Stop Sabotaging Your Success (Cindy Esliger)

Cindy Esliger addresses the topic of procrastination and the obstacles that keep us from taking action. Procrastination can sometimes be around waiting for the perfect time to start, a form of perfectionism, and Cindy offers advice on how to move past that to achieve our goals.

Procrastination doesn’t mean we are lazy or have bad time management. It’s more about coping with how we feel about certain tasks. It can be caused by stress. In order to start a task, we need a strategy, especially if it’s a task that bores or overwhelms us. Cindy has three tips for overcoming procrastination by taking action. 1. Break things down, 2. Embrace imperfection, and 3. Take that first step.

There is value in breaking the overall goal into smaller steps so it’s not so overwhelming. If we can simply tackle one small step at a time, we achieve the forward momentum we need. Cindy shares four steps for creating an achievable action plan: 1. Start with the end goal in mind, 2. Ensure each step is clear and doable, 3. Set deadlines and milestones, and 4. Review and adjust the plan as needed. Cindy’s advice helps break down procrastination into something manageable that can help spur us on to achieving our goals. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Overcoming Procrastination
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger tackles the issue of negotiation in this episode. Negotiation is a part of life, it’s a skill we all engage in and one which allows us to navigate through different perspectives to reach mutually satisfying agreements. But there is a disconnect between the way men and women view negotiations in professional capacities and many of us lack negotiation skills. How can we learn the art of negotiation?

Negotiation involves a multitude of different views and skills. Confidence becomes of paramount importance to successful negotiations and part of that confidence can come from understanding the nuances of communication styles. We need to learn to break free of societal expectations, the fear of being demanding, and our innate struggle to assert our needs. Cindy shares how to prepare for negotiations in mindset and willingness to collaborate. 

Cindy also has three steps on how to deal with dirty tricks during a negotiation: 1. Recognize the tactic, 2. Raise the issue, and 3. Question the legitimacy and desirability of the tactic. While she breaks down each of these steps, she reiterates the best way to approach a negotiation and how to keep our calm and maintain emotional control throughout. Navigating negotiations takes practice, but with advice, Cindy makes it achievable.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Taming Tough Negotiations
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

This episode, Cindy Esliger addresses knowing your value and negotiating for the compensation you deserve. Women are more likely to be offered less than men and are discouraged from placing much emphasis on money. But Cindy has advice on how to change that mindset and navigate negotiations.

Cindy identifies five reasons for negotiating job offers. 1) Nobody is doing you a favor by hiring you, 2) You are supposed to negotiate, 3) The first offer is not the best offer, 4) Asking for more does not mean the employment offer will be withdrawn, and 5) You will be respected. Negotiation, done confidently and professionally, will greatly aid in your being compensated according to the value of your talent.

Cindy also addresses confidence and the importance of understanding that you offer valuable skills and knowledge that employers should pay for accordingly. To this end, she shares four key steps to getting exactly what you want at work: 1) Do the legwork, 2) Think outside your salary, 3) Be realistic, and 4) Keep it professional. Choose your words carefully and objectively assess your approach. Cindy’s sage advice will guide you to success in asking for more in salary or benefits.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Know Your Value
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In today's episode, Cindy Esliger unpacks the adage “How you do anything is how you do everything”. How we approach all tasks, big or small, demonstrates our consistency and our broader values. We can be in charge of how we are viewed by consciously deciding what we want to be known for and how we want to show up in the workplace. Cindy guides us through how to approach making that decision. 

The first step is to identify our professional identity. Cindy says whether it’s our leadership or reliability, whatever it is, make sure it aligns with our values and goals. When unplanned things happen, as they always do, how we respond should be intentional and align with what we’ve chosen as our professional identity. Cindy discusses practical tips for determining our professional identity based on five key characteristics of successful people.  

Cindy examines and connects the areas of effective communication, active listening, continuous learning, seeking feedback, integrity, adaptability, and more to building our professional identity. She also guides us through developing productive work habits. What do we procrastinate on? How do we approach meetings? There are many ways we can improve our work patterns through small changes and overall transform our professional reputation to align with our goals.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being More Intentional in the Workplace
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the self-care craze that has become less about caring for ourselves and more of a quick-fix industry. She explores setting healthy boundaries to reclaim our power and encourage us to manage life’s stresses. Self-care is important but it means more than a scented candle or something we can buy. Part of self-care is doing internal work to determine what we want and need, and what limits we have to set. 

The rage and frustration we can feel while pushing back against an oppressive or toxic work culture while balancing too many stressors is what leads to burnout. An externally applied fix, something we buy or a ritual we perform, may make us feel slightly better in the short term but does nothing to protect us from future harm or continued stressors. Cindy’s definition of self-care is a process, not a product. It involves setting limits and prioritizing personal well-being over productivity.

As Cindy points out, true self-care is not always comfortable. It can be challenging and messy as we work through emotional upheaval to change our life situations in order to thrive. She offers insight from her own experiences with change, boundaries, and reclaiming our power as a survival skill. What she shares explores how boundaries safeguard mental and emotional health and lead to long-term shifts that bolster self-care and create sustainable relationships in the future. Boundaries aren’t as easy as a bubble bath but they’re much longer lasting in their effects.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Reclaiming Your Power
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger asks us to look at who we are becoming by reflecting on how far we’ve come. Who are we really when our facades and defenses are down? When we can answer that, Cindy says, we can look ahead and make the right choices about who we are becoming. 

We are defined by the choices we’ve made so Cindy walks us through exploring what those choices have been. Our choices should be in alignment with where we want to be and what our strengths are. We can be thrown off course when we internalize critiques and let our insecurities prevent us from pursuing our purpose.

Cindy urges us to learn to take a compliment and not focus solely on critique. When we achieve great things, it’s okay to celebrate them. Letting ourselves feel capable and confident will help tear down the imposter syndrome that derails us on our path to becoming. Cindy offers three statements that fight imposter syndrome: 1) I am enough, 2) I worked hard for this, and 3) I make the most of opportunities before me. Become who you truly want to be with Cindy’s assistance.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Who You Are Becoming
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the pivotal role asking open-ended questions and keenly listening to the answers plays, not just in effective communication, but in navigating office politics. Why should we learn to listen better and why would we want to keep colleagues talking? As Cindy points out, learning more about people’s views and motives leads to understanding what drives them and being able to connect.  

Cultivating active listening skills is how we elevate our communication strategies. Active listening is not just hearing the words being said but involves a genuine effort to understand the speaker’s perspective and message. Coupled with reflective listening, summarizing what was said to ensure you understand, this is a powerful tool for improving office politics. Cindy explains all the nuances of engagement, including focus and body language, that improve our listening.

There is so much more to listening than simply not talking. Cindy lays out all the tools at our disposal, all the ways in which we can school ourselves to listen openly, ask open questions, reflect the speaker’s words to ensure understanding, and move the listening into a collaborative conversation. She narrows in on how to teach ourselves to modulate our voice and tone while also interpreting the tone others use and picking up subtle communication cues that allow deeper insight into a colleague’s stance. These are the ways in which we make progress through office dynamics and form valuable connections to aid in our growth.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Becoming A Better Listener
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger focuses our attention on the mindset shift required to reach our goals. We set big goals but lose steam before we make it happen, so Cindy has steps and strategies to help with focusing ourselves on what needs to be done every day.  

When you think about your future goals, are you overwhelmed by the problems of today? Can you clearly see why you want your imagined future? Cindy offers four things to build into our morning routine to keep us focused on making progress. 1. Write your goal down. 2. Write down a few reasons why it’s important. 3. Write down why you won’t make it happen today. 4. Write down the one thing you will do today to move forward.

In this episode Cindy directs us to imagine our future self in their clearly defined goal and to start taking advice from that future self who has achieved success. She shares three reasons why our future self knows what we need to do right now to reach the goal, and why mindset really matters more than the plan we lay out. Our goals are within our reach when we decide to overcome our doubts and accomplish them.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for What Will Make This Possible
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about reinvention and asks the question “What if who we are not isn’t who we need to be to achieve our dreams?”. Reinvention may be more a necessity than a possibility when we consider that in a changing world, we need to continue growing, thriving, and finding fulfillment. But exactly how do we do that? Cindy shares her guide to reinventing yourself with us. 

Reinvention challenges us to step beyond the boundaries of our old selves and explore the potential that lies beyond our comfort zones. When we find ourselves in a state of dissatisfaction or desperation with our careers, getting out of the stagnation sometimes requires that we embrace change despite how scary it feels. Reinvention is a process we should embrace and Cindy details exactly why it’s the key to advancement.

Cindy outlines the three key phases of reinventing ourselves: 1) Laying the foundation where we recognize where we’re starting from, 2) Creating the plan where we take dreams and identify the gaps in our knowledge, and 3) Putting the plan into action. She explores exactly how to lay the right foundation to support reinvention and how to commit to stepping outside our comfort zones. Her advice on how to not backslide into our old identities includes 1) Staying vigilant, 2) Surrounding ourselves with support, and 3) Celebrating our progress. This is an essential episode for learning what reinvention requires so we can finally achieve our dreams.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Reinventing You
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective
• Episode 35: Job Crafting

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger tackles the topic of self promotion in this episode. It’s tempting to just hope that our great work will speak for itself, but in reality nobody will realize our accomplishments unless we promote them ourselves. The art of self promotion is a balance between ego and recognition and Cindy helps us navigate that line.   

Being able to speak up to address our own accomplishments is part of confidence projection and people prefer to work with someone who isn’t afraid to have a voice. This can be done without coming across as an egotistical jerk. Cindy explains how self promotion isn’t about bragging so much as about highlighting our accomplishments, networking, and demonstrating how our achievements benefit others and the company at large. 

Cindy shares some practical strategies for self promotion: start small, practice talking about accomplishments with a friend, get comfortable sharing wins. She demonstrates the differences between confidence in showcasing our own value and being self obsessed. Imposter syndrome can also lead us to holding back on talking up our achievements. But Cindy has advice on how to reframe our hesitation around sharing our successes so that we can benefit from promoting ourselves to the betterment of our careers. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Convincing Yourself of Your Value
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Not everything that’s important needs to be serious and challenging. Cindy Esliger examines the idea of making things fun and easy as an alternative to always working under stressful situations. Does having fun mean we aren’t taking our goals seriously? In a word, no. Cindy shows us why. 

Making things more lighthearted and fun can aid in maintaining mental health and well-being while still achieving success. Approaching tasks with a sense of playfulness taps into our creativity and can lead to new and innovative ideas. Cindy shares three tips for exactly how we can make things fun and easy.

Incorporating fun and ease into life can also present challenges, however. Cindy acknowledges that and offers three strategies for overcoming those challenges. She talks about the value of fun, how it contributes to productivity, and explores ways in which we can balance both work and leisure to best suit our schedules and prevent burnout. We don’t have to trudge through every day in deadly seriousness. So start putting Cindy’s advice into action. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Making It Fun
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about conquering the voice in our head that tells us we’re not ready for the career spotlight or big goal we’ve been working towards. Those excuses, while comforting in the short term, ultimately just hold us back from reaching our potential. But how do we confront those fears and step out of our comfort zones to claim the career success we know we actually deserve? That’s what Cindy will guide us through today.

There are a lot of reasons we have for not achieving our career ambitions at the moment. The excuses are plentiful and there’s always something we can point to that’s keeping us static. But the truth is that those excuses are what we use to protect us from the potential judgment or failure that stepping out on a limb may bring. Cindy knows we’re ready for the career spotlight and it’s time for us to take action to reach it. Time to meet the challenge and do something a little bit uncomfortable.

Cindy lists the four most common excuses for avoiding growth: 1) Comfort in familiarity, 2) Fear of rejection and failure, 3) The need for external validation, and 4) Waiting for the perfect moment. She then details three tips to help us break free from these excuses: 1) Do a self-assessment, 2) Take the first step, and 3) Make it about others. She elaborates on each step with sound advice. Our dreams are valid and we have every right to pursue them. Cindy wants to guide us into stepping up to achieve them instead of holding back out of fear.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Eliminating Your Excuses
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses expectations: how to balance meeting the expectations of others with our expectations for ourselves. We need to meet the goals set out by employers and clients but also need to be mindful of our own needs and sense of well-being. How do we navigate this? 

