3 Bad Habits That Make You Leak Confidence
Apr 07, 2025
It’s a natural progression when you are starting out in business.
After you’ve done something you start growing in confidence, but then imposter syndrome creeps in and you start thinking, “Why would anyone pick me or choose to do business with me?”
You start to develop leaks in your confidence.
“The leaks are something we have to address or they start to leak more.” Kim White
There are some habits common to most entrepreneurs that are going to cause those small leaks in your business, but small leaks turn into big leaks and they can eventually drain all the confidence right out of you.
Here are 3 habits to break as an entrepreneur that will keep those confidence leaks from developing in the first place.
Confidence Leak 1: Worrying about letting people down
There’s a first time for everything, and one of the worst first times in business is when you have not followed through on something or you’ve let someone down.
It’s bound to happen because all entrepreneurs are humans.
And it’s a natural place to start leaking confidence. It’s easy to start getting stuck on the fear that it’s going to happen again.
And that small leak will get bigger and bigger if you aren’t comfortable with this next truth.
“You're always going to let somebody else down so just get over it now.” Kim White
It’s never intentional. And you never want it to happen. But it will happen because of circumstances or because you’re human. (Making things right can stop the leaking.)
When you spend your time and capacity worrying about letting people down again, that’s what puts a leak in your confidence. It’s time to break this habit if you want to keep growing in confidence as an entrepreneur.
One way to do this is to keep an evidence file that encourages you by reminding you of all the ways you have helped people and made a difference.
“Keeping an evidence file helps you know you have accomplished things so you can grow your confidence or build it back up again.” Jill Olish
Confidence Leak 2: Needing to have everything under control
“When our plans are disrupted that’s a great place where cracks and leaks can show up.” Kim White
When you're the leader, and something happens, it bubbles up into your brain as confidence-leaking thoughts like, “Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. Maybe I should quit. Maybe I don't know what I think I know.”
There are a lot of things out of your control that can make you lose confidence, especially when you are leading an event or a team.
You might have to get over the fact that it’s not your plan A anymore, and that's why you have plan BCDEF (and sometimes Q).
But practically how do you switch off the confidence leak so you are not rattled for the rest of the event or team meeting?
“Confession: when something is going on I will say it out loud.” Kim White
It’s okay to say you pushed the wrong button. It’s okay to admit the tech is giving you problems. It’s okay to ask for some time while you figure things out. It actually takes away the leakability because you are plugging the hole as you go along.
The myth is that confidence comes from being in control. But trying to hold on to that idea of control will do the opposite. It will honestly put leaks in your confidence.
When you get out of the habit of needing to be in control you can prevent a lot of those confidence leaks from showing up. And it will allow you to navigate confidently through any disruptions in your events, meetings, and business as a whole without getting rattled or derailed.
Confidence Leak 3: Feeling like you need to know everything
A lot of business owners tap into the fake-it-till-you-make-it because you have to appear to be the expert or else nobody is going to trust you to do business with you.
But it's just not true. And that’s exactly where a lot of confidence leaks start.
“It's harder to keep up with a lie. When you are showing the perfect on the outside, but not being your true authentic self, how can you feel confident in something that isn't fully you?” Jill Olish
When you take that perfection off and show others you are human, it allows them to connect with you and trust you.
If you've struggled with something, been honest about it, and then figured it out, it actually gives you more authority on that topic.
Showing up messy, and showing up honestly actually plugs the leaky hole from becoming a big hose that’s draining all the confidence out of you.
“Confidence doesn't come from a place of knowing all the answers. Confidence comes from a place where we understand that whatever we know how to do is not tied to the value of us as a human.”
Kim White
Kim White
Real confidence can grow when you kill those habits of worry, control, and needing to be perfect. And removing all that pressure prevents the leaks from ever appearing in the first place.
Which confidence leaks are you going to work on plugging up today?
If you missed the conversation between Kim and Jill on their podcast Buckets and Boom Gates, you can catch it here. (Episode 95 - Why do we lose confidence? Recognizing the warning signs & putting strategies in place to bounce back quickly)
To connect and find out more about Kim or how to create a sexy business for a sexy life, you can reach her and the My Sexy Business Team at www.mysexybusiness.com.
And to connect with Jill Olish go straight to her website www.mamaoutspoken.com and you’ll find her there!
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