Packed with ideas, stories and practices to help close the confidence gap, Coach Yourself Confident is a guidebook for individuals who recognize that their confidence lags behind their capability.

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of activities
• Introduction: How to coach yourself confident
  • Mapping out the territory
  • Why ‘coach yourself confident’?
  • Doing the work
• 1 Fuel for life
  • What does confidence give us?
    • Better odds
    • A willingness to say YES
    • The trust of others
    • A collective power
    • The difference for you
  • How do we grow confidence?
    • The momentum of confidence
    • Feeling the fear and doing it anyway
• 2 The self-doubt tax
  • How self-doubt shows up
    • The inner critic
    • Words that sow the seeds of doubt
    • Nerves and butterflies
  • Counting the cost
  • Paying the self-doubt tax in missed opportunities
    • Holding back
    • Staying small
    • Slowing the pace
    • Leaving potential unfulfilled
  • Paying the self-doubt tax in overwork
    • Achievement addiction
    • Hero complex
    • Over preparation
    • Emotional exhaustion
  • Show yourself some compassion
• 3 The humble confidence benefit
  • Painting a picture
  • The humble confidence mantra
  • Right-sized self-doubt
  • Getting too big for your boots
  • Uniquely you
  • A paradox
• 4 Faulty calibration
  • A hall of mirrors
  • An uncertain grasp
  • Owning your strengths
  • Feedback through a filter
  • The highest of bars
  • The longest of lists
• 5 Confidence saboteurs
  • The inner critic
  • Comparisonitis
  • FOPO
  • Mindreading
  • Overthinking
  • Perfectionism
  • Fear of failure
  • Tiredness
  • Underminers
• 6 Comings and goings
  • A wobbly line
  • That so this
  • Steep drops
  • Bumps and knocks
  • Job changes
  • Free range confidence
• 7 Homegrown confidence
  • Confidence by proxy
  • Over-reliance on others
    • Borrowing confidence
    • People pleasing
    • Leaving ourselves vulnerable
  • Confidence in community
    • From borrowed to owned
    • Just enough support
  • Keeping up with yourself
  • Permission to be you
• A few final words of encouragement
• Acknowledgements
• About the author
• Bibliography
• Index

“I devoured every page of this wonderfully written book.” – Sergio Ezama, Chief Talent Officer, Netflix

Want to be more confident at work? You're not alone.

So many of us grapple with self-doubt.

Perhaps you’re an exhausted achiever? You’re delivering results and progressing in your career, but you feel utterly worn out. You’re compensating for a lack of confidence with excessive effort and punishingly high standards.

Or perhaps you’re feeling frustrated and unfulfilled? Self-doubt is making you hold yourself back, you're avoiding challenges that could demonstrate how good you really are.

This book can help. Distilling over a decade of real- life research into clear insights, practical tools and impactful activities, Julie Smith shows you how to Coach Yourself Confident.

Julie Smith is a sought-after executive coach and facilitator who works with leaders to grow their impact and supports teams to grow their effectiveness. Find out more at www.talentsprout.co.uk.

I devoured every page of this wonderfully written book. Whether you have been in front of the mirror for a long time or you are at the start of your journey, you will find a remarkable guide to navigate the land of your own confidence. Having personally gone through many comings and goings, I can attest that this is a worthwhile investment. As Julie intelligently puts it: ‘While confidence does not guarantee success, it does stack the odds in your favour.’ - Sergio Ezama, Chief Talent Officer, Netflix

Utterly brilliant. This is a book that is easy to read, incisive and thought provoking. The exercises do a great job of encouraging you to slow down, reflect and apply. As someone that has spent much of my career dealing with confidence peaks and troughs, Julie’s book is the perfect tonic! A must read for so many of us! - Francesca Theokli, Marketing Director and Executive Leadership Team, Weetabix Food Company

This book is written in such an accessible voice. As I read Julie’s words, I felt like I was in the room with my own personal coach. The activities made me really stop, think and reflect. The references to external experts and ‘real-life’ experiences frequently prompted a smile of recognition. Being a high performer means also being kind to yourself. This book leads you through that journey. If only my less experienced self could have read this all those years ago. - Rachel King, Group People Director, Spire Healthcare

I’m quoted in the book, so I’m probably supposed to have it all together in terms of confidence. But confidence is not a box to be ticked. It’s more like a muscle: if you stop working it, it shrinks. I’ve been exploring new opportunities since retiring from professional sport, and while it has been fun, it’s hard to move from an environment in which you are one of the best to environments where you are a beginner. I know it takes time to learn and gain experience, but I certainly don’t want to prolong that with a self-imposed ‘self-doubt tax’. I really appreciate the way Julie has opened my eyes to habits and behaviours that are getting in my way. I suspect this is a book I will come back to regularly for a confidence workout! - Stef Reid MBE, Paralympian, Keynote Speaker and Broadcaster

I loved Coach Yourself Confident and found myself making a mental note as I read of the people who I want to send copies to. It’s readable, accessible and encouraging, and the content really resonated – there were numerous ‘aha’ moments for me. - Jane Burkitt, Vice President EMEA Supply Chain Operations, The LEGO Group

In Coach Yourself Confident, Julie Smith draws from the deep well of her corporate coaching experience to share powerful and practical ways for us to build our own confidence. Her experience, insight and humanity permeates every page, and offers encouragement and practical ways for people who are looking to build inner belief and resilience. A great read, packed full of warmth and wisdom. - Becky Hall, Coach and Author of The Art of Enough

I love this book! It’s a very practical guide, crammed full of real client stories, personal experiences and practical exercises. Probably the closest you can get to being coached without the coach – it feels as though Julie is right by your side every step of the way. I’m already recommending it to others! - Emma Smythe, Executive Coach and Director of Leadership Development in Big 4 Consulting firm

Coach Yourself Confident is based on detailed research and contains thoughtful analysis of what confidence is, where it comes from, how to build it and hold onto it. This is combined with practical exercises and advice, which stops you from simply admiring Julie’s diagnosis of the issues around confidence and makes you apply her lessons to your own real-life experiences. Highly recommended. - Karen Betts OBE, Chief Executive, Food and Drink Federation

Julie has managed to decode and make practical a way to unlock one of the biggest assets to success – yourself! Taming the inner critic, even training it to be a constructive force is, in my experience, the single biggest shift someone can make as they strive for self-fulfilment. You won’t know how tall you are until you get up off your knees. Coach Yourself Confident will help you do that! - David Murray, Managing Director UK & Ireland, pladis Global

Coach Yourself Confident is highly relatable – I found myself smiling in recognition many times. It’s pragmatic, providing sensible steps to growing confidence and bringing out your best self. The book gives permission to make mistakes, to be humble and to unlock your potential, rather than trying to be something you are not. It’s rich with coaching techniques and stories to bring the topic to life, and Julie’s tone is encouraging and supportive. - Lucinda Scott, Customer Service Director, first direct

I was pulled in from page one with the way that Julie appears to tread lightly on some powerful insights, whilst actually guiding you through transformational thinking. The concept of a humble leader, knowing what they are good at, whilst positively reflecting on how they could become even better, really resonated. I learned so much and cannot wait to get it on the reading list of friends and colleagues. - Paul Campbell, Senior Vice President Supply Chain, PepsiCo Europe

This book was a truly brilliant read and has made a lasting change to my mindset about my own confidence, self-doubt and overall mental well-being. The reframe of confidence as ‘trust in self’ has been a true unlock for me and the experience of reading this book felt like having a personal coach right by my side supporting and encouraging me to learn and grow. - Michelle Parczuk, Chief People Officer, Avon Cosmetics