The first step in managing expectations is being clear about what is expected of us. Then we need to ensure we are not settling for low expectations or ones that are too high. Cindy details the types of expectations we can anticipate in our daily lives and how to define their relative importance.

When we understand the expectations of others and our own expectations for ourselves, how do we balance them all? Cindy has three actionable tips for managing them: 1. Set realistic expectations, 2. Communicate clearly, and 3. Follow through on commitments. Cindy acknowledges that meeting and exceeding professional expectations is key to building trust and getting recognition, but guides us through keeping our own boundaries and wellness in mind as we meet those expectations. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Managing Expectations
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger asks “Are you giving away your power?” at the start of this episode. The question sets the tone for addressing the ways in which we allow control of our lives and careers to be held by someone else. She then guides us through the steps to reclaiming our power.

The impact external factors have on our lives is only as great as we are willing to allow. We give our power away to the opinions, criticisms, and demands of others too easily, to the detriment of ourselves. Cindy explains how getting in touch with our true desires will define what we actually want out of life and work, and she shares five steps on how to figure that out. Focus on what we really want helps us assert ourselves.

Our power can also be challenged through the competitive verbal tactics others use to claim their place. Cindy details the three most common of these tactics - interrupting, stealing ideas, and using undermining comments - and breaks down how to address and deal with each one to our advantage. This episode encourages believing in ourselves, and with Cindy’s advice, will help us put that self-belief into action.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Finding Your Power
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses the idea of work life balance in this episode. There is no one definition that everyone agrees on, but we all agree we want to achieve some notion of enough time for both work and personal lives without one overwhelming the other. How do we actually accomplish that, though? 

The buzz word trend of “work life balance” today means it encompasses a wide array of thoughts. What is “personal” life to you? Family? Friends? Charitable pursuits? Home life? Hobbies? Caregiving? Exercising? And should we feel guilty if we enjoy work and are very dedicated to it? Cindy breaks down all the things work and personal lives mean to us and how to view them without guilt. 

Overwhelm is the enemy of balance regardless of how we define it, however. So Cindy shares five self-sabotaging mistakes we make when we’re overwhelmed: 1) Dismissing things that might help, 2) Not making space for minds to wander, 3) Interpreting the feeling of overwhelm as weakness, 4) Not being flexible or adapting to changing demands, and 5) Missing opportunities to restore energy. Cindy walks us through each one and sheds light on ways to find fulfillment in whatever balance we find most rewarding. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Overcoming Overwhelm
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about how facts and emotions intertwine. How we feel about a situation affects how we perceive the facts of that situation. Cindy wants us to understand how awareness and acceptance of where we are will affect our perception. 

The saying “it is what it is” bothers Cindy because it feels as though we are being told to simply accept the way things are instead of thinking they could be different. In truth, we do sometimes have to accept things but that means being at peace with them, not accepting them as the  upper limit. Cindy explains how different mindsets and emotions - gratitude instead of complaint, for example - can change our perspective and also the possibilities open to us.   

Cindy outlines five common reasons we rationalize our feelings of overwhelm and cynicism: 1) Fulfills an emotional need that’s not being met, 2) Allows us to feel more in control, 3) Gives us attention, 4) Gets us off the hook in terms of blame, and 5) It protects us. She then explores how acceptance and changing our fixed mindset are key to moving past the negative emotions. She guides us towards relearning our behaviors for the better.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Creating A New Habit
• Astronomic Audio
• Carol Dweck

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Building unshakable self-confidence means we have the necessary mindset to achieve our goals and realize success no matter what happens. Cindy Esliger explains why the self-confidence to take on new challenges and perform under pressure is key and also advises on how to go about boosting our confidence. 

There are things that kill our confidence in the workplace, even if we started off quite confident. Cindy shares four of the most common confidence killers - perfectionism, being micro-managed, disengagement, and fear of failure - and then presents some ways to approach getting past these obstacles. The benefits of building self-confidence are numerous and Cindy outlines how just four benefits can change a lot in our work lives for the better. 

Self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy are always looking to gain a foothold in our minds. What we need to do is trust our own judgement, accept ourselves, and realize our value. Cindy encourages reminders of how good we are at our jobs and to seek out feedback from those we trust. Building self-confidence, unshakable self-confidence, requires work but the fulfillment and success that it can lead to is worth the challenge. Follow Cindy’s guidance in learning to trust our own talents and accomplishments.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Building Self-Confidence
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses the idea that following organizational norms and the well-worn path may not get us to where we want to be. Instead, we may need to carve out our own unique path that breaks from conformity and embraces action. How do we identify what to follow and when to break free? And how do we cultivate the strengths we need to trust ourselves to do it our way? In this episode, Cindy offers insight into those questions. 

In learning which of our rough edges should not be rounded off to suit the company, Cindy advises us to differentiate between being a maverick and being reckless. It’s not about going rogue, it’s about trusting our instincts and leaning into unique perspectives. She examines why failure is such an important teacher on this path and how to look for internal approval instead of external validation. 

Cindy specifically speaks to women when she debunks the myth that in order to be successful, women need to mimic male traits while minimizing their own. But playing a game designed by and for men is a losing battle. Employing confidence is the key to doing it our own way. Cindy breaks down the importance of communication, not taking things personally, and embracing our own strengths with confidence. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Doing It Your Way
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the reality of toxic behavior in many workplaces and why it’s important to understand it to protect our safety and wellbeing. Cindy offers advice on identifying and coping with toxic behavior so we can navigate our workplace more effectively. 

Toxic behavior can take many forms, from gossiping to gaslighting to harassment. Regardless of the form it takes, it can have serious consequences on our psyche. Left unchecked, it can lead to headaches, high stress, depression, and decreased productivity. How do we identify it? And more importantly, how do we deal with it? 

Cindy outlines patterns of behavior and things to look for that help identify the toxicity. There are certain things to look for that will help us better prepare for defense against it. Then Cindy shares ways to document and report the behavior, prioritize our own self-care, and offers five strategies that can make navigating conversations about toxic behavior easier. We have all experienced this so we can all work together to combat it.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Protecting Yourself
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode Cindy Esliger talks about the blame game. We want to know why things go wrong and we like distancing ourselves from the problem, which often leads to blame. Cindy gets into how this causes issues and how to break the finger-pointing habit.

We lean into a tendency to talk in circles around a problem, passing the buck and assigning blame, when really we should know how to take responsibility for our actions when needed. Cindy details exactly how this erodes an organization or team. She gives good reasons for working to resolve an issue instead of simply targeting a scapegoat.

The blame game is played in many ways so Cindy shares four warning signs to watch out for. She then gives three steps on how to direct the discussion in a more productive direction. But even better than responding well to the blame game is avoiding it in the first place. Cindy lays out three ways to prevent the culture of blame from taking hold and challenges us each to ask five key questions about our own responsibility when something goes wrong.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for What's Wrong and Who's to Blame
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about setting goals, both short and long-term, and the necessity of also having a plan for achieving them. January is a time when we traditionally make resolutions that we often fail to keep. We don’t want career goals to be the same. So how can we set goals and not give them up along the way? 

It’s important to note that goals don’t have to be set on January first. We can set goals any time we like, at the start of June or on a random Tuesday. What’s important is having a starting point so we can then plan a strategy. Cindy shares five tricks to help us develop effective strategies for goal setting and achievement: 1. Find our why, 2. Visualize the future, 3. Make the process of change more attractive, 4. Understand the power of emotions, and 5. Applaud our efforts. 

Cindy unpacks each of those five tricks to reveal roadblocks we encounter and ways to combat procrastination. She talks about setting realistic timelines, letting go of perfectionism, and maintaining new daily habits that help us progress. Her advice will shed light on why goals are so important to set, but why having a solid strategic plan for achieving them is possibly even more important.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Achieving Great Things
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the sensitive subject of gender equality in today’s episode. Getting a seat at the proverbial table in the workplace is part of the battle but it isn’t the end goal, it’s just the beginning. Cindy lays out what’s at stake and how to reframe our thinking. 

Cindy directly acknowledges that women are still more frequently undervalued in workplaces and their contributions more likely to be ignored or not sought out. Hard work, which often got us through elementary school, is not enough in career settings. Now you must employ strategic thinking, organizational awareness, and political savvy. Cindy draws on her own experience in offering guidance.

In this episode Cindy unpacks how getting a seat at the table is more difficult for women. She highlights how that seat is important and offers four ways to change your thinking in obtaining it. 1. It’s more than just optics, 2. We’re not broken, 3. Take up space, and 4. Upgrade the stories we tell ourselves. But getting the seat is not the end goal, either. It’s how we reshape the balance of gender equality for the better, demanding that women be seen equitably so future generations can thrive with opportunity. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for More than a Seat at the Table
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In today's episode, Cindy Esliger examines the differences between boldness and bravery. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, they are different and understanding the distinction between them is important for navigating workplace culture. Cindy defines each and offers insight on how to foster what is needed for career success. 

Boldness and bravery appear the same at a surface glance. However, as Cindy explains, boldness pushes boundaries and often leads to the pursuit of visionary ideas. However, it can also mask vulnerabilities and is more reactive than reflective. Whereas bravery is marked by a deep engagement with reality, including acknowledgement of fears and limitations. It involves risk assessment and the willingness to make hard choices.  

How do the differences between boldness and bravery play out in a workplace setting? That’s what Cindy explores, unpacking how the use of each results in a different impact on self and others. Learning to identify boldness in others allows us to understand when the limitations of boldness arise and gives us insight into how to foster bravery instead when needed. Cindy offers guidance and practical advice on five ways to use both boldness and bravery to our advantage at work. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being Bold and Brave
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective
• “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change” by Stephen R Covey

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the topic of procrastination in this episode. What is procrastination, why do we do it, and what kind of procrastinator do we seem to be? Cindy answers these questions then offers up some ways to break our procrastination habit and become productive on priority tasks instead of giving in to distraction or overwhelm. 

There are a lot of different ways we procrastinate. We do it by organizing, by cleaning, by doing other things, by waiting for permission, anything we can engage it that takes us away from what we should be working on. Productivity is a double-edged sword because sometimes we are productive in our procrastination, we’re just not productive in order of priority. Cindy challenges us to identify our style of procrastination so we can learn how to handle it.

Cindy shares four strategies to make it easier to take action against procrastinating: 1) determine the next step, 2) make it a priority, 3) make the task easier by making it smaller, and 4) redesign the environment. She explains each step with action in mind. What will motivate us to focus on the immediate task without distraction? Set yourself up for success against procrastination by taking Cindy’s insight and advice to heart.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Help You Stop Procrastinating
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Are you waiting for a master career plan to be handed to you? Cindy Esliger talks about how we can go about exploring possibilities in our careers, because we are in charge of our own fulfillment. Instead of waiting on others to offer job satisfaction, we need to be open to possibilities and change.   

Cindy shares some signs that indicate we might not be happy at our jobs: feeling unfulfilled, dragging ourselves to work without enthusiasm, feeling like we’ve hit a dead end. This might mean it’s time to start considering a career transformation. It’s time to shape our own futures by exploring what drives us, what fulfills us, and where we want to go. 

A career treasure hunt, is how Cindy words it. Her advice includes researching different industries, volunteering in new roles to get experience, networking to build new relationships, and above all, stepping outside our comfort zones. Ultimately it’s our journey to define, nobody can do that for us. And since fulfillment in our careers is important to happiness outside of work too, take the time to consider new paths with Cindy’s guidance.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Exploring Possibilities
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the need to gain emotional distance from what others are going through and project onto us. We need to learn not to take things personally. Most things are not about us and Cindy has advice on how to obtain the calm needed to keep things in perspective.

People all tend to live in their own worlds, wrapped up in whatever they’re going through. When they lash out or project their issues and we take it personally, we’re allowing ourselves to be offended by something that isn’t about us. Cindy wants to help us learn to choose what to believe and how to become less affected by the opinions of others.

