The views expressed by the business participants are their own.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
That famous quote from South African President Nelson Mandela is one of my favorites. No matter what goal I am trying to achieve, nothing seems as insurmountable as what Mandela was able to do – ending apartheid in South Africa and peacefully transforming the country into a majority rule. Well, he did. One step at a time, with no guarantee that you will succeed.
There are many factors that go into being a successful entrepreneur, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that believing in yourself is one of them. Confidence is what allows you to overcome obstacles and survive problems. It’s also contagious – if you believe in yourself and your work, others will too.
Such self-confidence can be seen as something you have or don’t have, like brown hair or a dislike of cilantro. But that’s not true – it can be built. Here is the way.
Related: 10 Things You Can Do to Boost Your Self-Confidence
Set achievable goals for yourself
As humans, we tend to be overconfident about our abilities. As Harvard Business Review put it, “we want to feel good about ourselves not only about our accomplishments but also about our aspirations. Therefore, when we test our abilities in making goals, we tend to over-give.”
Although it can be beneficial to set long-term goals, the consequences can be dangerous. False hope syndrome, or setting unrealistic expectations that lead to a cycle of failure and renewed effort, can cause a significant drop in self-esteem. Before you know it, the goal has gone by the wayside, replaced by a very unproductive feeling of self-pity and defeat.
Take the process of writing a book. I love to write, and doing my daily morning page routine is an important part of my routine. But when I started writing my first book, I knew it was important to pace myself—I had never done anything like this before, but I understood that like starting a business, it would be a race, not a sprint.
Rather than sitting down at my desk one day, determined to get the first few chapters out at once, I made a plan. I created a detailed framework and set achievable goals within that framework. I gauged how much I could do in a given amount of time, and adjusted as needed until I settled into a rhythm. Sometimes, life got in the way – one of my kids caught the flu, or I was wrapped up with a new product launch at Jotform – and I couldn’t stick to the schedule I made. I gave myself some freedom without allowing myself to make excuses.
Every time I hit one of my little goals, I gave myself a little pat on the back. Those small successes added up, and finally, it happened – I had a whole book.
Stay motivated
When you’re working towards a long-term goal, it’s only natural that at some point, your motivation might start flagging. We are determined to seek immediate gratification – Sigmund Freud even called it the “pleasure principle.”
To stay committed to your long-term goals, you must find ways to stay motivated. For me, I like to look for books and blogs about successful people. Reading about the obstacles others have overcome and their dedication to their work, whether it’s ending racism or starting a company, inspires me, and keeps me happy when the going gets tough.
As a proud bootstrapped entrepreneur, I also find inspiration in seeing growth trends in my business. Even if you’re not making big profits yet, that upward trend is a sign that you’re on the right track. This is another reason I always avoid VC money – if you invest, you have to watch as your bank balance decreases each month. It’s disappointing. With bootstrapping, that balance should increase, sending a signal that the sacrifices you’re making are worth it.
Related: 60 Second Business Tips: 3 Ways to Boost Confidence
Embrace your strengths and admit your weaknesses
There is probably a reason why you are on the path you are on. You wouldn’t try to be a chef if you hated cooking, or dream of a new SaaS product if you hated coding. It’s important to know your strengths, but being aware of your weaknesses makes you less likely to be crippled by them.
I find that knowing my weaknesses and working on them is the best way to keep them from taking up too much of my mind. I am a beginner speaker, and when I first gave a speech in front of a room full of people, I was incredibly nervous. My first attempts did not go well. But instead of beating myself up, or deciding I was a failure, I practiced. And he practiced, and practiced. Now, I actually like to give lectures. Embracing discomfort and the risk of deviating from what I knew I was good at allowed me to grow in my confidence.
There are no two ways around it – if you want to achieve something meaningful, there will be times when it will be difficult. Believing in yourself and your abilities will make the knocks less painful and give you the strength to keep going.
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