Test: What will help your confidence shine through?

Emotional management is a key part of exuding personal presence, but ignoring or burying feelings is not the same as managing them. Connecting from a place of quiet confidence with others starts with connecting with yourself. A busy life can disconnect you from your internal experiences, keeping you stuck in doing mode or living in your head.

When your default mode is "everything is fine," checking in with your feelings can feel risky, potentially derailing your mood and motivation. However, self-awareness is a foundation of quiet confidence, grounding and guiding you, and helping you keep a sense of perspective when life becomes challenging.

A key element of quiet confidence is being curious about what is going on inside and acknowledging your feelings without being hijacked by them. Self-awareness is also about being open to how you are in relationships with others and what group situations might bring out in you. It’s hard to communicate quiet confidence if you spend much of your life in autopilot mode.

A regular mindfulness practice can help us stay aware and awake as we go through daily life, and also nurture our sense of self. Try setting a reminder on your phone to check in with how you are feeling throughout the day. Resist labelling or analysing what you find—just be curious.