One simple trick to boost your confidence

one simple trick to be more confident at work

The Simple Career Confidence Trick That Will Transform Your Professional Life

I have one simple trick to help you boost your confidence on the job. I'm not kidding when I say simple… it's a "Wins List" and it's something that can help you get a better gig, get a promotion at your current gig or even change careers.

In today's competitive job market, confidence isn't just a nice-to-have,it's essential for career success. Yet so many talented professionals struggle with imposter syndrome, forget their achievements, and undersell themselves during crucial moments like performance reviews, salary negotiations, or job interviews. The solution isn't complex therapy or expensive coaching programs. It's a deceptively simple practice that takes just five minutes a week but can transform your entire career trajectory.

What Is a Wins List?

What it is, is a weekly wrap-up (I mean if you want to do it daily, go to town) but I suggest that every Friday you take a minute to reflect on the week that you just had at work. Then, write down all of your wins.

Think of your Wins List as a personal highlight reel of your professional accomplishments. It's not about bragging or inflating your ego, it's about creating a systematic record of your contributions, growth, and impact in the workplace. This practice forces you to pause, reflect, and give yourself credit for the progress you're making, even when it feels incremental.

The beauty of this approach lies in its simplicity. You don't need special software, expensive tools, or hours of time. A simple document on your computer, a note in your phone, or even a physical notebook will do. The key is consistency and honesty about your achievements, no matter how small they might seem in the moment.

The Power of Small Wins

It can be something small like: "I didn't roll my eyes at Susan during the finance meeting," or "I actually put a meeting with my manager on my calendar."

Don't underestimate the power of documenting seemingly minor victories. Professional growth often happens in small increments rather than dramatic leaps. When you acknowledge these micro-wins, you're building a foundation of confidence that compounds over time.

Small wins might include:

  • Successfully managing a difficult conversation with a colleague

  • Meeting a tight deadline despite obstacles

  • Learning a new skill or software program

  • Receiving positive feedback from a client or customer

  • Volunteering for a challenging project

  • Improving a process or workflow

  • Mentoring a junior team member

  • Speaking up in a meeting with senior leadership

These moments of professional courage and competence deserve recognition. By writing them down, you're training your brain to notice and value progress, which naturally leads to more confident behavior.

Celebrating Major Achievements

It can also be something big like "I created an initiative that saved the department 11% of their budget for the quarter" or "I doubled the program size" or "I finally received that friggin' award" or "I came up with a really creative solution to a problem that no one was expecting".

While small wins build the foundation, major achievements become the pillars of your professional narrative. These are the accomplishments that make hiring managers take notice, that justify promotions, and that demonstrate your unique value proposition in the marketplace.

Major wins often fall into several categories:

  • Financial Impact: Cost savings, revenue generation, budget optimization

  • Operational Improvements: Process streamlining, efficiency gains, quality enhancements

  • Leadership Achievements: Team building, project management, crisis resolution

  • Innovation: Creative problem-solving, new product development, strategic initiatives

  • Recognition: Awards, certifications, public speaking opportunities, media coverage

  • Career Advancement: Promotions, expanded responsibilities, cross-functional roles

The key is to document not just what you did, but the impact it had. Instead of writing "Organized team meeting," write "Implemented weekly team meetings that improved project communication and reduced delivery delays by 20%."

The Weekly Ritual That Changes Everything

Do this every week. Why? It leads to is a collection of career highlights that you can mine for your resume, for your LinkedIn profile, for your networking conversations. It also highlights your strengths and collects kudos so you don't have to pull them out of a hat last minute.

Consistency is what transforms this simple practice into a career-changing habit. By committing to weekly reflection, you're creating several powerful advantages:

Memory Preservation: We forget more than we remember. That brilliant solution you came up with in March? Without documentation, it might not make it into your year-end review. Your Wins List serves as an external memory bank for your professional achievements.

Pattern Recognition: Over time, your Wins List reveals patterns about your strengths, preferred work styles, and areas of impact. This self-awareness becomes invaluable for career planning and positioning yourself for opportunities that align with your natural talents.

Confidence Compounding: Each week's victories build upon the last, creating a snowball effect of confidence. When you can see concrete evidence of your consistent performance, it becomes easier to advocate for yourself and take on new challenges.

Stress Reduction: Bad days and difficult weeks are inevitable. Your Wins List provides perspective during tough times, reminding you that temporary setbacks don't define your overall trajectory.

Strategic Applications for Career Growth

You can then use items from your list as bargaining chips if you're trying to get a promotion at your current position or you can use it as a confidence booster if you're feeling like you're in a slump or you're doubting yourself as you look to change careers.

Your Wins List becomes a strategic career tool that serves multiple purposes:

Performance Reviews: Instead of scrambling to remember what you accomplished over the past year, you have a comprehensive record of your contributions. This preparation allows you to present a compelling case for salary increases or promotions.

Resume Updates: Your Wins List provides rich material for crafting achievement-focused bullet points. Rather than listing job duties, you can highlight specific accomplishments with measurable results.

