By Sheena Williams

“I don’t have the skills.”, “They won’t hire me”, or “I’m not cut out for this type of work.” Why don’t you have the skills? How do you know they won’t hire you? Who told you that you were not cut out for that type of work? Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. There are doubts that every woman has at times that keep them from not only being good at what they do, but it keeps them from being great. Everyone has their problems, there is no denying that, but there is no issue that cannot be improved upon or resolved. The first step is believing that you can accomplish anything you set out to do. Once you start believing that you can do anything, your employer will believe in you as well.

Step 1: Take a deep breath. Work can get stressful. The kids are asking for something, your husband needs help with a presentation he’s putting together, or your term paper is due. There are days when life can get pretty intense, and that is when it is most important for you to take a deep breath and center yourself. Taking 5 minutes just to do some deep breathing can get you ready to face the rest of your day.

Step 2. Know your strengths. If you are only focused on the things that you can’t do, then you will never get to the things that you can do. Okay, you may not be the greatest cook, but you were organized enough to get all of the recipes that you want to try arranged in neat subsections and categories such as lunch, dinner and appetizers. You may not be the greatest typist, but you organized the company Christmas party. Public speaking makes you break out in a cold sweat, but that speech you wrote for your boss last week got him rave reviews in the local newspaper. By focusing on your strengths and your abilities, it will give you more confidence to tackle the bigger things in life.

Step 3. Be nice to others. Having a bad self-image is being grouped with excuses for not being nice to others. Not cool. If you’re having a low self-image day, it does not give you the license to make someone else’s day miserable. Did we mention that being nice to people makes you feel better which in turn makes you feel good about yourself. By the same token, in another turn, feeling good about yourself helps with your self-image?

Even if you’re not going to feed a small country, complimenting someone on their dress and seeing them smile can give you a boost of happiness. Try it! It won’t hurt you!

Step 4. Negativity is bad. When you see a problem, your first reflex is to look at all of the things that will keep you from doing the task at hand. Try looking at all of the parts that you can do. Once you start working on those, it will make it easier to get the hard parts done. The more things you accomplish, the more it will push you to do things that seem daunting at first. You don’t have to tackle it as a whole — you can put it into little pieces and work your way up.

Step 5. Find your own cheerleading squad. You could brag about yourself all day…or you could have Tammy’s perfect figure, or Josie’s awesome job, you’re not focusing on the things that YOU have in your life. Everyone’s priorities are different. What someone else may think is important right now, may not be all that important to you. Yes, she bought a beautiful house, but it was while you were studying abroad in Europe. Tammy’s figure is perfect, but you have amazing fashion sense. Josie has a terrific job, but your apartment could be put on the cover of a magazine! Know what makes you great and own it!

Remember the steps:

  1. Take a deep breath.
  2. Know your strengths.
  3. Be nice to others.
  4. Negativity is bad.
  5. Find your own cheerleading squad, and
  6. Be grateful!

Follow these 6 simple and key things to get started on that road to a better self-image!