Cindy advises us to remember that we are not responsible for the actions of others, only for our own. She guides us into considering boundaries and deciding to commit to changing our lifestyles. She explains the five most common negative emotions that arise in the workplace - frustration, worry, disappointment, dislike, and anger - and details how we can work to change our reactions to each one.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for It's Not Personal
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about two challenges commonly faced in the workplace, burnout and feelings of betrayal, and explores the distinctions between the two. Each has unique characteristics that are important to recognize to protect ourselves from their detrimental effects. Cindy carefully defines burnout and betrayal with advice on how to identify symptoms and contributing factors. 

Cindy details three characteristics of burnout: 1) exhaustion, 2) cynicism and detachment, and 3) feelings of ineffectiveness. She then discusses four distinct characteristics that differentiate burnout from feelings of betrayal: 1) origin and focus, 2) internal versus external factors, 3) physical and emotional impact, and 4) responsibility and blame. Understanding the differences is key to promoting a supportive and healthy work environment.

Trust is one of the fundamental elements forming the groundwork for all successful professional relationships in the workplace. Cindy explains why trust and trust violations profoundly impact us and how the erosion of trust leads to toxic work environments that include burnout and feelings of betrayal. She highlights ways for us to express our concerns and take proactive steps to protect ourselves and offers advice on how not to give in to feelings of helplessness. This episode is an important resource for finding our footing through deliberate action and setting boundaries against burnout and betrayal.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Reclaiming Your Power
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses failure and our fear of it in this episode. Failure isn’t pleasant and we try to avoid it, but it’s necessary for learning and progress. Cindy unpacks all the ways in which avoiding failure over the fear of being embarrassed or called out holds us back from our own success.

“Failure is life’s greatest teacher,” Cindy tells us. We dislike the negative feedback that can spring from failure but there are ways to navigate that feedback so it grows perseverance in us. Cindy advises to let go of our need to be immediately amazing in favor of just taking action. It’s okay to not succeed on your first try.

Cindy details how to not let fear run our lives by developing the all-important skills of adaptation and resilience. We often struggle with what others will think of us and that prevents us from moving forward. So we need to examine the roots of our fear and teach ourselves that we’re allowed to dream, we’re allowed to fail, and when we work through what faltering teaches us we are closer to success. Cindy encourages us all to believe in ourselves and shares how to allow ourselves to learn as we go.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Fear of Failure
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses differences and how differences are what make us stand out from the crowd. When we try too hard to fit in and hide our quirks and flaws, we may end up undermining ourselves. Cindy encourages everyone to embrace the difference and avoid trying too hard to contort into a box or please people at the expense of our authentic selves.

Some of the differences she notes in the workplace are the differing standards that men and women are held to. The behaviors that make men appear confident and competent, such as speaking up in meetings and acting assertively, are often held against women in the same context. Women who speak up and act assertively at work are seen as aggressive and women are afraid to embody this for fear of being disliked.

Cindy acknowledges the many inequalities at play in a workplace but stresses that office politics are vital for advancing individual goals. She refers to a Richard Petty quote that confidence is the stuff that turns thoughts into action. Confidence is important and part of our confidence stems from understanding our abilities and embracing the very fact that we are different. She encourages everyone to find their voice and not succumb to the pressures to fit in.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Embrace the Difference
• Richard Petty

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger explores the myth that we need to do everything on our own to succeed. Asking for help is difficult but it’s something necessary to achieving greater success. Why are we so reluctant? And how can we learn to start asking for the help we deserve? 

There can be a lot of reasons why we don’t ask for help: we fear rejection, we fear that the ask will mark us as incapable, it makes us feel weak, or we assume we will be a burden to those we’re asking. Cindy takes the time to break down why these beliefs are not necessarily true and how they’re holding us back. Asking for help is, in fact, a key skill that helps us build stronger relationships, navigate difficulties with greater ease, and grow in strength. 

There are best practices around how to ask for help, however, that aid in minimizing the fears we have surrounding it. Reaching out for assistance should not be a substitute for doing work on our own. Cindy has advice on how to approach others for help by starting small and remembering gratitude. It’s work to break down the myths we believe about independence requiring us to do everything alone, but ultimately learning to collaborate and reach out for assistance will serve us far more. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Asking For Help
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses the idea of trying on a new identity as a way to develop new skills and attributes that can advance our careers. Adopting a different version of ourselves requires taking a risk but also enhances our agility and flexibility to grow into new situations. Cindy unpacks the benefits and the challenges.

Our environment contributes to how we show up in the world and at work, therefore it’s important to assess our environment accurately when trying on a new identity. What new traits, behaviors, or qualities align with where we want to go in our careers? What limitations are we trying to surpass? Cindy addresses these questions and also cautions against losing our authentic selves in the process.

A new version of ourselves may well serve us in becoming more adaptable, which is essential in any workplace. Cindy offers eight tips to help develop flexibility and adaptability, and then acknowledges five potential pitfalls we should be aware of in advance. This episode examines how forging a new identity can spur us to greater success by addressing new attributes we want to foster. It is possible to grow through an identity shift, but it’s also a challenge. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Achieving the Success You Desire
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger tackles the understanding that our thoughts form our belief system, therefore it’s the thoughts we cling to as indisputable facts about ourselves that are truly holding us back. She dissects how to start questioning and changing these thoughts.

Cindy says that “a belief is just a thought you keep on thinking” and many of our victim mentality inclinations and limiting beliefs come from thoughts we latched onto at some point and never questioned. We hang onto these limiting beliefs out of fear but perhaps it’s time to really question where the thoughts originated and challenge them.

In this episode Cindy asks us to address our limiting beliefs one at a time. She asks us to take each belief that is holding us back and question it, ask if it’s really true, examine how we can let it go. She offers three steps for how to change what we believe: 1) Find out what we believe now, 2) Decide what you want to believe, 3) Practice believing. Cindy offers sage advice for every step of the process.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for What You Need to Believe
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about making a major career change in this episode. When do we decide to change course in our career path, quit our job, or move to a new endeavour? How do we know if it’s the right choice? Cindy examines what to evaluate when making career direction decisions, from how to gauge our current job satisfaction to what aligns best with our values and future career goals. 

The desire to alter our current job situation is one that requires careful consideration. Sometimes the choice is between staying or jumping ship, but before we make such an enormous choice, have we really evaluated our current job satisfaction level? What if there were other things we could change to improve our current job and align it more directly with our overall career ambitions? Cindy asks us to consider small-scale changes to improve things in the present. She offers three steps for evaluating what changes to make. 

If a complete job change is what is needed, oftentimes it’s fear that holds us back from making the choice. Fear of quitting, of losing the time already invested. Cindy explains how to navigate that fear and how to prepare for the extra work that creating new opportunities brings. Ultimately, the decision to stay put, implement smaller changes, or leave for a new job altogether should be made out of a position of strength, not desperation. Cindy’s advice lays out all the reasoning to work through to make an informed and empowered decision.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Considering A Bold Step
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about how the flurry of our everyday workplace conversations can lead to misunderstandings and confusion. When we are part of work conversations at the coffee machine or in email threads that overlap other conversations, how do we know what to follow up on? We miss out on clarifying the next steps, deadlines, and each person’s responsibilities. So how do we mitigate this problem? How do we make sure we complete our conversations? 

Simply having the initial conversation is often not enough to ensure success. We can walk away assuming the other party is responsible for a task or not understanding a deadline. And this lack of clarity can lead to failed projects and finger-pointing. Cindy states that it’s not about holding everyone hostage to an endless meeting assigning duties, but simply ensuring that the end of every conversation includes summarizing what the next steps are, who’s doing what, and when it’s due.  

Cindy advocates for avoiding the psychological toll of incomplete conversations by employing practical strategies that tidy up lingering questions. She offers three tips for implementing this into our daily work lives. 1) Summarize before we wrap, 2) Be explicit about ownership, and 3) Set deadlines and enforce them. The goal is mutual understanding. Cindy explains how to slow down and close the conversational loop for increased workplace success. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Completing the Conversation
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about our vision for our future in today’s episode. What is it that we want to do and where do we see ourselves? She has some sage advice on how not to let worry and disbelief get in our way when reaching for our futures.

We tend to get weighed down by the practical questions of ‘how’ when we envision our future and that realistic concern keeps us from truly dreaming. But what do we want for ourselves without the ‘how’ getting in the way? Cindy advises us to not get bogged down in the ‘how’ but to let ourselves believe in possibilities.

Cindy discusses how our confidence and willingness to try new things disappears as we grow older. We allow fear and disbelief in our abilities to replace our confidence. We put the word ‘impossible’ into our thinking and limit ourselves. Cindy shares how to conquer this thinking, how to drown out the messages that say we can’t do something, and how to believe that our success is possible.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for See What's Possible
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger looks at exploring our curiosities and experimenting with what interests us to find our passion. Instead of pushing our inner voice down to quiet it, she encourages us to listen to it. To pursue our hunches and instincts to find the things that will resonate with us.

We are often told to follow our passion but passion isn’t something we start out with, passion is what comes through exploration and curiosity. So if we start by trying things that fascinate us, we are more likely to discover our passion. Cindy shares ways to cultivate curiosity and pushes us to answer questions about our interests. 

When we do find a passion we may want to do it simply for pleasure. It’s not passion that will drive our career success anyway, it’s exploration. Cindy lays out five ways that cultivating curiosity is better for a career than following passion: 1) It opens us up, 2) It allows us to discover our passion, 3) Passions can change over time, 4) Passion doesn’t always equal proficiency, and 5) Curiosity transcends passion. She guides us through each of these so we better learn what drives us.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Exposing Your Curiosities
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about our conscious and sometimes unconscious tendencies to self-sabotage our own success. When we begin engaging in things that hinder our success, such as procrastination, lack of confidence, or self-doubt, we tend to behave in ways that support those feelings and prevent us from succeeding. Why is this? And how do we break out of the cycle of reinforcing our doubt through self-sabotage? 

We first need to take responsibility for the self-sabotaging behaviors. We need to acknowledge and identify the specific things contributing to our self-sabotage. We need to learn how to advocate for ourselves and create a strong support system around us. Who are the people encouraging our personal growth and who are toxic and reinforcing self-sabotaging thoughts? Cindy explains why addressing behavior and beliefs is so vital to growth. 

 Cindy also details six things we commonly do to sabotage our success: 1. Focus on the past, 2. Focus on what we don’t have, 3. Compare ourselves to others, 4. Focus on things we can’t control, 5. Get discouraged, and 6. Get distracted. Cindy gets into detail about these habits and how we can recognize and disrupt them. She offers real insight into the mindset changes we need to embrace to break free of self-sabotage and increase our personal success.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Overcoming Self-Sabotaging Behaviors
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the inevitability of workplace conflict by differentiating between using discernment over judgment to navigate the tension. Since workplaces are comprised of people and people each have their own struggles and lives going on unseen, tension is inevitable. Not taking things personally and approaching conflict with a desire to listen and get to the core issue are some of the strategies Cindy encourages us to adopt. 

As strange as it may seem to the conflict-avoidant, challenges aren’t just inevitable, they’re necessary. Challenges drive us to push the envelope, innovate, and keep the office interesting. It’s how we go about disagreeing with each other that needs attention, not the fact that we do disagree. Cindy offers advice on how to step back from reacting personally to things that simply aren’t personal and instructs us on how to approach healthy conflict that seeks true resolution. 

Leadership requires dealing with storms head-on. Tension must be acknowledged and the root cause must be unearthed so the tension can ultimately become a tool for growth. Leaders must learn how to address issues rather than letting them fester but also how to work for truth in resolution rather than rush to smooth things over with false comfort. Cindy guides us through learning discernment in conflict and holding back judgment until we can truly understand what a conflict is about. Her advice makes conflict less of a terrifying notion and more of an opportunity to learn. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Reckoning With Tension
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explains the idea of solving for happiness. Solving for happiness as a concept has gained increasing attention in recent years. It involves identifying factors that contribute to our well-being and taking action to cultivate more of these things in our daily lives. Cindy shares how to go about ensuring this happiness. 

We spend a significant portion of our lives at work or working so the quality of our professional lives can have an impact on our overall happiness. In the stress and challenge of the work environment, it gets hard to remain positive. But if we’re happy at work, we’ll experience improved health and performance. We will never be happy every single moment at work, that’s not realistic, but it’s important to identify all the factors, not just pay, that contribute to our happiness and ensure they’re present.

