Delighted to have Soozi Baggs of maternityleavers.com guest posting on the blog today.

In many ways, confidence is the most important thing in our life, because all our decisions are based on it. It affects what we say and how we behave towards others, what risks we take, and what we decide to do with our careers.

I want to share a beautiful moment that I had with my 3 year old son recently, and which is what inspired this post. We were pulling the curtains in the living room – something he likes to help with. He’s always so proud of himself once he’s done it and on this occasion he said, “I did well. I’m a really clever boy.” And then he followed it up with “And I’m funny too”.

My heart melted. It was a gorgeous moment. To see him completely confident in what he believes are his strengths was something I admire and hope he never loses. And as his parent, I felt proud of myself too – his demonstration of his own confidence made me realise I was doing something right in the way I’m raising him.

Somewhere along the way I’ve given him self confidence. In the way and in the words I use to talk to him, encourage him, describe him, congratulate him, and thank him. All of these things together have given him the confidence to believe that he is clever, and funny, and special.

This little episode made me think about how we can give confidence as a gift to other people. In my previous career I helped people through periods of technological change in their jobs. I would train them to use new IT systems and coach them in changing the way they worked in order to incorporate it properly into their work.

At times it was brilliantly rewarding. I got a kick out of seeing people who were ‘technophobes’ learn how to do something which they thought they would never be able to do. And then I watched proudly as they did it over and over again until it became second nature.

I gave them the gift of confidence. And in so doing I changed their life a little bit for the better.

Can you think of a time when you’ve given someone confidence in something that makes a difference to their life? In your work, your parenting, your friendships or relationships? Perhaps it’s something you do regularly? Share your experiences in the Comments. I’d love to hear about them.

Soozi Baggs is a writer, entrepreneur, and single mum to 3 year old twin boys. At her website www.maternityleavers.com she inspires, motivates, and supports professional women on maternity leave to create a life and career that suits them and their new family.

Twitter:  @Soozi_B                 Facebook:  www.facebook.com/maternityleavers