Have you ever come up with an exciting idea and just before you make the first move you feel as if your mind has been bombarded with every negative thoughts that could possibly exist, depleting your confidence?

From the fear of failure, to the thoughts of public shame, every single conceivable negative thoughts grips your heart.

Depending on what you do with your inner critic, the voice could get louder or the voice could get softer. It could actually get so soft that you can barely hear it.

Many people fail to accomplish their dreams because they allowed the voice of their inner critic to convince them not to go ahead. I have had so many times when I need to take a step and feel the fear but still take the first step anyway.

I remember the first year I ever hosted a summit. I was travelling to Europe and during the flight and the idea crossed my mind to host a conference bringing thought leaders together for thought-provoking conversation on shaping a better food system.

I quickly dismissed the thought almost immediately. However, as much as I dismissed this idea, it kept coming back.

Then, I told myself, I will reach out to an individual (a prospective speaker), and invited her. It was a baby step, and a step with minimal repercussions.  I was still on my Europe trip when I reached out to this individual, she replied immediately with a yes. That response gave me a huge confidence boost and I went full swing into planning the summit.

Moving ahead with the conference completely changed my business and personal trajectory. We have hosted conferences every year since, we have partnered with fortune 500 corporations and found success with it.

What will have happened if I allowed my inner critic to talk me out of it? Nothing, apart from wishful thinking…

I often like to say this, take the first step, confidence comes with every step. In each of us are two voices, we have our inner critic and we have our empowering voice. They both have an opinion on what we want to do, our decision on every important step depends on who we listen to.

If you are wondering which of these two voices gets louder over time, it depends on the one you feed.

If you repeatedly give in to your fears and the voice of your inner critic, the voice gets louder and bolder.

However, if you consistently repeat empowering words to yourself and step out in confidence even though you feel the fear, you get bolder over time.

Every success gives you a confidence boost needed to take the next step. This is a practical step to moving past limiting beliefs and stereotypes that may have held you back.

According to CNBC reports on CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in America, only 33 of the companies on this list have women CEOs. While this number is low, it is an improvement on the numbers reported for the same last year which was 24.

(more…)