By Rene Graeber

Would you like to be confident? Your answer may be - YES.

I do want to be confident.

However, this answer lacks the impact. It is too generalized.

Just like everybody wants to do well in life and be rich but not many ever realize this wish. This is because to actually get somewhere in life, you need to quantify your confidence. You need to define the task for which you need to be confident so that you can execute it successfully.

A mere wish to be confident won’t take you anywhere. The dream must have a deadline as well!

Self Confidence might mean different things to different people groups.

For a child it might mean to be able to recite the poem to her teacher the next morning. For a business executive it might mean to be able to present the business report to the Board of Directors.

For a salaried person it may be the ability to be able to make a switch over from his secure job to a new independent venture and so on. To execute their respective tasks, these people need a certain level of confidence, which would see them through.

Every task requires a minimum level of confidence to be able to be executed. Do you have a task in your mind to be done? Do you have the level of confidence required? Let us check it out!

Following is a simple questionnaire. You have to answer to these in a YES or NO

1. Does it happen too often with you that you cannot take a decision all by yourself and you seem to look for your colleagues, friends, or your spouse to sort the matter for you?

2. Do you always seem to be in perpetual need of a support system wherein you can feel secure?

3. Do you just sit and listen all the times in your office meetings?

4. Do you feel difficulty in reporting a matter to your boss or you have an excellent idea that can improve your company’s efficiency but you cannot muster enough courage to go and talk about it to your Boss?

5. Are you terrified to meet someone new? Is public speaking your worst nightmare?

6. Do you timidly accept orders from your superior even though you know that you are already overloaded and you need to say no?

7. Are you excessively concerned about what other people think of you?

8. Do you fear taking risks?

9. Do you feel dissatisfied about your appearance?

10. Are you uncomfortable in social gatherings – being amongst lots of people?

If you happen to answer these questions with a Yes, you seem to have a confidence crisis that might become an obstacle in successfully executing your tasks.

Don’t Panic, as it is good that you found out since now you are aware of a potential problem of your life. The very fact that you are aware of your confidence rating makes you ready to take further action and work towards eliminating the negative effects of low confidence levels and work towards building your self confidence.

Here are some more questions you may answer.

1. Have you accomplished anything in the past?

2. Are you the one to go ahead and break the ice at a new place or wait for someone else to initiate a discussion?

3. Do you feel you are well respected by others?

4. Do you think you have the potential to succeed?

5. Are you a happy and loving person?

6. Are you satisfied with your career graph?

7. Are you satisfied with your skills and qualifications?

8. Do you feel in control of your life?

9. Do you imagine yourself to be more successful five years from now?

10. Do you feel that you are a worthwhile person?

If you happen to answer most of these questions with a NO, you have LOW self-confidence levels.

However, a YES is never decisive and a NO is never final. One needs to constantly maintain the good points and work towards converting bad points into good points. And the good news is that it is very much possible.

It’s important that you honestly answer the questions above, since only when you realize the present status of your self-confidence would you be working towards building self-confidence or maintaining and increasing your present levels.

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