How to become a more confident home baker
Confidence is absolutely key to being successful at just about anything, especially running your own business. You’re putting yourself out there to be judged all day, every day and if you’re not sure of yourself and your skills, it can get tough. Today I’m sharing a blog, written by Aurelia of Philosophy of Yum, that talks all about taking control of your fears and pushing though.
Aurelia runs a successful home baking business herself and shares really practical, smart and insightful posts over on her blog, which I recommend you check out, that will teach you loads about running a successful home baking business.
“As we all know, Home Bakers are some of the most confident humans on planet earth!”
Uhm… Said no one – ever!
I’ve been working closely with Home Bakers for the past 3 years and I keep seeing the same tragic obstacle day after day after day; SUPER talented Home Bakers who just struggle to believe in themselves and the value of their baking.
And it’s tragic because in REALITY they’re incredible bakers! They already have everything it takes to be successful Home Bakery Owners. But they just can’t see or believe it…
How do I know this?
Because that’s been a huge part of my story too…
You know how it goes; You LOVE baking and your family and friends rave over everything you bake. But no matter how much praise you receive, it’s just never enough to fully convince you that you’re GOOD ENOUGH.
We keep this unspoken list of requirements in our heads that needs to be fulfilled before we’ll magically feel confident and believe in ourselves.
We have this illusion that we’ll finally feel confident when:
We get a formal baking degree or diploma.
Our recipes are perfect.
We reach 1000 followers on Instagram and Facebook.
Our kitchen has state of the art appliances.
*Fill in the blank*
“If only x,y and z would happen, then I’ll be able to believe in myself.”
Eventually I did reach 1000 followers on Instagram and Facebook, earned a full salary from my Home Bakery and had only 5 star reviews.
But alllll of that STILL wasn’t enough to give me confidence or convince me to start believing in myself.
No amount of EXTERNAL ACHIEVEMENTS resulted in confidence.
Now, before you continue - be warned. In this post I’m going to be REAL with you. I wish I could just tell you to repeat: “I’m so freakin awesome!” in the mirror 10 times a day to become confident, but that’s not the truth.
There’s HOPE and you totally can become a confident Home Baker, but for the effects to be lasting and REAL, I have to be honest with you. That cool?
Where Does Confidence Come From?
Over my last 6 years of full-time baking it’s become crystal clear to me that our baking talents, resources and achievements aren’t the things that result in confidence or success!
It’s not really everything OUTSIDE you that’s restraining confidence, but everything that’s going on INSIDE you. Or more accurately – inside your MIND.
I never used to give much credit to my thought life and mindsets. I thought it was all a bit woo-woo and silly until I went to a psychiatrist (for the first time EVER!) 2 years ago.
She told me something I’ll never ever forget:
“The quality of your thoughts will determine the quality of your life.” That’s one powerful statement, right?
And she was right, because your thoughts influence your feelings, your feelings influence your actions and your actions determine your results.
If you believe that you’re inferior or unworthy of recognition or success, those thoughts will dictate your feelings every day.
ALL your choices and actions will sprout from those feelings and in the end our choices SHAPE our lives as we know them!
I don’t believe ANYONE is born unconfident. As little kids we were permitted to just BE. There weren’t any expectations on us and we certainly didn’t expect anything from ourselves.
Have you ever found a toddler that gives his Mom his own weekly list of goals?
Conquer the 20 piece puzzle by Friday.
Get off nappies by July 10.
Practice tongue twisters to improve speech.
Do 3 x 15 reps of squats to improve leg strength.
Lol! No!! We were content in our own skin and couldn’t care less about any kinds of achievements BECAUSE we weren’t familiar with them – yet.
Our elders kept praising us for doing things as simple as smiling, speaking gibberish and finger-painting hideous masterpieces.
We didn’t feel inferior because we weren’t being compared to anyone else – yet.
So WHEN exactly does this start to change?
When do we suddenly start comparing ourselves to others?
When do the lies about ourselves start creeping in and causing destruction to our confidence?
It should come as no surprise that SCHOOL is where all this drama starts.
Now don’t get me wrong; I’m a HUGE fan of learning and growing!! The problem with school though is that the learning is overshadowed by ACHIEVING and being better than everyone else.
And if you can’t be the “best” or at least “better than” Sally, Michael and Joe – then you suck. We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we’re not achieving, we’re failures or embarrassments.
THAT’S where the confidence bombing begins. And it continues for 12 long years. If you weren’t the “best” or “better than”, you’ll have zero confidence left by the time you graduate.
It’s not because of learning and receiving an education. It’s the fruit of being educated within a system that’s BASED on comparison, achievements and approval.
And at such impressionable ages we become addicted to achievements, comparison and approval from superiors!
Why do you think we all want our recipes to be perfect? Because we were taught that mistakes are bad and embarrassing.
Why do you think we want 1000 Facebook & Instagram followers? Because school made us addicted to approval from others.
Why do we want state of the art kitchens? Because comparison has taught us that we’re not good enough until we have what Martha has.
So becoming confident is not so much about learning NEW strategies or steps as it is about UNLEARNING everything false that was bestowed on us as kids.