Cindy identifies all the factors that can affect job satisfaction, positively and negatively, and encourages us to assess our workplaces to ensure they are aligned with our values. Happiness is largely something cultivated within which is why solving for happiness involves self-assessment and intentionally promoting the things that fulfill us. Cindy offers six tips for creating happiness in our careers and reminds us to take charge of our own happiness.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Solving For Happiness
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses how we all share responsibility for how we are treated and why worrying about the opinions of others is wasted energy. She acknowledges the struggles and obstacles women face that are different to those of men, and has thoughtful advice for everyone on how to manage people’s perceptions.

Cindy understands that the social capital necessary for career advancement is often based in activities and attitudes not often available to women. She explains that the favorable conditions required for success, however, can be managed by us in the ways we use political strategies. She lays out three keys to create advantageous political strategies: frame ideas in appealing ways with influential people, manage people’s perceptions through clear response, and by arranging the right plan with the right support people in place.

Cindy also speaks to people pleasing and the worry we carry over the opinions of others. She provides four steps to guide us in releasing worry about what people think. Building relationships and partnerships is essential to success at work, but your own opinion of yourself is the most important. Worry about your opinion, not the opinions of others, and forge success by staying true to yourself and your own values.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Let Them Be Wrong About You
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger takes a look at what it is that we expect of ourselves in order to lay a proper foundation for success. Do we have a purpose and a direction? Cindy explains how to understand our expectations and make plans to achieve them. 

Purpose and direction are the things we all require to realize success. Purpose is our why. Direction includes vision and prioritization. Cindy talks about why priorities are vital to establish and encourages celebrating the small wins along the way. We’re grown-ups so we need to establish a good pace and maintain it in order to make progress. 

Cindy looks at why we fail to meet our goals and identifies high expectations that we can’t reach. Can we lower our expectations of ourselves in order to realize daily success? Overwhelm, as Cindy points out, does nothing to help us progress. We need balance between the goals and what we can reasonably achieve. We need to learn to lay the proper groundwork for our own success.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Making Progress
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks all about boredom in this episode. Often viewed as a negative, research actually suggests that boredom can have some surprising benefits. Experiencing boredom is a necessary part of growth. Cindy unpacks what causes boredom, the problems and perks that can come of it, and ultimately how to handle it. 

When we’re bored, we’re more likely to engage in divergent thinking. That’s important for generating multiple solutions to a problem, sparking creativity, and inspiring growth. Whether bored at work or in our personal lives, boredom is often a catalyst for exploring new career options or skills and trying a new hobby. Not all boredom is beneficial, though, so Cindy explains the differences between good and harmful boredom. 

Frequently, how we combat boredom can make it more or less useful. Our unoccupied minds demand entertainment but if we just idly distract ourselves with our phones, we miss opportunities to take a break, look for novelty and unique solutions, or pick up a new skill. Cindy offers five ways to embrace boredom and overcome the discomfort it can bring. Cindy will inspire you to view boredom in a whole new way. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Using Boredom As a Catalyst for Growth
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses change in this episode. Change is necessary to alter our career trajectories and meet our goals. But change also demands more than just ambition: it requires intention, perseverance, and the non-linear reality of doing things differently. It also requires facing things like systemic challenges and internal obstacles. Cindy offers guidance through the difficult, messy, and powerful subject of change.

One of the important points Cindy stresses is that change isn’t something that happens to us, it’s something we must actively pursue. It’s more than simply moving from point A to point B, it’s about taking control of our career and steering it ourselves. To help illustrate how to make significant life changes, Cindy explores the Stages of Change model developed in the early 1980s as a tool to describe behavioural change for addiction. It names the six stages of change as pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and relapse, which Cindy unpacks.

Making a lasting change often feels like being in a labyrinth without a clear view of the exit. We will hit dead ends, take wrong turns, and sometimes find ourselves back where we started. However, none of those setbacks mean we’re on the wrong path. It’s just that setbacks are part of the process of change. Cindy shares four strategies for navigating change, how to accept that the decision to change will require sustained and flexible effort, and why it will be worthwhile in the end. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Embracing the Power of Change
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger addresses one of the most essential components for achieving our dreams: believing in ourselves. It’s a far easier thing to say than do, however, especially when we’re just getting started. But other people do believe in us and Cindy’s advice is to borrow the belief others have to combat our own self-doubt.

Borrowing the belief others have in us means focusing on the support we receive from those who know us best. Surrounding ourselves with people who see our potential can counteract our feelings of inadequacy and imposter syndrome. The goal is to foster our own sense of self-awareness, Cindy says, and to use that as a stepping stone for reliance on our own skills.   

Cindy shares three tips for borrowing the belief others have in us: 1. Recognize and accept positive feedback, 2. Use positive affirmations, and 3. Take action. She explains how to identify the people who genuinely support us, elicit their feedback, and ways to internalize their beliefs and build confidence in ourselves. Cindy lays this path out in six steps, directing us to act on self-confidence and avoid pitfalls as we do. This episode is key to cultivating the self-belief we need to realize career success. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Guide to Building Self-Belief
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the arrival fallacy in this episode. That belief that once we reach a certain milestone in our careers everything will fall into place, as if by magic, and we will arrive in perpetual happiness. We will have “made it” into the mythological destination where we enter reward and leave the struggle. This fallacy doesn’t actually work because rewards, experiences, professional growth, and fulfillment only occur as part of the journey, not as an arrival bonus. Cindy breaks down how to see the journey as fulfilling and abandon our obsession with instant gratification. 

When we are only focused on the destination, the goal, and the end result, we tend to miss the transformative work in between. We tune out more, we rush things, we don’t want to learn. We simply want to arrive and be recognized. Cindy describes how to view the process of working as a reward in itself because of how it enriches our lives. She explains why going through the trials and grind of daily work to learn and flourish is ultimately better for our careers than immediate reward.  

It’s difficult to shift out of the finish line mindset, so Cindy has three tips to make shifting into enjoying continual improvement easier: 1) Set process goals, 2) Celebrate the wins and learn from the losses, and 3) Reflect regularly. Cindy wants us to recognize that satisfaction in our career journey is kind of the point of our work. Fixating solely on the destination means we are never living in the now and are not learning how to grow beyond expectations. Join Cindy as she breaks down exactly why the arrival fallacy is exactly that, a fallacy.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Reshaping Your Career Outlook
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Workplaces are complex environments full of different personalities and skill sets even as everyone is striving for a common goal. Differences of opinion will happen. Cindy Esliger examines how to create and hold boundaries at work and the best ways to push back when those boundaries are challenged.

If boundaries have not been set, we may find ourselves being taken advantage of and run down in terms of stress and time. Cindy emphasizes that we must create intentional boundaries and hold them even when they are tested. And they will be. Clear boundaries alleviate stress and lead to better work-life wellness. Cindy offers three tips for setting and maintaining boundaries. 

Pushback on our boundaries and limits can be challenging to manage. Saying no is often hard. Cindy shares three ways to stand our ground when we are tested. Communication is key and unless we know why our boundaries are set, we may have difficulty navigating pushback. In this episode, Cindy guides us through developing effective strategies for maintaining boundaries and advocating for ourselves in the workplace.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Pushing Back
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the double-edged sword that niceness can be in this episode. The pressure to be nice in the corporate world can feel overwhelming but forced niceness can lead to self-sacrifice and the impression of being easily manipulated. Being kind is a far better goal than being nice and Cindy explains why that is and how to pursue kindness over being nice. 

Cindy outright states that “niceness is overrated” and then delves into why that is. Niceness often comes at the expense of being real, honest, and kind. Niceness is about appearances and is surface level. It means keeping things pleasant even when it betrays our own feelings or needs. Kindness, however, digs deeper. Kindness is showing up for people, and not just in easy moments. It’s caring enough to tell someone an uncomfortable truth. And kindness is compassionate without being a doormat. 

The vast differences between working in a culture of nice and working in a culture of kindness are explored by Cindy. Kindness is generous, fair, honest, and vulnerable. Niceness might say positive things but kindness does positive things. The difference between simply keeping things cordial at the expense of ourselves and our goals and finding kind ways to tell truths and remain true to ourselves is the point of this episode. Cindy highlights the benefits of kindness in the workplace and shares advice on how to let go of being nice and pursue kindness instead. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being Kind in the Corporate World
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about envy in this episode. Different from jealousy, envy is often viewed as a negative emotion. But Cindy explains how envy can be a powerful positive force in our lives and careers if we handle it right. She advises on how to view it for the best instead of letting it impact us negatively.  

Envy and jealousy are often confused as the same but envy arises when we desire something someone else possesses and jealousy involves the fear of losing something that’s already ours. Envy is a natural emotion that we frequently try to deny feeling or suppress in ourselves. That unwillingness to acknowledge evy can lead to bitterness and resentment. But acknowledging it can lead to positive outcomes.  

Cindy lays out five tips on how to identify envy triggers in a healthy way: 1. Recognize our feelings, 2. Understand the source of the envy, 3. Focus on our own goals, 4. Practice gratitude, and 5. Seek support. Envy acknowledged can help us identify directions we want to take in our own careers and things we might be lacking that we should pursue. There are definite benefits in exploring envy and Cindy explains them in detail, shedding light on how to reframe envy to work for us instead of against us. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Analyze Your Envy
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the art of communication in today’s episode. If people aren’t listening when we speak, it’s time for a self-assessment. How are we presenting ourselves? Speaking isn’t just saying something, it’s about presenting a message in a manner that engages the audience. So if we aren’t being listened to, are we the problem? And if so, how do we become a compelling speaker?

The first step in getting others to listen to us is believing what we’re saying. If we don’t believe our own message, how can we expect others to? People are drawn to confidence and clarity, both of which are signs that the speaker knows what they’re offering. Having confidence in our message is vital so Cindy offers four tips for helping us communicate confidently: 1. Know the topic, 2. Practice, 3. Anticipate questions, and 4. Visualize success.

The art of effective communication requires preparation, identifying a main message to build supporting points around, and then understanding how to present it engagingly. The tone of voice, body language, and clear speech, all of these factors combine to help draw audiences into what is being said. Cindy notes that “effective communication is not just about what you say, but how you say it” but acknowledges that it takes practice. She shares five tips for conveying confidence through body language and solid advice on how to demonstrate authenticity, connect with an audience, and prepare the message being conveyed.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Improving Your Communication Style
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses difficult conversations in this episode: those dreaded conversations that involve challenging subjects or conflicts that need resolving. We would often prefer to avoid them but they’re necessary for preventing larger difficulties and problems down the road. Hard discussions are a part of growth and resolution and can’t be avoided forever. So learning to navigate difficult conversations like a pro is the easiest way to deal with their inevitability.  

Avoiding difficult conversations will only make the issue worse in the future and addressing things early can prevent a much larger blow-up later. But broaching the subject is tough. We’re often afraid to address the problem and initiate the hard talk out of fear that we may make things worse. Cindy shares five tips for approaching these situations without making them worse: 1) define the problem, 2) identify what is wanted before starting the conversation, 3) decide how to address it, 4) stick to the facts and feelings, and 5) use the power of validation. 

Cindy explains that while not every problem has a solution, addressing the tension is still important. She advises asking ourselves “Do we need to solve this problem or do we need to solve how we feel about this problem?”. Shifting perspective from finding a resolution to managing emotions and reactions to the problem can sometimes be more productive. Regardless of solutions, starting a difficult conversation is the most courageous thing we can do and will put us on a path towards fixing certain issues and forging stronger relationships. Cindy is here to shine a light on exactly how to navigate this rocky terrain.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Finding the Courage to Address Any Issue
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about continuously moving forward in our careers rather than resting on laurels and simply expecting to succeed. There is a need to not go back, to push ourselves to improve and grow in order to stay relevant. Career stagnation is the alternative, and Cindy has insight on how to avoid that. 

There are several factors that contribute to forward momentum, including building new skills, building relationships, and identifying our goals and ambitions. Building a diverse set of skills and knowledge adds many important things to career trajectories. Cindy highlights three of the most important benefits: adaptability, creativity, and flexibility.

