During moments of contemplation about the work I do, I keep coming back to the words of one of my Wharton students. This excerpt came from a moment of self-reflection after a major presentation. Their words can teach us a lot about the value of perseverance, setting goals, and confidence. Take a read.
“I was determined to do three things with this presentation: be enthusiastic, be confident, and be loud. While I know I still have clear room for improvement, I do think that I achieved each of these goals at least to an extent that I am satisfied with for this time. I think I did a good job of using prosody and engaging anecdotes to display enthusiasm and I am also proud that I did not use my notes.
It felt good to be confident in myself and I think it showed not only in the presentation, but also in my willingness to participate throughout the rest of the class. Now that I have tested the waters, going forward, I hope to remember this experience and not hesitate to be even more enthusiastic and demonstrate even more emphasis through my tone.”
My hope is that you are inspired by my student’s words and that you too can find the confidence in yourself to tackle challenges head on. I’m sure we can all remember a time when a task emerged that you may have felt not-so-confident about. So why should we keep going?
Because while it may not feel good at first, the end result of owning your moment – and being enthusiastic and confident while doing so – can inspire you to continue to embrace challenges throughout your professional, and personal, experience.