Closing the Gap in Confidence this International Women’s Day| Transform-Lives

Women are undoubtedly the better half of this world and they’ve been doing extraordinary things. But sometimes, the lack of confidence and self-esteem gets on the way stopping them to rise. It can be changed!

They do normal things in an extraordinary way! Not every woman is a Nobel Prize winner or a civil rights leader; nor have they been the Time Magazine Person of the year.

Yet, these are the ladies that own businesses, drive buses, are dentists, artists, salespersons, and invest their effort in doing the most ordinary things in an amazing way to keep families and communities as a whole.

Not every nineteen year old is proud of their mother these days like Sally who looks up to her mother – calls her the hero. There are women like Clara, who pushed her career back to be able to raise her children and is eagerly looking to resume her goals in life.

Or be like myself, who risked my comfort zone at work in Portugal and decided to pursue a different career in Australia.

These are the women we get inspired from every day, who have worked all odds and are winners in their own ways.

WHO HAS HIGHER SELF-ESTEEM, MEN OR WOMEN?

With so many incredible ladies shaping the way the world looks like today – regardless of the culture or country – men still have a higher self-esteem than women [1].

Women born in the egalitarian cultures are a victim of their own with the negative comparisons that they make with men around them.

Interestingly, in Asian countries, women are more likely to compare themselves with other women than men. Hence, the inequality in self-esteem is much lower in these regions.

But, it is surprising that these scenarios prevail in the first place even after the advances of women over the last century.

ARE WOMEN LOSING OUT THEIR SELF-ESTEEM EVEN WITH THE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?

Confidence over one’s own self means believing in the ability to achieve success in a given task. Absence of self-confidence can lead to aversion, thus making people less willing to go out there and pursue new challenges.

Women are overly cautious, whether in their jobs or when considering new roles. Being less likely to take career risks often makes them lose out on the opportunities.

More self-assured and outspoken women empower themselves with the confidence and eliminate all unconscious bias.

Confident women realize their self-worth and put themselves forward, taking up more opportunities (mostly risky) to move up the ladder and evolve as leaders, mentors, inspirations and role models for others.