Being Confident in What You Do

I keep on going back to New Ventures Maine with help for my photography business. They were excellent when I redid my resume a couple of years ago. I found myself signing up with a couple of business classes with them. They don't cost a thing and are funded by the University of Maine System, even better. As, I continue to grow and change with myself, I realize that my business needs that as well. I found myself at the Saco location for a Building Confidence business class.  I need some help, you see, well it's more about creating something from scratch that is true for myself and to keep on believing in me while I do it. From time to time, online I have taken seminars by Mastin Kipp, Kate Northrop, Sage Levine, Marie Forleo, Doreen Virtue and a few others. I realize that I have been doing the work all along, but sometimes when your in the midst of it, it can easily be forgotten that you are doing it and forging ahead along the trail picking the fruit when it becomes ripe. Sometimes with the human condition, we tend to forget about those things that bring us peace, love, joy, happiness, but rather and I mean rather, go to the negative of hatred, jealously, fear, rage and anger. It's like we are condition in our survival mode as a species to do that and forget about opening up our high heart to let our heart guide us, not our mind. It's like we want to stay in those past conditions that trigger the negative to make us suffer. The more we dwell on it, the more we engage in our own suffering and it's like a domino effect where the lower vibrations take a hold of us.
During class we got talking about the importance of accepting a compliment. Maybe it's part of the women/human condition that we don't and rather brush it off so to speak rather than valuing something that another person said to us in a good way. I got reminded that Confidence is expecting to achieve positive results and that it's a life skill that can be learned through the art of practice. It's important because it allows you to move forward and achieve goals with changing obstacles into challenges instead of threats. Three important things make up confidence. One, self-esteem is a term that in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. It is conceptualized as an attitude toward the self and is similar to a judgement of oneself. Basically, it call comes down to how you "feel" about yourself. Two, self-confidence is the socio-psychological concept of self-confidence that relates to self assuredness in one's personal judgement, ability and power. It all comes down to the power of "believing" in yourself. Third, self-efficacy is the measure of one's competence to complete tasks and reach goals. It's the belief in one's own competency.
I went threw an exercise and write out my own personal strengths and greatest achievement. It's no surprise that I wrote down creativity/photography, friendliness, wiliness to show up, inspirational and courage as my strengths. For my life accomplishments I wrote down overcoming a learning disability/speech impediment, graduating from college (magna cum laude), stepping foot on all seven continents, the ability to channel and a lifelong learner. I tend to give people that "WOW" factor with the seven continents accomplishment. I credit my grandfather who was an oil tanker for birthing the seed at an early age with that one.
The last part of the class was spent on discussing about the cursed hows on how to sabotage your confidence. Basically, the principles of discounting the positive, using the words should/ought/must, assuming, labeling, overgeneralizing, minimizing/magnifying, overresponsibility, comparing, self-fulfilling prophecy and denying compliments were talk about. Basically it's when we start to focus on the negative we loose the beauty of the positives, and stop taking on judgment behaviors before you respond. In a way this reminds me of what a friend of mine has taught me over the years and of course listing to a Mike Dooley on the beauty of his notes from the Universe. It all comes down to not taking responsibility of our actions and honoring our own special gifts by shifting our focus onto the strengths.
Sometimes the best way to relearn this technique is by stepping into a business course to hear the gentle reminders and know that you are doing the work, when at times it doesn't look that way.