When communicating confidence you should be thinking about your own formula for confidence. As part of this, you can use the cognitive triangle to help you communicate your confidence.
The Cognitive Triangle
The cognitive triangle is made up of three parts:
- Thoughts: What we think affects how we feel and act.
- Feelings: How we feel affects what we think and do.
- Behaviour: What we do affects how we think and feel.
This cycle can help you identify your formula so that you can communicate your confidence properly.
Thoughts: What we think affects how we feel and act.
Sometimes your thoughts can be your own worst enemy and your own self-doubt can break your confidence. You might play out self-defeatist mind games or mind-reading, have a case of imposter syndrome, or even creating a
However, your mind can be trained to think differently if you learn to catch when you are thinking in these ways. For examples: you can’t mind read so you never know what people are thinkings so instead of thinking bad things, change negative thoughts to positive ones to help you feel better and more confident. If your imagination like to create catastrophic scenarios that will not and/or are very unlikely to happen – stop worrying and use these imaginative scenarios to your advantage to play out (and practice) the ideal scenario instead. Mentally practice the situation to boost your confidence. Your unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference so use it to your advantage – create it as you want it to go!
Feelings: How we feel affects what we think and do.
An essential ingredient of confidence is belief. Belief helps us feel confident and positive.
This might be tapping into our belief in our skillset, the belief that we are just as important as everyone else, the belief that even if we fail we will learn something from the experience, or the belief that you have something to say (and someone wants to hear what you have to say).
Think positive thoughts and spend time with people who make you feel confident. Identify what it is that makes you feel confident – and do it!
Behaviour: What we do affects how we think and feel.
What we do can affect how we think and feel.
Your behaviour might be how you speak and communicate, your body language, how you dress or anything else you might to do to boost your own confidence.
Know your own recipe for success and use it.