You probably think that personal credibility is only useful when applying for a job, but you couldn’t be further from the truth.
Personal credibility is like trust, it takes a long time to build it and it can be lost in a moment.
Personal credibility is about building a bond with yourself. It’s about being able to trust yourself and know that your words matter.
Building personal credibility gives a major boost to your confidence and self-esteem.
Not to mention that it also helps you on the long journey to reaching all your goals in life.
Therefore, it is of the essence to build it.
Lack of credibility slays your character
— Bernard Kelvin Clive
Having credibility in the eyes of the public can get you far in life, but it can be faked. Politicians are great at this when running for office.
However, personal credibility cannot be faked as you always know the truth.
So how can you build personal credibility?
1. Be honest with yourself
Keeping it real with yourself is the absolute best way to build personal credibility.
The trust that you can build with yourself by being honest is immeasurable.
But you have to make sure you’re honest with yourself in all aspects of life.
Avoid selling yourself the story that everything is OK when you know shit is hitting the fan. Doing so won’t get you anywhere.
When things go wrong, acknowledge it and start working on ways to turn things around. This is the only way things will get better.
Go a step further and apply this principle with everyone around you.
If you make a mistake, let them know and show them what you are doing to correct it.
This will not only build trust with others, but it will improve your character and enhance your personal credibility.
2. Be consistent
Consistency can build or break your personal credibility.
You can be a consistent slacker, just as much as you can be a consistent overachiever, so be careful which side of the fence you’re on.
If you say you’re going to do something — do it! Don’t sell yourself short under any circumstances.
In order to build personal credibility, you must be consistent.
For instance, think about how you would feel if you decided to walk a mile three times a week for the next month and halfway through you stopped.
At first, you will feel great about accomplishing your goals and being able to stomp all the negative thoughts that prevented you from getting started in the first place.
However, the moment you skip a day and stop, you’ll feel a deep sense of failure.
One that can only be subdued by telling yourself a bunch of lies about how you were too busy, way too tired, or that it was OK to skip it just this one time.
“Just this one time” turns into the new norm and you go back to your old habits feeling defeated.
Don’t beat yourself up too much though. If you skip a day, get right back on the treadmill the next day.
You aren’t perfect so there will be days where you’ll lose control for one reason or another.
Don’t let those days take over your life. Grab your life by the horn and get right back on track.
3. Be accountable
I hate to say this to you, but if you don’t hold yourself accountable for your actions you’ll have a hard time building personal credibility.
Being accountable is the ability to admit your mistakes.
There’s really not much else to it.
The only thing to add here is that you shouldn’t just admit your mistakes, but also try to learn from them.
Ask yourself the question “what led me to make this mistake?”
Once you figure that out, work on a plan to fix it if at all possible and do your best not to repeat the same mistake again.
Also, if your mistake affected others, be sure to let them know and apologize for it.
You can take it a step further by letting them know what led to it and what you’re doing to fix it.
This last step might be hard, but you’ll love yourself for it and your personal credibility will thank you for going the extra mile.
4. Be considerate of others
Being considerate of others, even in situations where they may not deserve it, is a powerful way to improve personal credibility.
Sometimes you’ll feel like everyone is against you and it’s during those times that you should strive even more to be considerate of those around you.
Holding other people’s feelings in respect may mean nothing to you, but it could mean everything to them.
Be considerate and treat everyone with respect — not because you expect something in return, but because you know they deserve it.
The best way to look at this is by thinking about how you’ve felt when others have been inconsiderate of you.
It sucks and that negative energy is passed around to those around you.
The opposite is true as well. When people are considerate of you, it feels great and the positive energy lights up your surroundings.
Believe it or not, the positive vibes you get from others dramatically improves your self-esteem.
And the better you feel about yourself, the more your personal credibility grows.
5. Be a student
Life will throw things at you that you’ve never seen before. Situations that you’ll have no idea how to react to.
However, just because you don’t know how to deal with something doesn’t mean you should just give up.
No, my friend… on the contrary — that’s when you need to become a student.
The best weapon against ignorance is awareness and education.
Your ability to get past the barriers that life throws your way plays a major part in building your personal credibility.
Be a student of life. Ask around when you don’t know something, read a book, use Google.
Do whatever is necessary to understand the situation and with that knowledge do your best to get past it.
You’ll experience failure along the way, but the fact that you gave it your best will give your personal credibility a huge boost.
Conclusion
Personal credibility is built from within.
It’s the relationship that you have with yourself. The feeling of self-worth and knowing that you’re a man of your word.
Building personal credibility is a skill that can be learned.
Do the things mentioned above in order to boost your personal credibility to never before reached levels.
Useful resources
Everything is your Fault by Miguel Cairo
You can’t build personal credibility without taking full responsibility for your actions.
This article will help you understand how to take control of your life by taking full responsibility for everything in your life (even the bad stuff).
The only way to create change in your life is by creating new habits. You can’t get different results by doing the same thing.
The problem is that we habitually try to make major changes and expect instant results.
In this book, Steven Guise teaches you how to make tiny changes in your life that create mayor results.
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty by Dan Ariely
Must read for everybody, especially those of you trying to understand why you lie to yourself.
It’s hard to look yourself in the mirror when you know you’re lying, but there’s a reason for it. This book helps you understand the science behind this and how you can move past it.
Is personal credibility important to you?