What Cindy suggests is taking initiative in moving things forward in our workplaces. Demonstrate leadership skills, for example. Start new projects. Initiative gets us noticed by those who make promotion decisions. Cindy describes how relationships and collaboration are just as important for growth as initiative. She offers ways to advance soft skills and practical skills that make a difference to success. Don’t stand still on past accomplishments. Instead take Cindy’s advice to progress your career.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Taking The Initiative
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about the stroke of brilliance ideas we sometimes have that we dismiss because it’s something that came too easily to us. Our sudden insights that we feel are too obvious to be of real value. It’s that self-discounting tendency that Cindy examines in detail because the truth is that what comes easily to us can be a genius revelation to someone else. We don’t all share the same skills. So what we think is simple may be a monumental insight to another person. Cindy wants us to start sharing those ideas instead of dismissing them.

Part of the complexity of human cognition is this belief that what seems effortless to us is of no value to anyone else. We fail to recognize that things we find obvious and easy may in fact be groundbreaking and valuable to someone else. Because we are all born out of different environments and experiences that shape us into being adept with some things and not others. We’re all different. So how do we overcome the paradox of thinking things that are easy to us are useless? Cindy says 1. Acknowledge that what’s obvious to us is not obvious to everyone, 2. Cultivate an environment that encourages the sharing of ideas, and 3. Challenge the desire for complexity. 

Not everything valuable must be challenging. And not everything we innately understand is obvious to everyone else. Cindy urges us to start sharing those simple ideas to further our careers and our representations of our unique qualities. What we need is to learn how to communicate effectively so our ideas are received well. So Cindy unpacks how to speak up, why complacency is a dream killer, how making a mark involves breaking away from the status quo, and why our unique insights have immense power. This episode is our guide to learning not to stifle our individual gifts.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Recognizing Your Obvious Brilliance
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about developing calmness as a superpower to help us achieve career success. Staying calm and composed under pressure is a vital skill for surviving a hostile work environment. It also leads to better decision-making. Cindy takes us through how to achieve calm when emotions are high. 

Cindy starts with an overview of three strategies she finds most helpful in the quest to develop calmness. 1. Identify triggers and develop coping mechanisms, 2. Practice effective communication, and 3. Focus on what can be controlled. She examines each strategy, breaking them down so they can be applied to our daily lives with a clear understanding of how they will help. 

There are benefits to learning the essential skill of staying calm, too. Cindy explores five key benefits - clarity, reduced tension, reduced misunderstandings, increased resilience, enhanced productivity -  and discusses the role of emotional intelligence in career success. Cindy stresses that other people acting on their fears is not about us and offers advice on how to manage triggers. The superpower of calm is something we all need to master.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Staying Calm
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In today’s episode, Cindy Esliger addresses the subject of gaslighting. Gaslighting is a term that’s used a lot because it is a prevalent form of undermining and manipulation that often exists in professional environments. Why do people employ the use of gaslighting? How can we recognize it? And what long-term impact does it have on us? Cindy dives into the explanations and advice surrounding gaslighting.  

Gaslighting can take various forms, from dismissing or trivializing our concerns to denying facts or events that have happened. People use gaslighting to maintain or advance their own position in the workplace and it’s effective because it sows doubt in the target and disempowers them. Cindy explains how gaslighting works to erode confidence and details the ways it can cause cumulative stress and an emotional toll that can contribute to mental health issues.  

Cindy’s advice for counteracting gaslighting partially involves conducting a self-assessment that builds belief in ourselves that is independent of the opinions of others. Relying on external validation can open the door for gaslighting to be effective. Cindy’s five tips and strategies for building that belief are, 1. Self-reflection, 2. Constructive feedback, 3. Setting personal goals, 4. Self-compassion, and 5. Developing our skills. She shares warning signs, advice for empowerment, and ways to restore lost self-confidence in this necessary and important episode. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Break the Spell
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger challenges the belief that achieving future success will be what makes us happy. Achieving a goal is a milestone but if we don’t value the journey along the way as much as the end result, we won’t be happy when we get there. Cindy examines why the journey, especially the first part of a journey full of obstacles, is important to our career development and success and how determination factors in. 

Determination is a life skill that’s key to overcoming challenges and obstacles in our paths. Since it’s through adversity that we more clearly understand our strengths and potential, determination is a skill we should look to cultivate. Cindy discusses why the discouragement of mistakes and fear of failure instilled in us in youth follows us into adulthood and robs us of our determination. She has advice on how to regain that determination. 

Fostering determination is what aids us in pushing through adversity and adversity is what teaches us, shapes us, and builds our strength throughout our journey. Appreciating this journey is key to appreciating our experiences and potential, and discovering who we really are. Cindy explores the many setbacks and failures that are inevitable as well as how our determination drives us toward our goal. Her advice is vital to acknowledging that success lies as much in the journey as in achieving the goal. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Developing Your Determination
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the helpfulness of having a mentor in this episode. A mentor can guide you through various stages of your career and help set you up for professional success. They aren’t necessary to have, but having that senior person in your field able to mentor you can provide you with a lot of support and knowledge.  

Similar to a counselor relationship, the chemistry you have with a mentor is important. They are someone you should feel comfortable being challenged and encouraged by. Cindy advises not limiting yourself to only one mentor at any given time as well. For women in certain fields, especially STEM fields, men will tend to support other men but that support won’t extend to women in their circles. Mentors can help balance that inequality.

Cindy shares all the ways in which mentors are helpful: from giving feedback or imparting technical knowledge to enabling you to leverage their contacts, mentors have a lot to offer. You don’t have to prove yourself alone. Cindy’s advice is to open yourself up to a mentor early. She details three common characteristics all good mentors possess to assist in your search. Find out how important a mentor can be and start considering one of your own.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Making the Most of Your Mentor
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the omnipresent topic of worry, our tendency to dwell on negative thoughts about what the future could bring. Some worry can be motivational, but excessive worrying negatively impacts our mental health, physical health, and overall well-being. So how do we stop worrying? Cindy has some advice.

Worrying is normal and some worry truly can motivate us to take action against negative outcomes. But the excessive, chronic worrying that dogs many of us can lead to overwhelm, depression, and anxiety, and doesn’t solve the things we are worked up about. Excessive worrying is best to address with professional help to avoid significant distress. 

Cindy lays out four things we often worry about in terms of what other people think, worries that will sabotage our success efforts. She counters those four worries with four strategies that can help. Worries need to be managed. Cindy’s four steps for managing our anxiety are 1. Managing our time, 2. Journalling, 3. Practicing mindfulness, and 4. Engaging in physical activity. It’s incredibly important to get ahold of our worrying so we don’t derail our health and goals. Cindy’s advice will prove invaluable to all of us plagued with chronic worrying.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Manage Worry
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses navigating life authentically in this episode. Being unapologetically ourselves is difficult when we crave acceptance and learn to conform or apologize for our natural selves. But living life being dimmed down by social expectations doesn’t allow us to live free from the weight of the other’s opinions. So just how do we start to live unapologetically? 

There is often negative backlash surrounding those who live unapologetically. Labels like “selfish” or “arrogant” get applied. While it is important that authenticity co-exist with respect for others, that’s not the same as trying to please everyone and tamping down our self-expression to suit everyone’s needs but our own. Cindy states five ways that being ourselves improves our lives: 1. We get braver, 2. We live according to our own rules, 3. We realize how toxic people can be, 4. We’re no longer trying to impress everyone, and 5. It becomes harder for people to bring us down.

Real satisfaction comes from impressing our toughest critics: ourselves. When we live authentically, we are empowered to care less about the opinions of others. Cindy offers a four-step process for becoming unapologetically ourselves: 1. Embrace the real us, 2. Stop apologizing for who we are, 3. Set healthy limits, and 4. Tackle our fears. She explores each step in detail and explains the power of boundaries, communication, and honing the art of respectful confidence. Join Cindy to learn how to be unapologetically individual.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being Unapologetically You
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses how our interpretations of other people’s actions can shape our emotions and behaviors. What we think is being said may not actually be accurate. Our interpretation may be based on assumption, bias, or belief and have little to do with the other person. So how do we navigate that? 

The ways in which we decide to interpret people’s actions can lead directly to our own reactions. If we interpret someone’s behavior as an attack, we can get defensive. If we interpret someone’s words as a compliment, we will likely feel happy. Cindy notes that it’s important to be mindful of the stories we tell ourselves so we can challenge unhelpful interpretations.

Cindy defines cognitive bias and confirmation bias, giving examples of how both operate and affect us, and offers insight into balancing our interpretations for a more objective perspective. She shares three tips on ways to challenge our interpretations and assumptions. Ultimately she is guiding us to becoming more confident, motivated, and resilient in our interactions so we can realize greater success.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being Aware of Our Interpretations
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger presents the truth about perfection in the real world in this episode. The truth is that perfection is not rewarded in real life and the behavior that earned us those gold stars in school doesn’t mean much in the world outside school. It’s time to learn what is rewarded and how to achieve it. 

Bravery is what is rewarded in the real world. Where perfection is safety, bravery lets us step off the expected path and speak up for ourselves. Cindy details how bravery serves us better in life, and especially in the workplace, than the pursuit of perfection. She also shares her own struggles with perfectionist desires.

Why is perfectionism actually a weakness? The related symptoms that perfectionism produces, the fear of control that results in procrastination, and the sense of failure that accompanies our inability to meet self-imposed perfection standards. These are the ideas that Cindy breaks down and addresses. She talks about how to reframe perfectionism and not only embrace courage but mistakes as well.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Understanding Perfectionism
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the trap of the comfort zone and why staying challenged at work is better for long-term success in this episode. While the comfort zone and being at the top of your game feels good, staying there too long can lead to stagnation. Cindy discusses why setting goals and learning new skills is key to our career progression.  

While there’s nothing wrong with doing what we do best, just staying at that level and excelling eventually leads to some things we might not want. We shift from thriving to just maintaining the status quo. When we have too much stability, we aren’t pushed to try new things and we get complacent, even start doubting our ability to advance. Cindy points out why it’s better to be challenged and learn, especially once we reach the top of our game.

Cindy delves into the benefits of challenges, not just professionally but personally. Continuously pushing forward is what keeps us sharp. She details five ways we can mitigate career stagnation and keep pushing: 1) Focus on why, 2) Find a new challenge outside of work, 3) Stop waiting for permission, 4) Address internal barriers, and 5) Create a personal development plan. Join Cindy as she guides us through career advancement by way of constant challenge. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Staying Challenged and Engaged
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger discusses how to let go of the emotional reactions we tie to our expectations of other people. She introduces four tips on how to stop trying to control others and details how letting go of that control will free us from expending energy on emotional reactions to the choices of others. 

Cindy’s four key pieces of advice on letting go of control are deceptively simple. The first is to let them be. The second is that happiness is a choice. Third is to control what you can control. And fourth is to stop arguing with reality. In examining these four points, Cindy details exactly how we take on other people’s adherence or failure to do what we want them to by making their choices carry emotional weight in us. She explains that what we really need is to take responsibility for our own emotions and realize that expectations shouldn’t have feelings attached to them.

Through the exploration of all four tips, Cindy stresses that the main focus we should have is on ourselves, on the responsibility we have for our own choices, and on choosing not to tie our emotional happiness to the expectations we place on others. Expectations, while sometimes necessary as a parent or boss, carry consequences but should not control our feelings. She urges listeners to think about the rewards of delayed gratification by letting go of needing to feel good about situations and responses immediately. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Let Them Be Who They Are

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger examines the disconnect between the increasing expectations of leaders and the lower levels of engagement in the workforce. Work is becoming less meaningful because leaders feel pressure to deliver more and there are fewer people to do that work. What part of this equation can we change so we can create the career we want?

The continuing trend of trying to do more with less was meant to increase productivity but instead overburdened workers. We collectively have too much to do and no time to enjoy our accomplishments. This divide is making us disenchanted with our work. When we are constantly told “When things calm down…” but nothing ever changes, how long can we continue the grind until we realize we need an intentional change? 

