How To Stay Confident Within Any Business Curveball

And sometimes those learning moments appear as curveballs right in the middle of doing something important like hosting an event or running a workshop.

When that curveball comes, it’s natural to leak confidence. And that's when the dangerous pattern can start. 

When you start leaking confidence and don’t fix it right away, the crack opens up even more as time goes on. It gets bigger and bigger, and your lack of confidence becomes more evident to others. 

Here is some good news: you can actually build confidence right in the middle of a curveball. It all depends on how you deal with the curveball. 

“Confidence-building or leaking is directly linked to how you deal with those curveballs in the moment.” Kim White

Here are 3 shifts to make when the unexpected happens, so that you can build your confidence in the midst of any curveballs on the entrepreneurial adventure.  

Don’t Take It Personally

“My biggest shift is not taking things personally.” Jill Olish

In life and business there are a lot of things that aren’t under your control. 

And when you are working with technology, tech issues happen all the time. It’s important to remember that you and the computer are two separate things.

When those buttons don’t seem to be working in the middle of your workshop or presentation, taking it personally will make you leak confidence. 

Remember that you most likely didn’t make those things happen. The computer program did. 

When you shift into being aware of yourself, and knowing that you haven’t caused the problem, you can prevent the first confidence leak from even starting in those curveball moments. 

Borrow Some Confidence 

After you’ve made that first shift, it allows you to look around and see who you have around you to borrow confidence from in those curveball moments.

“I knew I felt secure when I saw others were showing up for me in those moments where I was lacking confidence.” Jill Olish

That’s why it’s so important to do the entrepreneurial adventure together.

But be careful not to surround yourself with people who are feeling insecure. You want to surround yourself with people who are confident. 

“Confidence doesn't come from a place of knowing all the answers. Confidence comes from a place where we understand that whatever we know how to do is not tied to the value of us as a human.” Kim White 

Just Be Honest

When those curveballs come, it’s natural to go into survival mode. In business, survival mode looks like protecting your image, putting up barriers. 

You’ll want to do anything to get out of the danger as soon as possible.  

“Sometimes you are flailing, you’ve leaked so much confidence, and now you’re trying to outrun that feeling.” Kim White

Speeding up so you can just get out of there.

But if you’re not honest in that curveball moment then you’re harming your own confidence.  

So just be honest with yourself, and then be honest with whoever you are working with: your audience, your team or your clients.

“I don’t just put my game face on. It gives others the ability to trust me more because if I just say I’m perfect all the time they can't live up to that.” Kim White 

But the way you deal with letting someone down in that moment can actually build your confidence instead of leaking it all over the place.   

“If you’ve let someone down, just talk to them.” Kim White 

 "We need to recognise how we deal with our ourselves and others when we do start leaking confidence.” Jill Olish  

You can plug those confidence leaks before they begin, and even grow in confidence in the middle of any business curveball.  

If you missed the conversation about this between Kim and Jill on their podcast Buckets and Boom Gates, you can catch it here.