How To Feel Confident Around Really Intimidating People
Everyone wants to sashay into work, a classroom, or their kid’s PTA meeting with a smile on their face and their head held high. It is one of the most coveted qualities on the planet. Why? Because confidence feels good. It feels powerful and independent.
When you’re confident you can stand on your own two feet and trust yourself. You know how to handle the good and the bad and you know how to manage your little foibles, missteps, or mistakes. Confidence feels like the exact opposite of anxiety, or feeling left out, or misunderstood.
Many of us struggle to feel confident. It’s elusive. It’s not a skill we were born with, confidence is a learned skill. As an adult, this is especially important to remember if your pattern has included feeling uncertain about yourself.
Six ways to feel more confident around people who usually intimidate you
1. Understand how confidence can be learned.
The perhaps not-so-great news is you have to learn confidence.
I know it’s hard to see people around you looking and acting confident when inside you feel insecure and unsure. But that’s the launchpad for growing confidence.
2. Feel confident enough to believe something can change.
Whether you need to meet your coworkers for coffee, at a big meeting, or when offering an important presentation, learning how to feel confident is a skill that will carry through your life once you learn it.
The good news is there’s one quick skill you can start to practice right now. This skill keeps you motivated as you work on transforming your inner sense of self from lacking confidence to being fully confident. The skill is “reading the room.”