There is a trumpet we all need to learn to play, and that is our own

Now, why in a career blog would I be talking about trumpets?

I don’t play one and probably never will, but there is a trumpet we all need to learn to play, and that’s our own.

Bear with me..

We have been told since we were really small, things like “do not blow your own trumpet” and “it is bad to brag”.

What powerful advice - and untrue.

If you do not blow your own trumpet, it is likely that nobody else will.

Last week I gave you a framework to talk about yourself competently, confidently and, probably most importantly, comfortably.

Click here to explore this framework

Accept the compliments you are given

One thing that really helps in preparation is getting used to taking compliments about yourself. In other words, listening when people say nice things about you and deliberately focussing on your own good points.

Imagine this!

You’re walking down the street one morning and you pass a friend who says “Wow! You’re looking good today”.

And then you pass another who says something nice about you, and another, and another. This goes on and by the time you get to where you’re going you’ve had 9 people say something nice about you. There was one though, who said “ooh, you’re looking tired and a bit rough today”.

When you get home in the evening, what is the one thing you remember?

That is right, that one negative comment - not the positive ones!

Even with positive comments, we tend to brush them off:

"You did a great job there!"

And you reply, “oh, it’s just part of my job”.

"You look nice today!"

And you mumble an embarrassed "thank you". 

Right now I want you to start changing that for yourself.

Listen properly when someone pays you a complement and say “thank you”. Make it clear, confident and without adding anything to play it down.

Try these as suggestions: 

"You did a great job there!" Reply “Thank you, I’m pleased it was useful”

"You look nice today!" Look them in the eye and reply, “Thank you” and smile

Look back at the end of each day and focus on the positive things that happened, and feel how good that felt.

Start doing this and you will feel better about yourself and it will help you to start blowing your own trumpet, and playing your own tune.

Trust in this, it will be recognised and have a positive impact for you.

Wishing you success and happiness.

Dave