Replacing the lies about yourself from your childhood with TRUTH, will reset your mind and bring back your own natural confidence ☺
There are SO many truths I can share with you, but for today’s post let’s go with 5. These are 5 BIG truths that have revived my hidden confidence.
You’ve ALWAYS Been Good Enough
Oh dear friend… even at your worst moments in life you have always been (and will always be) good enough. That’s the truth.
Anything belittling anyone has ever told you reveals everything about them and NOTHING about you.
You aren’t supposed to be like ANYONE else! That’s why your face, body, voice, fingerprints and DNA are UNIQUE. If you were more like Amy, Sarah or Rachel that would be a TRAGEDY! You are MEANT to be YOU ☺
And until you embrace and wholeheartedly accept this fact, you’ll never be able to discover all the rich talents that are hidden inside of you.
When you tell that mean comparison voice in your head to take a hike and instead start accepting yourself, you’ll start discovering your unique voice… Your unique style… Your unique, rich gifts to share with the world.
The World NEEDS You and Your Gifts
If you’ve felt up until now that you have nothing of real value to share with the world, then you need to hear this.
Your talents may seem like “nothing special” to you because you live with them every day.
Here’s the truth: No talents are “better” or “worse”. Fact is that they’re all just DIFFERENT. And ALL of them are totally NEEDED in this world.
Everyone has their answer for what the world needs. Some say better education or better leadership or a stronger economy.
But what it also really needs is inspiration, comfort, a hug and lots of love… And that’s what home baked goods do for people. A home baked ANYTHING is like eating a hug! Delicious food inspires us and for a moment brings calm in the midst of chaos.
And now I’m going to give it to you straight: If you have a talent for baking, how dare you withhold all that edible love from the world? How dare you judge your God-given talents and keep them hidden.
You have a deep responsibility to cultivate and share your gifts.
When we SHARE what God has given us, he uses it and multiplies it to bless people!
You Don’t Have any Competitors
You’re already enough, we’ve covered that. But now I want to take it a step further.
Do you remember the idiom “You can’t compare apples to oranges”? It TOTALLY applies to people as well.
We make the mistake of thinking that because XYZ Bakery also bakes things, it’s a good idea to compare ourselves to them and see them as our competition.
Sure, bakeries are similar in the same way apples and oranges are similar – in the sense that they’re both fruit.
BUT, just as apples and oranges are totally DIFFERENT (not “better” or “worse” than the other but just DIFFERENT) all bakers are also just DIFFERENT from each other.
Some people prefer apples and others prefer oranges. That’s normal and good. Some clients will like your style of baking and others won’t. That’s normal and good.
You don’t need everyone to like you or your baking for your Home Bakery to succeed. Just a modest group of loyal clients is enough.
The day you stop looking at your competitors and what they are doing, you’re taking a MONUMENTAL leap towards your own success!
Instead of wallowing on Instagram over how amazing everyone else’s baking is, invest your time, energy and resources into being the best YOU can be.
Stay in your own lane.
Veering out of your lane WASTES time, energy, resources and emotions. It HURTS you. It SLOWS you down. It SLOWS down your success.
YOU are your own competition.
So devote yourself to constantly improving what you already have been given.
Achievements and Qualifications are IRRELEVANT in the Food Industry
Most of society still has this belief that you need to formally study and have some kind of qualification before you can work in a certain field.
But my friend, this is a different time. The online world has opened up doors for all of us to learn almost any skill and excel at it.
The food industry is not like the medicine or legal industry!
You don’t need a formal, expensive qualification from an institution for your Home Bakery Business to succeed. AT ALL. And the reason why is because everyone’s experience of food is totally subjective.
If a cake tastes amazing and rocks your world, then NO ONE CARES if the baker has a qualification or not!
RELATED: 4 MYTHS that are Delaying you from Starting a Home Bakery
You can learn and grow into the BEST baker you can possibly be without any formal training.
There’s a guide in my Free Resource Library called “5 Weekly Habits to Unlock your Full Potential as a Home Baker”. In this guide I share in more depth how you can educate yourself to become the best baker you can be ☺
Failure isn’t Real
I once saw this quote by James Wedmore that just changed my entire understanding of mistakes and failure:
“There is no such thing as failure. Either you succeed OR you learn what you needed to learn.”
The very notion that ANY type of learning or growth needs to happen without mistakes is ridiculous and FALSE.
Mistakes are NECESSARY and GOOD!! You NEED to go through them to get to the good stuff.
We all tend to focus on Thomas Edison’s most amazing invention – the lightbulb. But did you have any clue that he actually created 1093 patents of which less than 5 were triumphs??
Everyone adores Mozart’s famous compositions and yes he was a prodigy, but EVEN HE had to create 600 pieces of which only 6 are included in the 50 Greatest Compositions of All Time!
So stop avoiding failure! We’re not in school anymore. Go for it! Try things, make mistakes and improve. It’s ESSENTIAL for your growth and the process of discovering and cultivating your brilliance.
You’ve got SO MUCH to give!
If you need some direction you can start by creating your own Home Bakery Business Plan with this template ☺
Now go get ‘em and have some fun!
Xxx
Aurelia
Aurelia helps Home Bakers who love flavour & quality to become confident & profitable Home Bakery Business Owners through her blog Philosophy of Yum.
