The new year is in full swing, and we’re spending our January focusing on confidence. We’re so excited to begin the new year with the theme of confidence, as it’s probably one of the most important things we can bring to the table for our business. As planners, so much of our work requires confidence—the confidence to share creative ideas, the confidence to execute a full-scale event and manage the countless moving parts that come along with that, the confidence to guide our clients on the options that are best for them, even if this sometimes means calling upon a little tough-love. In other words, confidence is the foundation we lay that the rest of our work is built upon. Today, then, we wanted to focus on three simple ways to practice confidence this week. These are minor changes you can make that ultimately will have you channeling your inner-Beyoncé in the long run. So fierce!
Speak Up in Simple Situations
Challenge yourself this week to find one opportunity to speak up when you normally wouldn’t otherwise. This doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking—in fact, it should be something simple and small. (For example, as a “Gillian” with a ‘G,’ for me this might mean simply having the confidence to correct a stranger when they spell or pronounce my name wrong, which I often let slide—though I shouldn’t.) The goal here is to train yourself to be confident in moments of great significance by practicing confidence in moments of little to no significance at all (i.e. when the Barista spells your name wrong).
Practice Unfiltered Creativity
As planners, we are creators. And, at times, nothing feels more vulnerable than showing your creations to the world. Working in a field where there’s no right or wrong way to execute a certain aesthetic means that we get to be creative in how we bring our clients’ visions to life...but it also means we have to be vulnerable and confident enough to face that vulnerability. Find one way this week that you can practice being creatively vulnerable and unfiltered. Maybe this means simply letting your ideas flow instead of filtering them in an office brainstorming session. Maybe it means tackling a creative task that you normally try to avoid (like writing a blog post or a social-media caption). Maybe it just means challenging yourself to come up with a few off-the-wall ideas for future weddings. Whatever it is, the goal is to be unfiltered and totally vulnerable, allowing your creative juices to flow confidently without fear of judgment.
Adopt an Alter Ego
Even the greats need to get out of their own head in order to perform their best creatively (i.e. Beyoncé as Sasha Fierce), so there’s no shame in channeling an altar ego when you’re in a situation that requires more confidence than you can muster on your own. It may sound silly, but give it a try. Think of the most confident, bad*ss, inspiring version of yourself. How does she walk? How does she speak? What does she believe? Give that person a name and a fleshed-out personality. Then, the next time you find yourself in a situation that requires mega-amounts of confidence, approach it as your alter ego would. This can be a great way to overcome stage fright for that next panel you’re asked to speak on or to be unapologetically all-business when you need to put your foot down with a vendor or an employee who’s been slacking.
Overall, the goal of these three simple exercises is to start practicing daily confidence in small ways so that being confident in much more serious, impactful situations comes easier later on. In other words, it’s all about being consciously confident on a daily basis so that we can eventually be unconsciously confident when a situation calls for it. So, cheers, Aisle Planners, to a January chock-full of killer confidence!
Hero photo courtesy Cavin Elizabeth Photography
About the Author
