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of people, including those with undoubted knowledge on a particular subject or business issue, suffer from a lack of self-confidence occasionally. Look at the athlete who despite being hailed as the best in their particular sport, never has the confidence to be a winner, almost always relegated to second place. This is not because they do not possess the required self-confidence to push him or herself ahead of the first placed person. The same is true in business or work. The self-image some have of themselves may not be confident enough to be out there in front. Irrespective of abilities, without the strong, confident self-image, many will only be able to move forward by following others; they seldom are the innovators and pioneers. Therefore, we need to instil within ourselves that confident image that tells us we can lead the field; we can be the business innovators and winners.

If you do not believe that you have a worth, is it unreasonable to expect others to have the same opinion of you? Of course not! Self-worth is therefore another important element of the psychological self-image. Self-worth is different to self-belief and confidence, in that its roots are imbedded within the way that we value ourselves as individuals. Additionally, if we feel we are worthless, we will, whether consciously or not, actively push others away and, at the same time, subconsciously pass on the message to them that we are worthless. If someone sees that you do not value who you are as a person, and there are many telltale signs by which this is picked up, they will not value you either. We have all come across the people, even in business, who are constantly being hard on themselves. After a few times of trying to lift his or her spirits, and finding that it is making no difference, we give up trying and, in a business sense, will take our custom to someone who has a more positive self worth attitude.

The final aspect of psychological self-image is the almost obsessive concern that many of us have in worrying about how we look to others. Many people, and this often happens in business and work, go to extraordinary lengths to try and be what they think their consumers, suppliers and employees want them to be. More often that not this is totally alien to their real character and, therefore, it comes across as false. Others will shy away from a false person, seeing them as shallow and potentially untrustworthy. In business, people will only respond and build a long-term relationship

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