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Vukani Gcabashe
Vukani Gcabashe

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How to growing your confidence as junior dev

Clearly confidence does influence how people react around you, your 'internal positioning' sets the tone for how we behave around you, from my experience if you are not enjoying these benefits as a person at work or home, then you are sleeping on your confidence and we can work on changing that:

  1. Your peers and managers trust you more, and that's one thing we all value.
  2. You don't get bullied.
  3. You become more approachable.
  4. Everybody enjoys working with you.

Those are all foundation for having a good time at work or anywhere else in your life, lets look at how to make that a possibility.

Learn to communicate:

How you communicate really reflects your confidence and how true your own words are to you. Basically you need to stand up for yourself, read between the lines or even share some important info - the point is com's are key and you need to master them.

  • As always, I recommend books that discuss communication skills, the mission isn't to learn how to talk but how to communicate correctly.

  • Listening is a powerful skill, learn to listen with the intent to understand the person concerns, when working with another understand their intention, the process they have in mind and the priority of the gig, avoid leaving good questions unanswered.

  • Hearing alone is sometimes not enough to create understanding for us juniors, learn to voice out confusion clearly and early.

  • Learn to give first before asking, share good news, be positive, bring solutions & avoid bringing bad news or problems with no solution.

  • Avoid arguments by all means and if there is one yield and show your point through actions not words, and please you don't need to be cocky about it.

Love yourself:

For most of us we feel less in touch with our confidence because we aren't giving ourselves enough attention, time and love.

  • Practice self grooming and appreciation, we all learn from you how to treat you and handle ourselves around you. Set a good example in that regard my friend.

  • Stop playing the victims in your life, love your life and your people, accept what you have & adopt the gratitude mindset believe me that will thank me later.

  • Learn to take criticism gracefully because it could be constructive, don't let your big ego stop you from seeing that the truth has a way of shaking us awake sometimes. Think about what people say before becoming defensive.

  • Never exploit or sabotage yourself to please those around you, this indirectly causes resentment and also lowers your value and the value of your mentors.

  • read my blog posts, these will always be here to help you around and show you the way..

  • Learn to say no, when an offer is good but does not align with your goals & vision give it a pass or suggest someone who could benefit from it, this doesn't only grow your confidence but makes your peers respect you more for saving your time while helping others.

  • Take care of your body, go to the gym or play some physical sports. A healthy and active body does influence your emotions & reduces stress.

  • I don't say this enough "STOP THAT NEGATIVE SELF TALK", I dont wana hear it, and nobody else does including you. It's that simple.

Develop Consistency:

image of results from consistancy

This is one thing that people look at you differently, it allows them to have respect for you based on, you ability to produce a certain standard of life & work. Psychology studies have proven over the years that 30% of above average people are in that state because of consistency not talent.

  • Consistency helps you ease the load and also accomplish more since the other things have become subconscious.

  • Learn to have regular self introspection daily / weekly, make it a habit to see your flaws & finding ways to fix them.

  • Spend time with people who are honest to you and have your best interest, these people will help you grow much quicker n boost how you feel.

  • Watch your mouth, and watch your actions even more. what you do is so so much more impactful to your than what you say.

Have an internal compass:

Image showing compass

A sad reality about some of us is that we fail to have our core beliefs, values and mission clearly expressed in our lives. Lets discuss how these affect your confidence.

  • One of the things that interferes with our confidence is that we believe in something but spend over 60% of our time doing the total opposite. Stop it!!, put your focus & time in what you truly believe in.

  • Avoid things that make you doubt yourself, confidence is a muscle you will improve only by being intuitive not doubtful.

  • Never neglect consistent self-introspection, you will have a clear idea of where you are in your growth cycle and also what steps you should take to get closer to your dreams. Even though indirect - this hugely helps us feel secure within our skin and helps us keep moving.

How did you grow your confidence as a junior developer ??

Leave a comment bellow, i am dying to know!!

Latest comments (2)

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tqbit profile image
tq-bit

learn to listen with the intent to understand the person concerns, when working with another understand their intention,

This is like the most powerful tip you can give. The gap between requirement and technical implementation is wide and can only be tightened by common understanding. Which is a direct result of active listening. And imo. nothing gives you a bigger confidence boost than a customer saying 'This behaviour is exactly what I have expected'.

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nash4253 profile image
Vukani Gcabashe

That's great, I will definitely add that to second part of this article.
Thank you tq-bit