online is a time where it’s all right -- beneficial -- to act more extroverted than you really are.

For example, I just had a client who found himself proverbially flat-footed when he got laid off because he didn’t have a LinkedIn profile set up.

He then had to spend precious job-hunting time creating the profile, connecting with those he knew and building up that online presence.

Did you know about 95% of recruiters use LinkedIn to source candidates? That could translate to 19 out of 20 open job requisitions where recruiters are proactively looking for candidates!

Plus, you can build your network somewhat passively...connections on LI can come to you.

I don’t subscribe to the approach that I already have to know the person if someone wishes to connect with me. 

I realize for some that’s a necessary filter. For me, I like to connect with others if there may be a mutually-beneficial reason for doing so.

What about the social networks you already have?

There’s more than one type of network, and chances are you have a few networks already in existence. So where do you start when you think of leveraging a network?

 Your Existing Network

One way is to leverage the immediate network you have - although you might not view it as a network: those in your personal life that support you, both personally and professionally. 

My cousin, a VP, calls his immediate network his ‘Board of Directors’ -- that group of people you already call to bounce ideas off of, share with when something great (or bad) happens in your life.  They’re the ones you likely go to for advice or guidance or input when you’re mulling over a big decision.

 Your Peer Network

How about your colleagues as a peer network?

 When I coach leaders, a common point of discussion as that coveted skill of ‘political agility,’ (similarly known as organizational agility) --  being able to navigate within a company, making visible connections, exerting influence at specific levels, and getting things done through both formal and informal channels. 

 Not only can increasing your organizational agility strengthen your cross-collaboration skills at work but practicing the skill can raise your visibility organically and expose you to additional opportunities.

 Your Former Colleagues

An additional type of network is the larger group of professionals you’ve collected along your journey - and that's where the tool of LinkedIn becomes so invaluable. This network is comprised of former colleagues, the occasional neighbor, and others you’ve connected with on LinkedIn.

It’s ripe for leverage and is the network that, if you nurture it, you’ll likely be able to count on in a natural way when you need them, either for information, conversation, connection, and/or introductions.

Building a ‘Defined Purpose’ Network

Last but not least, a topic I've coached on more than once in the past couple of years is people looking to build a network for specific purposes.

Think of a young executive on a steep career trajectory who desires a sounding board that includes varying perspectives (thought diversity).

 A network can provide that outsider clarity in situations that those who are involved in or even at the same company don’t possess. 

How to build one? Define your end goal in creating one first.

I was recently asked to join a Defined Purpose Network on LinkedIn. The woman who created it did so by doing a quick search for women in leadership businesses in her LinkedIn connections, invited us all to a message thread, and bam! Instant network group. 

We all chat at least once a week in this group. 

We share ideas, resources, and invitations. It’s been great to be a part of the action.

 All the woman who initiated the network wanted was a group she could refer business to and have a conversation with…and look what it became.

 What are some easy ways to begin building a social network?

What is neutral networking?

How to start ‘neutrally’ networking; What’s that, you ask? Intentionally creating passive connections while you’re doing what you do.

I look at it as the least risky way to network, hence the term ‘neutral.’

Just think about how you network today - the things you’re already doing. 

For example, when you have cross-collaboration projects at work, use the opportunity of working together to take the conversation one step beyond the work.

A simple inquiry about another’s career might be the start of a real business connection. How did you end up in this role? What do you like best about it? What brought you to XYZ company?

Start a conversation, learn about your colleague.

Chatting the company cafeteria line? Bingo. I say that counts as networking. So you may already be actively engaging more than you know...

How to ‘Level 1’ Network

Join the conversation on LinkedIn: read, explore, comment on others’ posts. Doing this automatically raises your visibility as LinkedIn may add the post you comment on into others’ feeds.

Start a conversation by asking a question on LinkedIn (sensing a theme here?).

Join one of the many groups already available on LInkedIn.  Find some groups around professional topics you might enjoy. Do #1 and #2 above in the group. 

Ask a colleague who’s an acquaintance to coffee or to chat and talk about the projects you’re each working on.

Contact a former colleague you’ve kept somewhat in touch with or wanted to. Ask how they’re doing and what they’re working on. 

Read my article: Building Confidence and a Dream Network where I share my results from some of these ideas in action!

What is ‘Level 2’ networking?

Well, if there is “Level 1” networking there must be level 2… This type of social engagement is a little more extrusive only because it will require you to walk into what might be a room full of strangers.

Industry events - this one’s been great for me. Management, IT, accounting, marketing...all these fields have professional organizations made to further your knowledge and craft. Attending a conference or continuing education course is a great place to expand your network.

Find the publishers, authors, brands you like and sign up for their email lists to find events near you. I’ve made several professional connections this way - some of whom I still keep in touch with or could reach back out to if need be.

If you still find yourself avoiding, try this tip from Susan Cain, author of Quiet: she suggests

setting a quota for yourself in terms of a goal within your socials.

That’s probably enough to get you started… started on viewing your network a bit differently, as opportunities to connect with a give-and-get handshake (the best kind of handshake).

 Don’t forget the ‘getting’ part… it’s okay to receive from your network too. But let’s not make that the only goal.

 You can do this.

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 What to read next:

Confidence and Building Your Dream Network

Resources in this post:

Quick Guide: The 17 Keys to Confidence at Work

Book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking

Interview clip by Marie Forleo with Susan Cain on Networking

Book: Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships in a Hyper-Connected World

Course: Build your Dream Network at Creative Live