Cindy advises that the solution is not to work even harder or faster. Instead she details how we have accepted the undermining comments and pressure that continue to keep us stuck as cogs in the machine. Cindy shares four mistakes we make that keep us trapped and away from the careers we desire: 1) surrounding ourselves with the wrong people, 2) not thinking we are worthy, 3) focusing only on what we do not want, 4) holding on when it’s time to let go. She breaks all of these down in ways that illuminate a path out of the grind and into the fulfilling work lives we desire.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Your Moment of Reckoning
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the inner dialogue we all have that is often driven by stress, fear, and anxiety, and why we shouldn’t believe everything it says. The things we tell ourselves are shaped by past experiences, current fears, and future worries and the stress we carry can make these inner voices very unreliable. So how do we start believing a better story about ourselves? 

While our inner narrative can sometimes be encouraging, it is more often negative and self-sabotaging. It combines a series of conscious thoughts, unconscious beliefs, and personal fears into a dialogue that keeps us stuck in unproductive patterns. Cindy advises awareness as the first step in combating these negative inner thoughts. Becoming aware of our thoughts allows us to replace some of them with more positive ones consciously.

Cindy discusses four strategies to help us become more aware of our thoughts in order to kick the unhelpful self-talk out of our heads: 1) Monitor our thoughts, 2) Notice patterns and identify self-sabotaging behaviour, 3) Challenge our inner critic, and 4) Replace negative thoughts with empowering beliefs. As she delves into each point, she offers insight into how the limiting narrative forms and why it’s so important to disrupt it so we can live our fullest lives.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Imagining a Better Story
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about the pivotal role feedback plays in professional growth. However, while constructive feedback is important, it’s equally important to learn how to navigate the critiques and understand who is offering the feedback. Not everyone will have our best interests at heart, so how can we learn to be more self-reliant and critical in assessing feedback?  

The mutual exchange of constructive feedback is key to innovation and collaboration in the workplace. It lays the groundwork for growth and success. The challenge lies in distinguishing between well-intentioned feedback and feedback that has ulterior motives behind it. Cindy discusses the importance of trusting our instincts and learning not to constantly need external validation to make our decisions.

When we receive unwarranted negative criticism, it’s key not to internalize that negativity. Cindy shares five tips for navigating harmful criticism: 1. Pause and reflect, 2. Seek clarification, 3. Focus on the constructive elements, 4. Engage trusted advisors, and 5. Learn to disregard. She elaborates on how to put these tips into action and discusses how to develop a strong positive self-image, one that bolsters confidence. Learn how to seek and respond to the right feedback with Cindy.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Considering the Source
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger explores the necessity of emotional intelligence in leadership, delving into why responding to challenges with calm and kindness promotes a healthy work environment. It also paves the way for both leader and team to achieve more sustainable success and growth. But how do we learn to avoid volatility in the face of struggle and what strategies promote quiet strength? 

Working our way up the corporate ladder isn’t just a series of milestones but a transformative experience that shapes us both professionally and personally. With that growth, it’s inevitable to experience both trepidation and excitement as horizons broaden. Uncertainty and self-doubt can take hold. It’s in learning to battle this imposter syndrome and seek assistance that we discover how to treat ourselves with grace and extend calm and kindness outward. How to lead not with emotional turmoil but a steady hand.  

Cindy discusses all the ways in which grappling with ourselves is necessary in order to advance and also lead effectively. She notes that we aren’t born being strong, calm and kind but that we learn through experience and practice how to cultivate those traits. She lays out six strategies for harnessing inner strength: 1. Confront imposter syndrome, 2. Cultivate inner confidence, 3. Manage emotions, 4. Let go of baggage, 5. Take responsibility, and 6. Replace fear with learning. As she unpacks each step, she imparts a clear path forward through emotional resilience instead of volatility. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being Strong, Calm and Kind
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Coming Soon: Stop Sabotaging Your Success, the podcast for ambitious, professional women who are tired of playing small and ready to overcome the invisible barriers that are holding us back at work.

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the work that still needs to be done by women to improve their experiences in the workplace. Though workplaces have evolved and strides have been made, things are changing very slowly so for true change to happen, women need to focus energy on what is within their control. What behaviors and attitudes will positively impact what is experienced at work? 

The road to change is not a comfortable one. Shifting your mindset involves looking inward to acknowledge the internal work that must be done to affect external issues. However, Cindy stresses that the long-term benefits will be worthwhile. She also identifies five ways to improve your experience at work: 1) Assessing your mindset, 2) Owning your achievements, 3) Setting boundaries, 4) Embracing challenges, and 5) Advocating for yourself.

As Cindy goes through each of the five points, she explores how positive influences are required, stresses that you need to stop downplaying your accomplishments and experience, and examines how a change in perspective about setbacks and challenges will result in growth. The work everyone needs to do internally holds the power to change workplace experiences. Cindy illustrates how changing mindsets will shape professional encounters for the better and pave the way for greater success.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to The Work Still To Be Done
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective
• Carol Dweck, PhD

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses having an intentional path and not leaving our futures to chance. What has to change in order to make what we want to have happen possible? Cindy leads us into exploration on how our stories are still being written, and how we can control the writing.

The question “what would have to change for me to be completely fulfilled” is posed early on in Cindy’s talk. The answer illuminates what we find unsatisfying or threatening and shows us what changes we can start to make to rewrite the direction of our own story. Are there experiments we can take on to find more open doors at work? 

Confidence and courage are skills Cindy says we can develop. It’s true that things don’t always go as planned, though, so Cindy offers five steps to help us find our way through setbacks: 1. Wallow if necessary, 2. Celebrate the result, 3. Shake it off, 4. Review, reassess, realign, and 5. Get back in the game. Cindy outlines how to avoid getting stuck in a blame game and to reassess our narrative. She guides us through using our time to write our stories our way.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Getting Unstuck
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the art of negotiation and how frequently we approach it with uncertainty despite how much negotiation infiltrates our daily lives. To assist in feeling confident in a negotiation, Cindy discusses how to establish a walkaway point as a strategy for reaching an outcome we can live with. She guides us through making a negotiation plan that will empower us. 

One of the reasons we tend to fear negotiation is the fear of confrontation and not achieving an ideal outcome. This is increased by the common misconception that negotiation is only for executives closing multi-million dollar deals. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Negotiation is a fundamental life skill encompassing everything from sharing household chores to getting a child to eat their vegetables. And like children, who are innately brilliant negotiators, we should approach negotiation with the same tenacity. 

Cindy shares some of the psychology behind negotiation and how to use that to improve the quality of our interactions. Knowing when to push and when to walk away is a key strategy in negotiating. Creating a plan beforehand is vital, as setting realistic expectations and a minimum baseline are what imbue us with confidence. Cindy describes the process of making such a plan, how to determine strategic concessions, and how to create a plan B. Hearing Cindy’s advice and putting it into action for our next negotiation will give us a sense of power and transform how we approach the discussion.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Approaching a Negotiation
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger discusses the importance of priorities and how understanding them can help us make better decisions. We can get lost in the chaos of life and think we don’t have time for what matters but that’s because our priorities aren’t clear. 

Priorities can be related to our careers, relationships, health, personal growth, or something else entirely, but knowing what matters helps clarify the vision of our future. We need to learn how to say yes to the things that get us closer to our vision and say no to things that are taking time away from what we value most. 

Cindy offers advice on how to identify what our priorities are. She explains how to create a time management system so we don’t lose the time we have for things we don’t prioritize. She also shares how to say focused and committed to the priorities we identify. Priorities should align with our values and lead us to the results we desire, regardless of which area of life we are setting priorities for.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Prioritizing
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about the reasons why we undervalue ourselves at work and the toll that takes on our careers. She acknowledges that women have a harder time getting their work noticed and taken seriously. She offers sound advice on how to change our mindset about what we have to offer and on learning to self promote.

Cindy shares from her own past experience in feeling uncomfortable with speaking up about her accomplishments. She relates that, in hindsight, she understands that not speaking up about how she smoothed over client issues meant her work went unnoticed by her boss. It’s important to create visibility around your own success so your results get the recognition they deserve.

Cindy lays out four steps to unlock your potential. First, create your vision. Second, create your action plan. Third, make it happen. And fourth, amplify your impact to achieve greater influence. She explains in detail how to approach each step, how to change how you may feel about the negative associations tied to self promotion, and why these steps are so important to reaching your goals.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Great Work Doesn't Speak For Itself
• Astronomic Audio

--

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses the need to celebrate our wins, to recognize our own accomplishments in order to build career momentum and a sense of progress. Everyone needs to feel acknowledged and even if it’s just us celebrating our own wins, it lets us feel fulfilled and proud of our work. 

Behavior change can be reinforced with positivity but unsurprisingly not with punishment. Rewarding positive outcomes leads to continuing the practice of new habits and works to encourage our growth. It’s vital to celebrate our successes. It helps to motivate us and fosters happiness.

How should we celebrate our wins? There’s no one way, it’s up to personal preference, but Cindy offers some suggestions: 1. Acknowledge progress and praise a job well done, 2. Give tangible rewards, 3. Share success with others, and 4. Reflect on the growth and track the progress. Cindy also shares five common roadblocks preventing us from celebrating our wins. We need to overcome reluctance to celebrate ourselves because the celebration can help offset setbacks we encounter later on. Take the advice in this episode to heart, we are all worth celebrating.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Celebrating Your Wins
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective
• “Tiny Habits” by BJ Fogg, PhD

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger introduces us to the notion of the productivity illusion in today’s episode. The productivity illusion is the mindset that says the primary goal of work is to increase output and gather a list of accomplishments. However, productivity should exist in a balance between being productive for its own sake and harnessing efficiency as a tool to reclaim time for other things in life. Cindy explores productivity and how to make our days more fulfilling.  

The drive to push, do more, be more, and achieve more is largely fueled by the productivity illusion which equates being productive with the ultimate goal of happiness, success, and fulfillment. It celebrates being busy as a badge of honor. Cindy unravels the productivity illusion to show how it can be misleading and discusses productivity as a purposeful journey instead of an endless chase.  

She explores the need to delegate and deprioritize tasks that don’t contribute to our career objectives, rather than simply chalking them up as things to do. She explains the concept of the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto Principle, and identifies how the greatest achievements often come from the least amount of tasks. Cindy offers the idea of personalizing productivity, simplifying our approaches, and enjoying free time guilt-free as part of her explanation of how to break the productivity illusion. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Intentional Productivity
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective
• “The 80/20 Rule And How It Can Change Your Life” by Kevin Kruse for Forbes.com (Pareto Principle)

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about how to break free of mediocrity and create a personal through line of success in our careers. Settling for good enough is the easy choice but it won’t lead to the career we dream of. We need to craft that career by defining our goals and taking risks. Cindy examines how to move past adequate into extraordinary in our journey. 

We can feel like a cog in the machine at times, just checking off boxes and tasks to embrace the illusion of progress. But if we don’t understand where we personally want to go in our careers, this mediocrity cycle feeds itself through increased demands and our inability to imagine doing more than the bare minimum. Cindy urges us to push past our comfort zones to understand our mission and shares insight on how to define what we truly want to start working towards that goal. 

The path to success is not a straight linear line or a single corporate ladder. Cindy points out that it involves zigzags, meanderings, and bold choices that may not seem connected to a goal but that we know are right for us in the moment. She offers three questions to ask ourselves to determine our next career steps: 1. What are we genuinely interested in? 2. What unique skills do we possess that are in demand? and 3. What emerging opportunities or trends excite us? With Cindy’s guidance in this episode, we may find a way to shake ourselves off a mediocre path to embrace a new through line.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Not Settling for Adequate
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about how the lone wolf mentality of handling everything ourselves can backfire and hold us back. In toxic situations, it can even be used against us. Refusing to collaborate and work with others is self-imposed isolation that keeps us from valuable insights and promotes burnout. Cindy explains how we can learn to open ourselves up and work with others.    

While Cindy isn’t suggesting opening the floodgates to allow everyone to weigh on every decision, she is advocating for understanding the value others bring to our work at key moments. She provides four reasons why it’s valuable: 1) Fresh perspectives mean better solutions, 2) Collaboration sparks creativity, 3) Shared workload means less burnout, and 4) Stronger relationships and better influence. 

Inviting others into our work isn’t just helpful but strategic. It’s not admitting weakness. Cindy explains how insights from others are like an expansion of our knowledge. It also increases our visibility within the organization and can be an advantage. How we approach obtaining collaboration and responses is key to how effective that input will be. Cindy has very specific advice for ensuring the collaboration benefits all parties and keeps us thriving and not retreating back into a lone wolf mindset.   

