5 Realistic Ways to Build Up Your Confidence Right Before an Interview

Heading into a big interview can be terrifying, not unlike the feeling I’d imagine you’d have if you were about to jump out of a plane for the first time ever.

Of course, there’s little risk of actual death (unless, of course, you’re improbably applying for head coach at lion-taming school), but it’s nonetheless an anxiety-producing scenario.

Summon your self-confidence and conjure your courage in five easy ways.

1. Stop the Storytelling

Your brain’s primary job is to minimize danger and maximize reward, so in a situation where there’s an unknown outcome—especially a situation where you might screw up—your mind’s going to start telling you stories designed to keep you safe, tales that will help you from feeling the crush.

I’ll never get the job, and I’m about to get called on my spectacular lack of suitability. What if the hiring manager hates me? These kinds of opportunities always go to someone on the inside or someone they already know, I have no chance.

Your brain will always spin stories when it doesn’t know what will happen, so it’s vital that you recognize what your overly analytic mind is doing in creating these works of fiction.

Notice the fear-filled worries and let yourself consider the hilarity of them for just a moment, and then get yourself back to reality stat. It’s the only way you’re going to build the confidence you need for a home-run interview.

2. Return to Your Best

Being at your best means being at the top of your game, the place where you’re buzzing, flowing, and really feeling alive. When you’re in that place, two things are happening. First off, you’re simply using everything you’ve got in the moment (all those skills, all that experience, all your smarts, all your talents, all your strengths and all that instinct) and, secondly, you’re not letting anxiety get in the way of your confidence.

In an interview, these two things combine to give you the sense that this is OK; that you’re OK. It’s sitting in that chair feeling whole and resourceful rather than incomplete and on edge.

To enlist this feeling, try this exercise: Sit and close your eyes, and dive into how it feels when you’re firing on all cylinders. Check in to see where that feeling lives in your body—maybe in your stomach or your chest or your fingertips. Imagine that place in your body being the source of this energy, this flow, this power, this ease. Then, when you need it, just focus on that place in your body, and you’ll return to your best.

Credit : themuse.com