Why is encouragement an important part of our community? Because it breeds self-confidence. For some, self-confidence comes naturally, but for others, it needs to be nurtured.  When one’s confidence is shaken or lost, how does one recover, grow stronger, and more so, become better?
 
As Covid-19 continues to present challenges across our workplaces and homes, I believe we can all agree that we are experiencing unprecedented scenarios that have challenged the confidence within ourselves and uncertainty about our futures.  As a business owner with offices located in the UAE and the US, I was faced with many challenges, such as how do I manage an international business without being able to travel internationally? How do I maintain confidence with my team members and clients when I can’t see them every day, or attend our regularly scheduled meetings?  In my case, the winning solution has been to encourage myself, as well as my colleagues, to continue to be the best versions of ourselves.  This strong confidence has helped me, personally and professionally, through the most challenging months of the pandemic.  I also know it will continue to serve as an important pillar to our success as we enter into our new normal, post Covid-19.
 
Because self-confidence is considered one of the most important qualities a person can possess, and it’s also infectious, I have found the following three tips helpful, personally and professionally, as I navigate through the challenges of the pandemic:

2. Encourage Focus! In times of crises it is common to experience anxiety.  I find it helpful to take a step back and focus on what you can control and not what you can’t control. Even if your list seems small, focus on completing it with care and quality. Doing so leads you to greater clarity and the ability to accomplish more challenging and larger goals. 

3. Encourage Acceptance! I often feel the corporate world does not allow us to show any weakness. To not have any weakness is not to be human. During the first few weeks of lockdown I found myself saying on almost all video calls that it’s OK to be uncertain of what’s to come. It’s OK to be afraid of change, or it’s OK just to be sad. Once it was recognized that it was OK to have these thoughts, I found it equally important to develop and implement a short-term action plan to help keep our minds moving forward to address the challenges that were bringing us unease.  This allowed us to focus on the future. Now, as the globe starts moving into what our ‘new normal’ will look like, it’s important to address short and mid-term goals with the understanding that we may have to adapt to unexpected circumstances more than we’d like, but if we remain open minded, we can be prepared for what comes.