Five ways to face your fear and fake it until you make it

Sometimes you might feel like you’re in over your head at work.

Are there strategies you can use to jolt your confidence? How do you “fake it till you make it”?

Here are five ways to face your fear and feign confidence:

1 Frame a challenge as an opportunity

The more you focus on what’s scary, the more intimidated you’ll feel.

Instead, "frame the challenge not as a threat but as an opportunity to do something new and different", says Amy Cuddy, the author of Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges.

2 Think incrementally

If you approach a new position or responsibility with the goal of “killing it right off the bat, you’re setting yourself up for failure”, Cuddy says. Instead, make “small, incremental improvements” in your performance.

3 Watch and learn

When you’re developing your personal management style, observe how others lead. Watch how these people influence others, use humour and come across as self- assured. Also take note of their verbal tactics – when they use silence, how they pose questions and how they intervene.

4 Be bold in your body language

One surefire way to come across as self-confident is to use “body language that makes you feel bold and victorious”, Cuddy says. Take long strides. Sit up straight. When you “carry yourself in a way that conveys power, poise and healthy pride”, you feel more self- assured and others perceive you that way.

5 Heed red flags

If you’re so overwhelmed that every day nearly brings on a panic attack, faking it may be inadvisable.

So if you're concerned that the challenge you're presented with is too much too soon, or is unrealistic, speak up. – Copyright Harvard Business Review 2016