When pondering ways to improve their work performance, people often think of common skills like productivity, writing, or public speaking. However, one common underlying factor will positively impact all their abilities: confidence. Self-confidence is the belief that you can achieve a desired behavior. It’s an important ingredient for success in all aspects of life—especially at work, where our performance is measured.
The good news is it’s easier than you might think to improve confidence—and small efforts lead to great results. But one source for building confidence may surprise you: physical activity has been proven to increase an individual’s trust and confidence in their abilities. Studies have shown that as little as 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week can improve how you view yourself.
Why is confidence important in the workplace?
Confidence directly correlates to your ability to trust yourself. In the workplace, we constantly make decisions, from when to speak and what to say during a meeting, to figuring out how to navigate a difficult situation with our coworkers or clients, to how we word our Slack or email messages to convey our thoughts appropriately. The litany of daily decisions can become exhausting, especially if you aren’t sure you’re making the right decisions.
Spending time deciding on the correct action increases stress within your body, which expends additional energy, which makes you tired, less productive, and generally less happy. Increased confidence reduces the mental load required to make decisions, and ultimately, saves time, minimizes stress, and increases your ability to perform well. And, the happier and less stressed you are, the more you exude that energy to others, which helps create a positive and productive work environment. Confidence is contagious!
How does physical activity boost confidence?
It’s common knowledge that physical activity releases endorphins and dopamine (my favorite!), hormones that reduce stress, boost mood, and minimize pain. Physical activity also decreases symptoms of depression and anxiety. Both of these disorders can be huge limiting factors in your daily life, let alone your work life. Even for those who don’t experience depression and/or anxiety, small amounts of physical activity will improve your outlook, how you feel about yourself, and the world around you.
Physical activity—whether it’s a sport, weight training, or simple forms of cardio like running or swimming—offers challenges and opportunities to focus on achieving small goals. As you progress in your activities, from walking or running a short distance to longer distances, or lifting a small weight to potentially deadlifting more than your own body weight, you’re able to adapt by pushing yourself to gradually do a little more. Each small win becomes something to get excited about and a motivator to try a little harder or go for a bigger challenge. Through progress, you prove to yourself that you are capable. You can do hard things, even if the hard thing seems small in the grand scheme of things.
You may be surprised at how these skills translate into your daily life. If you’re afraid to present a report for the first time, remember when you didn’t think you could walk three miles, but you did yesterday? Yeah, you got this!
How I use exercise to build confidence
Growing up, I had very low self-esteem. Over the years, as I entered the work world post-college, my confidence grew slowly as I took on new challenges in my various roles. It wasn’t until I incorporated weight training and intentional cardio into my life regularly that I saw my self-esteem soar. Once I trained for my first marathon/ultramarathon, I felt like an entirely different person. Every decision I made, not only while doing physical activity, but also in my daily life and in my work, felt easier. I started to trust myself. I stopped fretting about small tasks and decisions because I had faith I could accomplish anything. I had proven to myself I could achieve what I formerly thought was impossible.
While any sport can build self-esteem and confidence, mine has come through the journey of the marathon. I run long distances because it mirrors the challenges we face in life and allows me opportunities to navigate refining skills where the only true judgment comes from myself. Can I run this fast sustainably? Can I run this far? Am I equipped with enough fuel and water? What happens if it rains? What if I get injured? All of these are valid questions, ones that allow me the opportunity to solve them with trial and error. Over time, my confidence in my ability to handle whatever is thrown at me grows because I have been there before.
Whether I’m presenting during a meeting with senior leaders or simply sending an email, physical activity has given me the confidence to at least try. And with repetition, like lacing up my sneakers and stepping outside to take the first step, my trust in how I handle my role at work has gotten stronger.
How to get started
Building confidence through physical activity takes time and curiosity. The good news is that you’re on nobody’s timeline but your own. Consider your interests and current abilities. Start slow. Go for a short walk. Uncomfortable going to the gym? Just drive there—every day. Sit in the car if you need to until you feel brave enough to walk in. Then one day, not only will you walk in, you’ll sign up. And down the line, when you lift a heavy weight or hit a specific time on the cardio machine, you’ll look back with pride at how far you’ve come.
