Building Confidence
Does this sound familiar? You start graduate school feeling like you are on top of the world. You are a champion of nutrition. You have healed yourself with food and you want to help others. You have a vision of a clinical practice helping others who have undergone similar health challenges.
Two-three years later you finish grad school questioning a lot of your previous assumptions. Your professors have given you a lot to think about: Lack of food equity, large Agricultural corporations that dominate the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry and the prevalence of polypharmacy, lack of nutrition knowledge among doctors, and many more topics are swirling around your brain! Your eyes have been opened and you realize the vastness of the field nutrition science and you feel overwhelmed. There are many things yet to learn - functional lab tests, herbal medicine, and nutritional supplements. And many employers don’t know the difference between dieticians and nutritionists.
In short, your confidence is low as you enter the workforce
This is such a common scenario. The field of nutrition is vast, ever growing and ever changing. There is always more to learn. That is what makes this field so amazing and daunting all at the same time!
Claim yourself “a life-long learner” and jump into the things you love
Ways to build confidence
Create a vision board of the images and concepts that inspire you
Write your own story. Remember the passion and inspiration that brought you to this field of practice.
Start cooking in your kitchen. Get inspired by the food itself
Teach the public about a specific nutrition related topic. Teaching the public you will you realize how much you know. Do your homework and research. Be specific about your talk title and topic. You won’t be able to answer all their questions and that is OK!
Take healthy action for yourself. If you have never done a therapeutic diet like the elimination and rechallenge, give it a try. If you have never explored mindfulness, now is a great opportunity. Get more embodied experience.
Shadow someone.
Stay in your lane. Don’t try to solve your client’s health problems provide them nutrition education
Have fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously.