Building Confidence Through Self-Promotion

The first course that caught my eye on Google's Digital Garage is 'Building Confidence with Self-Promotion'. The course explains how speaking about your successes and achievements can help increase your confidence. This course can also help with your ability to persuade others, whether it is trying to land that dream job, or for some other reason.

When I think about self-promotion, I have two major thoughts. I always had the belief that when someone engages in self-promotion, it is just another term for being braggadocios. Self-promotion felt like you were just boasting about your achievements to anyone who would care to listen. Related to this, I also feel that the reason that people do not engage in self-promotion is because that they do not want to look like they are boasting to others. It is seemingly important to stay humble and not think about promoting yourself due to the fear that you may alienate those around you. However, the course explains that the focus of self-promotion is not external. Self-promotion is an internal recognition of one's personal achievements and it is what makes an individual remarkable in their own way. This internal recognition turns into a polite external expression, and the more accurate you speak about your talents and achievements, the more likely the person you are speaking to will make the right decisions about you.

For this course, I created a list of accomplishments. Throughout my life, I never liked to dwell on my accomplishments, as there is a condition within me to constantly improve myself and look forward in my life. This was something that I even went to my therapist about, and he concluded that not celebrating my accomplishments was depriving me of my humanity. As I was thinking about what I accomplished throughout my life, I felt myself relax. As I started typing my accomplishments, I slowly grew a smile and became increasingly happier. Seeing my accomplishments on a document made me feel that I have things that I should be proud of, and in turn, this boosted my confidence.

Other exercises in this course include building a confidence backpack (in your head), which will have all of your talents and accomplishments. When you are in a situation where you are nervous (such as a job interview), you can unpack this backpack and passionately talk about those talents and accomplishments, which will help relieve your nervousness. The course also tells you to look in the mirror and perform a power pose in a way to force yourself to look and feel more powerful and confident.

The last exercise in the course tells you to get in contact with some of your friends and old colleagues and ask them three things that they value about you. I hesitate to do this because I honestly feel a little bit embarrassed, but there is also a hidden curiosity in also wanting to know what positive things people will say about me.

Check out the course if you get a chance!