LinkedIn Optimization: Regular wins give you fresh content for LinkedIn posts and profile updates, helping you maintain visibility and credibility in your professional network.

Interview Preparation: Whether you're interviewing for internal opportunities or external positions, your Wins List provides concrete examples for behavioral interview questions.

Networking Conversations: Having ready examples of your recent work makes networking more natural and productive. You can share specific wins that demonstrate your value and expertise.

The Confidence Connection

If you look back every week and can say "Yeah I kicked ass this week!" you're going to be better at your job, because you're going to have the confidence of knowing that you're succeeding at it.

Confidence isn't just about feeling good, ultimately it's about performance. When you regularly acknowledge your wins, you create a positive feedback loop that enhances your professional effectiveness. Confident professionals take on bigger challenges, speak up more in meetings, and position themselves for better opportunities.

This confidence manifests in several ways:

  • Improved Communication: You speak with more authority when discussing your work

  • Better Decision Making: Past successes provide evidence of your judgment and capabilities

  • Increased Risk Taking: A track record of wins makes you more willing to try new approaches

  • Enhanced Leadership: Team members respond better to confident, accomplished leaders

  • Stronger Negotiation: Documented achievements provide leverage in salary and role discussions

Implementation Strategy

It's a simple practice but it's one that can have such a huge effect.

To maximize the impact of your Wins List, consider these implementation strategies:

Choose Your Format: Whether digital or physical, pick a format you'll actually use. Some professionals prefer a simple text document, others use project management tools, and some enjoy the tactile experience of writing in a journal.

Set a Recurring Reminder: Schedule a weekly appointment with yourself. Friday afternoons work well as they naturally encourage reflection on the week's accomplishments.

Be Specific and Quantifiable: Instead of "Had a good meeting," write "Led client presentation that resulted in 25% contract extension."

Include Context: Note the challenges you overcame or the skills you developed. This adds depth to your achievements and provides material for future storytelling.

Regular Review: Monthly or quarterly, review your entire list to identify trends and major themes that should be prominently featured in your professional materials.

Advanced Wins List Techniques

So again, just once a week go back and list out your wins. When you get a big one, you know… when you get a major one one that you know is impressive, make sure to work it into your LinkedIn profile, and pop it into your resume, make sure when you're networking that you work it into conversation.

As you become more sophisticated with your Wins List practice, consider these advanced techniques:

Categorization: Organize wins by skill area, impact type, or career goal relevance. This makes it easier to tailor your message for specific opportunities.

Stakeholder Mapping: Note who witnessed or benefited from each win. These individuals could become valuable references or advocates for your career advancement.

Skill Development Tracking: Use your wins to identify patterns in your skill development and areas where you want to focus future growth.

Industry Relevance: Tag wins that are particularly relevant to your target industry or role, making them easy to find when crafting targeted applications.

Quantification Projects: For wins that seem important but lack numbers, make a note to gather quantifiable data when possible.

The Psychological Benefits

Beyond the tactical career advantages, maintaining a Wins List provides significant psychological benefits. It combats the negativity bias that causes us to focus on problems rather than progress. It provides concrete evidence against imposter syndrome, giving you ammunition when that inner critic suggests you're not qualified or deserving.

Regular win documentation also helps you develop a growth mindset. Instead of viewing challenges as threats, you begin to see them as opportunities to generate new wins. This shift in perspective can be transformative for your career trajectory and overall job satisfaction.

Your Career Ammunition

Let it boost your confidence, and again, when you're going for a promotion or you're going for a raise or you're interviewing for that new job … you've got a list of ammunition to take with you that says "I am worth this money, I am worth this position, I am worth this title, and here are some concrete examples of work that I've done that proves it."

Your Wins List becomes your professional ammunition. It’s concrete proof of your value and capabilities. This evidence-based approach to career advancement is far more powerful than generic statements about your work ethic or team spirit.

When you can say, "I increased team productivity by 30% through the implementation of a new project management system" or "I identified and resolved a process inefficiency that saved the company $50,000 annually," you're speaking the language that employers and managers understand and value.

The Five-Minute Investment

It's such a simple thing to do, it should take you all of five minutes total, but it genuinely can be a MASSIVE career boost.

The return on investment for this practice is extraordinary. Five minutes per week (less than 30 seconds per day) can fundamentally change your career trajectory. It's one of the few professional development activities that requires no additional resources, no special training, and no approval from anyone else.

This time investment pays dividends in reduced stress during performance reviews, faster resume updates, more confident networking, and ultimately, better career outcomes. It's a practice that costs nothing but can be worth thousands in salary increases and career advancement.

Starting Your Journey

The best time to start your Wins List was last week. The second-best time is today. Don't wait for the perfect system or the right moment. Open a document right now and write down three wins from this week, no matter how small they might seem.

Remember, every expert was once a beginner, and every major career success started with small, consistent actions. Your Wins List is that small action with massive potential.

Do you have any other tips for a 'Wins List' or something like it that you use? Pop it in the comments I would love to share it with people. Do you have a wins list from this week? Let me know! I would love to see it (just shoot me an e-mail: ebs@ebsanders.com).

Yours in winning goodness,

EBS