I know it's easier said than done, but honestly I think I'm a very changed person since I got married and had kids. For one, I'm no longer preoccupied with what women think of me and having kids as my priority just makes everything else seem less important. I can fail at work, I can fail with friends, I can slip on a banana peel but so long as my kids are fed and clothed I'm doing fine.
I was never horribly awkward, but I was definitely quiet and nerdy well into my 20s, but I also worked in the digital agency/consulting space which meant that advancing my career meant being not only client facing, but also doing sales pitches. That was some trial by fire and made me sweat pretty badly at first, but it didn't take too many go-rounds before I realized it's just not even a skill, just a confidence game. I'd done enough projects to speak with authority on things I knew well and to speak with confidence on things I didn't know, but figured couldn't be that hard. Eventually I was being asked to get on a plane, go pitch with a team of complete strangers from another office with a client I'd never met and I didn't feel even a bit nervous.
I was never horribly awkward, but I was definitely quiet and nerdy well into my 20s, but I also worked in the digital agency/consulting space which meant that advancing my career meant being not only client facing, but also doing sales pitches. That was some trial by fire and made me sweat pretty badly at first, but it didn't take too many go-rounds before I realized it's just not even a skill, just a confidence game. I'd done enough projects to speak with authority on things I knew well and to speak with confidence on things I didn't know, but figured couldn't be that hard. Eventually I was being asked to get on a plane, go pitch with a team of complete strangers from another office with a client I'd never met and I didn't feel even a bit nervous.