The Science-Backed Confidence Booster Every Leader Needs to Succeed

Picture this: You’re standing in the hallway outside of a boardroom, about to walk into the most important presentation of your career. Your palms are sweating and your heart is racing. Your stomach is churning and your mind is buzzing with all the things that could go wrong. You feel weak in your knees. 

It’s the fear of public speaking—or more commonly in business, the fear of investor pitches, big team meetings, critical one-on-ones, and difficult conversations of all kinds. Success leaves clues, and a consistent pattern I see in high-impact leaders is that they know how to push through self-doubt fast. How? One-minute affirmations. 

The power of strategic self-talk 

There’s lots of hype surrounding affirmations, but the research proves they work. According to research published by Carnegie Mellon University, “a brief self-affirmation was effective in eliminating the deleterious effects of chronic stress on problem-solving performance, such that chronically stressed self-affirmed participants performed under pressure at the same level as participants with low chronic stress levels.” Affirmations are like a neural circuit breaker. They’re a way for you to cut off the negative effects of stress on your performance before it takes root. 

Making it work in the real world 

There’s a right way to use affirmations and a wrong way. Do not say things like “I am awesome.” Instead, be as specific and personal as possible. “I am awesome” doesn’t help because it’s way too general. Instead, try statements like “I can handle this.” 

Tie your affirmations to the challenges you’re facing and the genuine strengths you already know you have. For example, in public speaking, “I’ve made presentations to the executive team successfully many times before, and I will do it again today.” 

Here’s one for negotiation: “I know this deal inside and out, better than the other party and better than most anyone at my company. I’m going to get this done.” 

The most powerful affirmations I’ve seen combine three things: 

• I know (past experience) 
• I can (specific skill set) 
• I will (current situation) 

Take control of your self-talk 

The best part is that this takes no apps, devices, or scheduling. It’s a process you can use almost anywhere. So, the next time you find yourself about to engage in a high-pressure situation, try it. Take control of your self-talk by giving yourself a few seconds to write down exactly what you need to hear. Say it out loud with purpose, and see if you don’t watch your confidence and your performance skyrocket.