When you believe you can’t, you won’t.

Confidence in your business starts with confidence in yourself. You have to believe in who you are and what you do in order to be successful.

But it doesn’t just stop there. It’s not just about believing it, it’s also about feeling it. It’s about experiencing it. It’s about getting out and taking action and living what you want to see in your life in order to start having it.

I know when I first started my own business I was consumed by fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of taking on 100% of the income responsibility, and fear that no one would need my services.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I had to offer, or that I wasn’t great at what I did, but I was now facing something and situations that I had never faced before. I was no longer under the security of a corporation. I was no longer responsible for just keeping the company running smoothly and productively. I was now responsible for EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of my business including finding clients and every penny of revenue.

For a long time I felt stuck and stagnant. I felt like I was taking three steps forward and ten steps back. I felt like I was having to force things to happen and that I was struggling for results. I was overwhelmed with everything on my plate and I was losing more and more confidence.

Then one day, I unintentionally shared my story with a client. I opened up, took down the walls, and allowed him to see exactly who I was and what I had been through. He was floored by all that I had been able to accomplish and all I learned undoing so. But the best part was that it felt amazing for me. What was even better then gaining respect, admiration and another client, was the way I felt inside. It was the confidence that started to grow and the feeling of success that was filling the space where worry and stress had been consuming me for months.

When I began sharing my story with others, what I’d been through, things I’d overcome, what I have been able to accomplish, and the knowledge that brought, it changed my perspective. I slowly started seeing things evolve. It wasn’t just that there were more and more people who were attracted to my message or what I had to offer, but I continually saw things develop in myself.

I was no longer afraid of what was going to happen. I was no longer worried about sharing my message. I was no longer nervous about who I was going to work with or if they would need my abilities. I saw that what I had was special. I saw that people were able to relate to me. I felt the connection and the understanding that was forming when I was working with clients.

Slowly but steadily my confidence began to increase with every single step and risk I took. The more I reached out to people with an open mindset and no reservations, the more people responded positively. The more I was able to give, the more people were wanting to receive. The more I shared, the more I wanted to share, the easier it got, and the lighter I felt.

When you take the action towards what you want, no matter how small it is, the action begins to bring results. The results begin to work their way through the fear and your confidence begins to shine through.

Here are four things you can do to allow your confidence to be what leads you.

1. Change your mindset. – Mindset is one of the most powerful abilities that we have. It can propel you forward, or it can keep you stuck where you’re at. Focus on what you want to see manifested in your life. Focus on what you have to offer. Know that what you have experienced, what you have overcome, and what your abilities are, are all you need to get yourself started.

2. Do something outside of your comfort zone. – Take a risk, get out there and do something new. Go to a networking group, speak at an event, interview on a podcast, introduce yourself to people you don’t know, start writing a blog. Whatever you can do to get out of your comfort zone, even just a little, is going to give you the momentum you need to keep going.

3. Stop the negative party inside your head. – When you keep telling yourself you aren’t good at something then you aren’t. When you tell yourself your skills aren’t needed, then they wont be. But when you tell yourself that you can, when you tell yourself that you should, when you tell yourself that you do have the power, then everything begins to shift.

4. Share your skills, abilities and story with others. – People don’t know what you have to offer them unless you speak up. Don’t be afraid to open up to others. Share who you are. Share what you know. The more you can open up and let others into your life, the more comfortable you’ll get and the more will be attracted to who you really are. If you don’t share what you have and what you know, then others can’t connect.

No matter what you are doing, building a business, starting a new hobby or looking to meet new people, put all your doubt aside. Know and truly BELIEVE that it’s possible to attain it.

Focus on what you want to see in your life and don’t allow your mind to veer from that. See yourself successful, see things working out in your favor, and see people connecting and meeting the real you.

Do not let your lack of confidence keep you stuck where you don’t want to be. Go after whatever it is you want, till you get it. There are going to be times you fail. There are going to be times when things don’t work out the way you want. There will be times that you want to give up. There will be times when you feel like things aren’t moving. But never give up. Keep moving forward and trusting that what is meant for you will come.

Lack of confidence keeps you stuck, unfulfilled and in fear. Increase your confidence by focusing on who you are, what you have already accomplished and what you have to offer. When you do, the doors of opportunity are going to continue to be wide open for you to step forward into the space meant just for you.