Episode 192: 7 Tips to Boost Your Confidence (and Success) with Megan Porta

Hey food bloggers! It’s just you and me today and in this solo episode I am going to talk about CONFIDENCE. 

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Hot Pan Kitchen

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Confidence

Do you ever figure out a solution to a problem you’re having has SUCH a simple solution that you feel kind of like an idiot that it took so long to learn it? “Simple” doesn’t always mean “easy” though, right? Even though something is really obvious, it might still be difficult or painful to fix.

One big thing that held me back for years from finding all the successes I was searching for was a lack of confidence. Looking back at times when I stopped chasing a dream or when I set small goals or shied away from spending time with people who were “more successful” or more popular than I was, it is so easy to see that the thing holding me back was that I didn’t think I was good enough for any of those things. “Other people deserve those things, not me!” was the line that would always run through my head.

Can you relate to any of this? Does this sound familiar at all?

We are in a space that is very saturated. We have thousands of competitors. It is SO EASY to see how awesome and productive and creative everyone else is, so we assume there isn’t space for us. 

“My voice doesn’t matter.”
“My take on that type of food isn’t going to stand out.”

Guess what, though, awesome people? Your voice does matter and your take on ANYTHING is going to stand out because no one can deliver the message you are here to deliver in exactly the way you are going to deliver it.

These negative thoughts that hold us back need to be replaced with positive, confident ones if we really wish to step up and run a business the way we were meant to run a business! A lack of confidence holds us back from so much, and so often. And like I said a little bit ago, it’s so easy to recognize that, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to fix.

Today I am going to talk through a few ways that you can build up your confidence so you feel WORTH everything you dream of.

1 – Awareness. I feel like step 1 to solving any problem under the sun is: awareness. When we’re unaware, we can’t fix. When we are aware, we can step into fix-it mode. As you move through this week, start noticing situations or people or projects that you shy away from. Is there a good reason to shy away? Maybe you have a close tie to your intuition and you feel like a particular project would be bad for your business. In that case, listen. If you evaluate, though, and determine that a feeling of unworthiness is what is holding you back then you need to call yourself out.

2 – Commit to scary things. Don’t go skydiving if that seems like the scariest thing in the world to you (if you DO want to go skydiving let me know and I’ll hook you up), but commit to doing the things in your business that you know you need to do. I get it, this world of entrepreneurship can be an intimidating, scary place. I feel it every day. On most days, I feel the fear and step forward anyway. Some days are harder and have a bit of grace for yourself with this. But on MOST days, you will want to be able to say to yourself that you did scary things even though they were scary. Over time, your confidence will start to increase and before you know it, you won’t even bat an eye at doing live videos or IG stories.

3 – Log your achievements. I’m a huge fan of not only looking forward to future dreams and goals, but also looking BACK at achievements, wins, accomplishments, successes and even failures. Do this A LOT. More than you think is necessary. Sit down today and write down everything you accomplished in the past year. Write down your failures, too, because there will ALWAYS be lessons to pull out of them. Then when you do your weekly planning, getting your details situated for the following week, spend 5 minutes thinking back over the previous week. Write your top 3 accomplishments on a post-it note and put it on your monitor. Next time you hesitate to go on stage in a Clubhouse room, you can easily glance at what you achieved last week and you’ll be reminded that you’re awesome, capable and smart and you deserve to be up on that stage saying what you need to say.

4 – Find your tribe. You can only give yourself so many high fives. There comes a time when you need a circle of people who will support you, lift you up, encourage you, motivate you and tell you what an awesome job you’re doing. There is nothing in the world that matches the impact of having a tight network of friends/peers on your self-confidence. Join a mastermind group, start your own mastermind group, figure out a way to consistently meet with people you like and trust and your confidence will shoot through the roof rapidly.

5 – Learn to be decisive. I have one friend in particular who is a self-proclaimed indecisive person. He wears it like a badge. He knows it’s ineffective, but it’s become a lifelong habit to the point of almost turning into something that’s funny. This person will also tell you that nothing productive ever gets accomplished because he can never decide anything! People who cannot quickly make decisions don’t trust themselves. And when you don’t trust yourself, you obviously don’t have confidence in who you are. There’s a trick, though! If you start forcing yourself to make decisions quickly, you’ll slowly start believing that you are a person worth trusting. This will build confidence. Even if the decision is wrong, make it anyway and learn for the next time around. 

6 – Hug failure. I mentioned this briefly in point number 3, but you have to learn how to accept and embrace failure. I fail every single day. This used to TEAR me up inside. I would do or say one wrong thing. I’d make a bad decision that flopped or work on a project that wasn’t worth my time. And then I would beat myself up for days about it. I resisted failure. It was like me telling myself: “YOU SUCK. How could you have let this happen?” I would never say that to one of my boys if they failed at something! And honestly, that is how I started embracing my own failures. I pretended I was one of my sweet boys who had just made a bad choice, standing in front of me with a sad, apologetic face. I gave myself an imaginary hug (just like I would to my boys) and started saying, “It’s ok. You’re still loved and now you’re even smarter. What did you learn?” Then I evaluate, take notes for next time and move onward with even more confidence.

7 – Paint your nails. We all have those things that physically make us feel more confident. Every time I paint my nails I have that feeling like I actually invested in my physical appearance and that gives me a boost of confidence. Any time we invest in ourselves, it pays off. Get a fresh haircut. Buy yourself a new outfit once in a while or a new pair of shoes. Put on makeup or upgrade your purse or jacket or watch. And you don’t have to go spend money to take advantage of this boost of confidence. It can be as simple as blow drying your hair in the morning even if you have no plans to see anyone except the UPS guy. Look through your closet and pull out an outfit that makes you feel pretty and confident. Wear it! Doing things like this repeatedly will provide a long-term confidence boost.

If you put intentional effort into building up your confidence, you will start to see changes unfold in your life and in your business. You will notice that you’re leaping into situations that you may have avoided before. You’ll start talking to people who used to intimidate you. All of these little things collectively add up to create success and the accomplishment of dreams and goals. 

192: 7 Tips to Boost Your Confidence (and Success) with Megan Porta

A lack of confidence could be the thing holding you back from finding the successes you are chasing in your business. In this episode Megan dives into 7 tips that will give you a boost in confidence so you can speed up your success and growth.

• Awareness is always the first step!
• Commit to scary things.
• Log your achievements.
• Find your tribe.
• Be decisive.
• See you inside the episode for the rest of the tips!