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Inviting Collaboration
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Today Cindy Esliger talks about all or nothing thinking and the pursuit of perfection. There is a give and take in life where some things must be good enough to allow us time to achieve perfection elsewhere. 

Perfectionism stems from fear of not being good enough and the need to be perfect in all things actually gets in the way of success. Cindy highlights how perfectionist tendencies contribute to procrastination and avoidance in addressing negative situations and emotions. Striving for excellence and wanting to be perfect are also different things.

In this episode Cindy gives the sage advice that not everything in life needs to be perfect, that some things are fine being ‘fit for purpose’. Allowing yourself the grace of doing some things well enough to suit the purpose will free you up to focus on achieving higher levels of success, and working to perfection, in other areas. She stresses that compassion for self is important. You don’t have to do everything at the utmost level of mastery.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Do You Have to Do it All to Have it All
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses how taking the time to elevate small seemingly ordinary things can transform everyday experiences into something special. When we pay attention and step outside of our busy lives for a moment to really appreciate what’s happening, it benefits us in ways Cindy outlines in this episode.

Elevating the ordinary involves cultivating a sense of wonder and finding value in everyday experiences. When we take the time to make daily occurrences feel special, it fosters a greater sense of belonging in our personal and professional lives. Cindy explains how indulging the small pleasures in life combats negativity with a feeling of focus and calm that improves mental health.

How do we make this a habit? What steps should we take to encourage ourselves to step outside of stress and appreciate life moment by moment? Cindy has a lot of sound advice for engaging with our physical surroundings, with our colleagues and friends, and in how to shift our mindset through gratitude practices. With Cindy’s guidance, we can achieve a mindfulness that will improve our moods and give us a greater sense of agency in our lives.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Elevating the Ordinary
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger talks about how the natural human tendency to compare ourselves to others can become a trap. Comparison can be a helpful guide but these days it has become a way to diminish ourselves and something of a harmful habit. So how can we identify it and break the cycle? 

Comparison isn’t limited to quick moments of self-judgement. It can become a shadow hanging over every aspect of our lives, a deep psychological phenomenon that damages relationships, self-confidence, and mental well-being. Social media and constant access to the carefully curated lives of others have spiked comparison that turns into diminishing ourselves. Cindy explains how we need to understand that it’s happening and offers ways to counter it.

Cindy shares information about the links between negative self-talk and stress, anxiety and depression. Comparison can be at the root of this. So she offers eight practical tips for rewriting the self-sabotaging narrative to focus on our unique journey: 1. Practice gratitude, 2. Name your inner critic, 3. Be your own best friend, 4. Unlock the power of contentment, 5. Keep a record of achievements, 6. Celebrate other people, 7. Keep the comparison within, and 8. Look, notice, appreciate. Join Cindy as she lays out a plan to free us from diminishment.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Stop Diminishing Your Work
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger explores the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people. The right relationships can fuel growth, support, and challenge you to reach new heights, while the wrong ones may hinder your progress. Being selective in professional relationships requires choosing quality over quantity. Cindy encourages listeners to consider who they allow into their inner circle. She encourages finding trusted truth-tellers who offer honest feedback and alternative perspectives. She also highlights the importance of finding those people who share a growth mindset and are invested in your success.

While the topic of ending relationships can bring up anxiety and fear, Cindy examines the positive impact of distancing yourself from problematic people. This doesn’t mean throwing aside commitments or cutting people out cold turkey. Instead, thoughtfully pruning relationships that no longer serve a purpose can break the cycle of having them drain your energy or stagnate your growth. 

Cindy also warns against the lingering influence of negative voices from the past, advocating for discernment when it comes to whose advice you follow. Ultimately, Cindy advises being mindful of the people you allow into your life, ensuring they inspire growth and align with your personal and professional goals. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Building your inner circle
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger discusses closing the gap between where we are in our careers and where we want to be in this episode. She looks into using the discontent we can feel in our careers, sometimes unsettling and distracting, as a catalyst for advancement. Harnessing our professional discontent requires a careful strategy so we can use it to strive for a higher standard of excellence. Cindy breaks down exactly what is needed to channel it properly and guides us through how to bridge the gap we see.

It may be surprising to learn that the discomfort we feel when looking at the gap between where we are and where we want to be is natural. It’s actually necessary to keep us striving for excellence. But Cindy cautions that there is a balance between unhealthy anxiety and healthy discontent. She urges us to challenge the traditional narratives of success and define what is important to us. Setting a deliberate pace to cross the gap will change the trajectory of our careers more than a grand gesture. And there are three main types of gaps to close: 1) the effort gap, 2) the skill gap, and 3) the quality gap.

Cindy explains what it takes to close each gap and what to expect in terms of overcoming complacency and feeling discomfort. Finding balance and making strategic choices is key. We will hit obstacles as we move towards our goals and sometimes will feel stuck. When we are, Cindy unpacks five strategies for getting unstuck: 1) divide and conquer, 2) set micro-goals, 3) seek feedback, 4) focus on learning, not failure, and 5) assess progress. Join Cindy as she sets out a plan for how to bridge the gap on our career paths to success. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Propelling Yourself Forward
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the subject of fear in today’s episode. She acknowledges that fear is natural and something everyone feels, and she discusses how to move forward past the fears that may be holding us back. She has real insight about how to handle fear and how to learn to manage doubt.

Cindy first offers four tips for embracing your fear. One, get on with it. Two, show some compassion. Three, question yourself. And four, what can you learn from this? She goes into detail on what each step means. Part of achieving success in conquering fear is acknowledging that you are afraid. Then take one step at a time to move towards something scary in spite of the fear. Be afraid and do it anyway. 

Fear itself is broken down into four levels by Cindy. The fear of what could or will happen, which are largely things we have no control over. The fear of making the wrong decision. The fear of how you do or will feel. And the fear that you’ll be unable to handle what life throws at you. However, Cindy walks you through how common these fears are and how hanging back in comfort is essentially limiting yourself. She offers some real advice on how to trust yourself and develop a way of thinking that embraces change in spite of fear.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about finding your role within your organization. Having your role clearly defined is important for job satisfaction and career success. When you’re first hired, Cindy advises you to ensure you get a specific job description. If you’re already in the organization, she has advice on how to clarify your existing role. 

Your role is your position within the organization. It’s your job title. Your responsibilities are your job description; the duties expected of someone in your role. Having your role and job description clearly outlined and up to date leads to greater success because you understand exactly what is expected of you and can work towards clear goals.  

Cindy details how to communicate if your role needs clarification or your job description needs updating. Communicating well aids in role negotiation but also helps avoid conflict within teams by clarifying expectations. She shares four reasons why having a playbook of everyone’s roles and responsibilities is vital: 1. Eliminates confusion, 2. Promotes autonomy, 3. Increases engagement, and 4. Makes transitions easier. She then explains how to develop those roles and responsibilities when they aren’t up to date or clearly stated.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Clarifying Roles
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores the messiness of life and how what appears to be a series of obstacles is an integral part of our career journey. Navigating life’s messiness isn’t just about bouncing back but about embracing the new opportunities the experience may offer. It’s our reaction to the chaos that matters and Cindy is here to guide us on how to embrace the unexpected.

Rolling with life’s punches and working through life’s chaos can feel like a disheartening setback. But resilience is connected to confidence, so when we endure, our confidence grows when we realize we can survive whatever happens. Confidence is vital for career survival and Cindy has three strategies for maintaining confidence in the workplace: 1. Know our stuff, 2. Celebrate the wins, and 3. Speak up in meetings. Confidence and resilience are interconnected and we’ll need both to succeed.  

It can still be difficult to embrace life’s messiness, however, and Cindy understands the struggle. Telling ourselves to enjoy the ride even if the journey is chaotic is one thing, but actually doing that is another. So Cindy offers three strategies for embracing the possibilities within the mess: 1. Look for opportunities in the unexpected, 2. Make flexibility our new best friend, and 3. Embrace the learning even when it’s tough. Cindy unpacks her strategies and lays out a solid plan for surviving and thriving through life’s messes, guidance useful no matter what stage of career we’re in.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Embracing the Messiness
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses doing the things we want to do in this episode. She asks why we’ve been putting off those goals, dreams, or plans we have for ourselves. Perhaps it’s a promotion or a new position that we desire. It’s time to stop thinking and make the change. 

Everyone has things they put off for another time. It’s not just you. But why are we putting things off and when will we do them? Cindy challenges us to ask what truly matters in our lives and make an action plan to achieve the dreams we have. Planning is well and good but to achieve success we must take action. 

Cindy lays out six ways to improve our capabilities and prepare for seizing that new job opportunity or role. One, complete work thoroughly and independently. Two, when asking questions, come with solutions as well. Three, expand your skill set. Four, find opportunities to continue your learning and education. Five, be aware of the economic pressures facing your organization. And six, use good judgment in carrying out your responsibilities. Let others know what your objectives are and go after them, don’t wait for an invitation. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for If Not Now, When
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger examines how to handle the challenging people we meet in our workplaces. These are the individuals who cause us stress and make the workplace a hostile place to be. Beyond identifying the types of challenging people we encounter, Cindy will offer strategies for dealing with them.  

There are types of people that we can all identify in our workplaces and the ones who cause the most toxicity tend to be the micromanagers, the bullies, the negative coworkers, the gossipers, and the passive aggressive. Sometimes identifying the type of behavior is enough to let us know to avoid interactions, but sometimes this can’t happen and we need to directly confront the people causing us the most stress.

Cindy addresses how to approach each type of challenging person, understanding the reasons behind their behavior, and how issues like insecurity and engaging in power struggles can drive the toxic people. She presents three tips for handling such situations - 1) Set clear boundaries, 2) Stay professional, 3) Use effective communication - and details the types of self-care that can assist us in remaining calm and reducing stress. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Dealing with Challenging People
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses changing our negative mindset about work to one of appreciating small victories and noting positive experiences. We’re often pushed hard in the daily grind and aren’t encouraged to stop and note what’s going right. When we focus only on the negative, we lose sight of how far we’ve come and what possibilities exist in the future. Cindy has advice on how to change our mindset to one of appreciation.  

This isn’t advice to slap superficial cheerfulness or false positivity on top of things, rather Cindy is encouraging us to take the time to notice every small thing that goes right. She notes the difference between gratitude and appreciation to demonstrate the foundational quality of appreciation. We tend to skip over positives in favor of highlighting errors in ourselves and each other which makes us feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Noting and appreciating things gives us space to celebrate achievements and feel valuable which in turn leads to more job satisfaction and openness to accept new challenges.

Cindy shares four tips on how to take notice of and appreciate something positive today. 1. Start the day with a positive inventory, 2. Pause any interaction or accomplishment, 3. Create a brag folder for compliments, and 4. End the day on a high note. Cindy explains why these tips are beneficial and what outcomes they can lead to. We need to understand that starting to appreciate things in ourselves and others is like a pebble in a pond: the ripples extend far beyond us and improve everyone’s experience. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Appreciating the Good
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Limiting beliefs and achieving hard things is the topic of today’s podcast. Cindy Esliger explores how the discomfort of doing hard things causes us to limit our belief in our own abilities. She has advice for how to approach difficulties with the mindset that we can overcome them.

Doing hard things challenges us in ways that cause us to grow. The more we accomplish the hard things, the stronger we will get. Cindy understands, however, that we will have to push against our own fear to make this happen. Our fear and doubt create our limiting beliefs and there are three kinds we must fight against: limiting beliefs about the world, about others, and primarily about ourselves.

In this episode Cindy identifies four ways to tell whether we’re falling into the trap of limiting beliefs: through black and white thinking, by blaming ourselves for random negative occurrences, by assuming the worst, and through universalizing. If we can identify these, we can start to work past them to foster our ability to achieve our goals. Cindy gives us a six step process designed to take us through exchanging limiting beliefs for empowering ones. Success is something we must believe is possible and Cindy can help us get there.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for You Can Do the Hard Things
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger talks about transformation and empowerment in this episode. She refers to the inner wisdom we all possess that already knows what to do if we’re only willing to tap into it. Are we ready to start playing big to work at living up to our full potential? 

