Finding confidence in design decisions

In their article about finding confidence in design decisions, Linda Eliasen talks about the 'The Confidence Conundrum'; a “how do I propose a solution with an ‘I got this!’ attitude while managing my internal feeling of ‘do I got this?’.”

Yes, we can control the narrative in our heads (like in the prompt above), but we can’t control every part of the design process.

Here's a couple of exercises from Linda for boosting your confidence and showing up with the 'I got this' attitude.

1. Early Scary Things
   Analysing early life events related to building confidence can help us reframe our narratives from a more generous perspective.
   Exercise: Think of a time in your life when you were not yet confident in yourself in regards to a particular skill, activity, or discipline. What steps did you take to achieve confidence?
2. Build Confidence with Data and Experience
   Data. Fill your mind with any information you can think of that is linked to the situation. Experience. Repeat the scary thing until it’s not scary.
   Exercise: Write about an area in your life where you would like to build more confidence today. This could be a hobby, a design project, or any area of your life where you wish you had more confidence. Then think, what do you think you could use more of in your current confidence conundrum? Data, or courage to step into the experience?
   Maybe it’s a little of both :).

I’ve distilled the essence of Linda’s article above, but I recommend you read the full article.