Cindy shares from her own career journey and struggles; detailing how she never did find the mentor she desired, forcing her to rely more fully on her inner sage, and the real barriers she came up against in her industry. Her experiences led her to understand the external forces at work against women in their career path, but also illuminated how women can reframe their own power to greater effect. Her insight is enlightening. 

What do you want from your career? What’s stopping you from getting there? Why aren’t you playing big? These are the questions Cindy posits and she shares advice for addressing the questions and finding answers. One of the answers may be coaching: find out exactly how to start reaching your full potential and maybe decide if coaching can help you get there.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for What Is Your Why
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger introduces the impetus behind Stop Sabotaging Your Success by sharing part of her career as an engineer and by addressing the barriers that confront women on their paths to success in engineering and technology sectors. Some of the challenges being faced are external - societal and structural - but some are internal, and Cindy’s goal is to provide insight and support to women in the industry.

Cindy Esliger breaks down the three main keys to success as being 1. Performance, 2. External Perception, and 3. Visibility. She then details the “three big buckets”, as she calls them, that the challenges standing between women and those key success factors come in. First are the societal barriers. Second are the organizational or structural barriers. And third are the personal barriers. She speaks from firsthand experience about how each of these buckets of barriers manifests and works differently for women than men in the engineering and technology spaces.

As she explains the barriers, she details exactly how they appear and how women often respond to them either by choice or societal conditioning. She asks key questions of every listener along the way, questions designed to address how every listener personally handles the obstacles and to assist in reflection on how women may rise above challenges and microaggressions. Cindy’s professed desire is to create mentors, a support circle for women coming up in the industry, and to foster their ability to realize success for their futures. 

About Stop Sabotaging Your Success:               

This is the podcast for ambitious, professional women trying to advance their careers, who are tired of playing small and ready to overcome the invisible barriers that are holding us back at work. 

If you’re ready to learn how to decide what you want and go after it confidently, then you’re in the right place. You have more power than you realize.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Identifying Your Barriers

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the phenomenon known as expectation escalation in today’s episode. Expectation escalation is the subtle challenge of incrementally increased demands and responsibilities placed on employees. It expands our work exponentially without associated time or monetary increase to accommodate the new work. What does it look like? How can we identify it? And better yet, how can we politely and professionally turn down these escalated expectations? Cindy unpacks these questions with salient answers. 

The escalation starts innocently, with an additional responsibility here and there added to your workload as a testament to your capabilities. And certainly, professionals thrive on challenges. A certain amount of natural job expansion is to be expected. But the problem with expansion expectations is the lack of stability, resources, or systems in place to manage the new challenges effectively. The first consequences are usually emotional ones, as we feel overburdened and undervalued. Cindy walks us through how the expectations affect us and how we can rebalance our workload.

If rebalancing the workload isn’t available or the expectations have risen to a degree that no amount of balance will alleviate how over capacity we are, Cindy explores how we can say no without jeopardizing our careers and current job status. She offers examples of pocket phrases to prepare in advance so we can easily sidestep requests to take on more and counsels on the mindset shift necessary to perfect the art of saying no. Her guidance directs us to evaluate our feelings and capacity, how to have difficult conversations with supervisors, and ultimately why unaddressed expectation escalation can damage our well-being.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Keeping Things Manageable
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses those people who can’t help but thrive on chaos in today’s episode. The people who seem to always be in a state of emergency and who are addicted to drama. Perhaps it’s even us who are the drama dabblers. Why is this mindset harmful to progress and success? How do we break free from someone who is intent on staying in chaos? And if it’s us, how do we change? Cindy has advice to answer all these questions.

Why do some people thrive on creating or being involved in dramatic situations? For some, it’s a coping mechanism. Creating chaos that they can then fix is a way of feeling in control when stress levels are high or life is tough. But when they can’t break free of the need to hop from crisis to crisis, it becomes exhausting and addictive. It pulls others into a vortex of chaos. So Cindy shares three key ways to break free from that cycle.

Cindy introduces ways to distance ourselves from the perpetual drama queens that are sucking up our time. She offers insight into not rudely cutting people off but kindly protecting our own peace of mind. But what if we are the drama dabblers? Cindy shares four key ways to kick the drama addiction to the curb: 1) Acknowledge we’re the ones fuelling the drama, 2) Stop the sensory overload of negativity, 3) Identify bodily signals that we’ve had enough, and 4) Recognize that something may be missing for us. This episode is a guide on how to identify, remove, or change cycles of drama in our lives. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Ending Your Addiction to Drama
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger explores the difference between acting tough and demonstrating strength. They’re not the same thing, though women in male-dominated fields often put up a facade of invincibility in an attempt to appear strong. True strength is in our ability to confront challenges and make decisions that align with our values. Cindy breaks down exactly what a tough exterior prevents that true strength cultivates. 

Showing off mental toughness with a gritty exterior and emotions in check is not strength, it’s just an exhausting show that ultimately wears us down and keeps us anxious and in check for fear of seeming weak. True strength lies in recognizing struggles and admitting them, at least to ourselves, and in cultivating the ability to be honest. Cindy counters the tough exterior messages we get from the world at large with detailed examples of what real strength actually looks like. 

When we show true strength, we are prioritizing our well-being and following things that align with our values and passions. The tough act does not allow us to change direction or admit burnout which is why it ultimately leads to unsustainable demands. Cindy understands how we’ve been conditioned but she explains exactly how true strength flies in the face of this societally expected toughness. Strength is in knowing when to ask for help, finding balance, and embracing the growth that comes only from our imperfections.  

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Demonstrating Your Strength of Character
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In today’s episode Cindy Esliger talks about that feeling of job dissatisfaction, the slump, that often comes in the middle of our careers. She identifies why the initial excitement of the job fades and offers up advice on how to regain our original enthusiasm. 

There are many reasons for mundanity to settle into our job routine: that day in, day out feeling that pushes us towards unhappiness, stress, and diminished engagement. Cindy offers up that it’s maybe time to look for new challenges, expand our skill set, or push for promotion. She gives us two questions to ask at this point: What type of work makes us feel good? What are our strengths?

How do we reinvigorate our sense of purpose in our careers? Cindy walks us through five strategies for creating sustainable patterns to help us focus on what matters most. The goal is to fall in love with our jobs all over again. There are ways to craft our jobs into a better fit for us and Cindy’s four steps are to decide what we want to change, to look for a win-win situation, to put the changes into practice, and to ensure the changes have the desired effect. With Cindy’s advice we can reclaim that initial excitement and dive into a new purpose.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Job Crafting
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger addresses the stories we share and the stories we tell ourselves in this episode. Sometimes these stories become rigidly fixed in our minds when they’re actually only our perspective on things. Cindy shares how to take another view of our stories and open ourselves to more perspectives.

When a story we’re holding onto doesn’t serve to help us grow or open us to new options, it’s time to examine how we tell those stories in the first place. Cindy suggests that we shift dysfunctional stories into a more constructive space. To that end, she explores six ways to tell ourselves more useful stories: 1. Add complexity. 2. Invite curiosity. 3. Do something. 4. Take responsibility. 5. Design a better future. 6. Develop resilience. 

Power comes from not allowing ourselves to be the victims of our stories and in opening up to more choices with more balanced stories. If we can accept a version of events that’s more self-reflective, we’ll be open to more possibilities. It can be frustrating to make this shift, however, so Cindy offers a four step process for dealing with such setbacks. We will learn more about ourselves with this insight and Cindy is here to help guide us to something bigger.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for The Stories We Tell Ourselves
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger directly addresses why women in STEM need allies to build a successful career. She is referring to the type of ally with privilege and power who takes action to support women in male dominated professions. Why are allies so important and how can you be one? Cindy has some guidance to share.  

The truth is that women in male dominated professions, like STEM, often face barriers to promotion and are less satisfied with their jobs because of systemic biases. Men who work alongside these women need to take the first step of seeing the biases that are in place and educating themselves about women’s experiences. Listen to their stories, says Cindy, and learn what they are facing.

Cindy breaks down the realities of what women are up against in the workplace that men don’t face and she explains the self-reflection and self-education that allies must start doing before they can become effective. She talks about how to be an active ally without disempowering the very women you’re looking to support, and she offers three key points to remember on your journey to allyship: 1) Listen and educate, 2) Speak up and advocate, and 3) Take action. This is a vital episode for everyone to take in. 

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Being a Better Ally
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger tackles the question of whether or not we’re on the right career path in today’s episode. Climbing the corporate ladder isn’t for everyone and may not lead to fulfillment or happiness. Have we considered alternatives? Do we need to follow a different script?

Deciding whether climbing the corporate ladder is for us or not largely depends on being able to understand how we view what success means. Cindy explains that creating a fulfilling career involves three key steps: 1. Define success for ourselves, 2. Assess our current situation, and 3. Create a plan for success. When contemplating these steps, take into account values, interests, strengths, and goals. 

Cindy offers four tips to guide us in assessing our current work situation. When we have a clearer idea of what’s right and wrong now, we can formulate a plan for what will fulfill our future career needs. That roadmap to success includes making specific goals, setting realistic deadlines, and being flexible and adjusting as needed, according to Cindy. She explores all the questions to ask ourselves and how to go about taking ownership of what matters most to us.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide to Defining Success For Yourself
• Astronomic Audio
• Confidence Collective

—

Contact Cindy Esliger 

Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

In this episode, Cindy Esliger addresses the thinking and fear holding us back from achieving the extraordinary success we want in life. She breaks down what we fear and how it impacts our belief in ourselves and our ability to dream big. Then she shines light on what steps can help us overcome these barriers.

Cindy points out that none of us truly know our limits so when we downsize our dreams and stay within easy boundaries, we are limiting ourselves through that thinking. She asks “why not go big” in terms of our goals. Believing we are capable of much more opens doors to possibilities we may not have seen before. Cindy acknowledges that we often fear failure which is why we limit our thinking, but stresses that failure is a necessary part of growth and encourages us to overcome that fear.

In exploring how to dream big and work towards achieving large success goals, Cindy notes that there are often three categories of tasks we encounter: the doable, those that stretch us, and those that challenge what’s possible. She breaks down how to accomplish each type of task by stepping outside our comfort zone and deciding on a direction to take. Then she details the simple formula of linking the reason for achieving the goal to committing to making it a priority, and finally to taking the steps to make it happen. Cindy’s insight sheds light on how far we can each go in realizing extraordinary success.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Achieving Extraordinary Success

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger examines silence in this episode: the times when silence can work in your favor versus the times when silence comes at a cost. She has advice on how to use silence effectively and how to overcome the impulse to retreat into it when speaking up would be beneficial.

Cindy details how silence is most useful when employed in conversations, where it makes the other person feel genuinely heard, and in negotiations, when it can be used as a strategic tactic. But silence also gets in the way of creating change when it’s used to avoid pointing out harmful or biased behavior.

In this episode Cindy offers three ways we can influence change and affect bias from where we’re at: become aware, speak up, and become an ally. She addresses both positive and negative potential outcomes of speaking up. Then she explains how to break your silence in ways that help reclaim your power and don’t just invite confrontation. Choosing against silence to be an ally to those harmed by bias helps everyone experience a better workplace.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Silence is not the Solution
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email

Cindy Esliger examines what we need in order to move out of toxic workplaces and into spaces that do not crush our souls. There are options besides simply suffering for a paycheque and part of the power to move forward already resides within us.  

Perhaps the toxicity is due to failures you’ve been part of in your work, perhaps it’s a poisonous boss or unsupportive atmosphere. We stay put, Cindy says, because we become paralyzed. We hate our jobs but see no way out. The toxicity bleeds into every aspect of our lives. Cindy wants us to assess where we really are, the recent successes we’ve realized, to shake us awake.

Recent changes are our best motivator for moving forward. Change is hard but believing in ourselves is a key part of working towards a better workplace. Cindy offers insight into four survival strategies to help us make the changes: 1) Listen to your body, 2) Gain perspective, 3) Face your fears, and 4) Set your boundaries. When we really recognize our situations, we are more ready to make a move.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Guide for Moving Forward
• Astronomic Audio

—

Contact Cindy Esliger - Career Confidence Coaching: website | instagram | facebook | linkedin | email