If you’re going to be successful in anything, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen.
But if your focus on the end result then you might not get started at all.
Why? Because when you only focus on the end result it can seem really overwhelming. It seems that there are so many variables. So many things to do. And so many things to go wrong.
But if you just focus on the next step, it seems possible. All you really need to believe is that you can do that one next step. Maybe it’s to make a phone call to call a potential partner. Or invest in a course. Or write the first page of that book that’s been in your head.
So to get started and to develop world-class self-confidence here are Five tips that can help.
Step 1: Believe In The Little Idea Inside You
All great ideas start out as a little idea that “seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Countless business, athletic, philanthropic, and other successful ideas first started out as a small good idea. Facebook started as a way to meet women. Toms Shoes was an idea to put shoes on people feet who didn’t have any. Look at Richard Branson and ANY of the Virgin businesses.
They all started out as just little ideas that seemed good at the time.
So whatever your idea is, believe in it. Believe that the idea is for you and you only. It’s in YOUR heart for a reason and it’s up to YOU to take action on it.
Step 2: Choose To Believe In You
Think of your goals and dreams like a seed that falls on the ground. If it falls on the pavement it dies. But if it falls on fertile ground then it has the potential to grow.
You are that fertile ground.
Why you? It doesn’t matter. Your job isn’t to ask “Why you?” it’s to ask “how you!” How can you take this idea and make it happen? What’s the next step? That’s the only place you need to focus.
Believing in yourself is an attitude that you can develop over time like a muscle. You may not be able to lift that heavy weight today, but you can lift it with practice, over time. All you need to do is lift a lighter weight today.
The truth is that you can do anything with progression. It’s true. You can do anything is you just set your mind to it. You don’t have to see the entire picture right now, you just need to believe that the idea is in you for a reason and that you have everything you need to take the next step.
Step 3: Use Visualization and Self-Talk Yourself Into Your Idea
There are lots of people out there who will tell you that you can’t do something. Your friends, your parents, your teachers. Even your own mind will bring up negative thoughts and pictures for you to dwell on.
It’s ok. We all deal with that even today.
It’s true. Just because people are successful in life doesn’t mean that negative thoughts go away. They might be less than what you experience, but they are still there. The secret is to talk over those negative ideas with positive thoughts and pictures.
The truth is that if you focus on what you want to have happened then that is the picture in your mind’s eye. With enough positive self-talk and proper coaching and practice you can do anything you set your mind to.
Step 4: Stop Saying “I Can’t”
If there is anything that will suck the life out of you it’s the words “I can’t”
The truth is you can do the things you set your mind to. And if you believe you can you can. If you believe you can’t then you probably won’t.
Saying the words “I can’t” can make you physically weaker. It can cause you to do the wrong things or worse, nothing at all.
Saying “I can’t” gives the brain the excuse to shut down its natural problem-solving talents and abilities. Your brain is a goal-seeking and problem-solving machine and when you say, “I can’t” it says, “Well since you said so, I guess I’ll stop trying.”
Instead of saying, “I can’t” change it with the words, “I presently struggle with…” I do this with all of my athlete clients and my corporate clients. When they say, “I can’t do that.” I get them to say, “I presently struggle with…” and their brain then shifts to “Well, since I just presently struggle with that thing, how can I overcome the struggle?” and then they are back on solution track and not the never-going-to-happen track.
Step 5: What Others Think Of You Is Their Problem and Not Yours
You don’t need others to believe in your dream. To be honest, that idea you have, that goal, the thing in your heart landed there for a reason: It’s not going to work anywhere else!
Just like a baby bird needs to fight it’s way out of it’s own shell to develop the strength to fly, you too need to fend off the non-believers who are more than happy to tell you why you can’t do something.
What they think of your goals doesn’t matter. And most of the time the people whose opinions you are worried about aren’t think of you anyway. So take the time that you worry about what others think and say about you and spend it on things that will get you closer to achieving your goals.
Bonus Tip: Keep A Win Log
What little wins have you had in your life?
No matter who you are I know that you’ve had successes in your past life and I want you to make a list of them. It’s important to revisit the little victories you’ve had in your life because they are the springboards to bigger victories in your life.
When I competed in the Olympics, no one gave me the skills to move beyond that. People would tell me, “Nothing you do in your life is ever going to compare to what you did in the OLYMPICS!!” And I thought, “Well isn’t that going to be boring.”
The truth is that no matter what you’ve done in the past, good or bad, these are the stepping stones to future greatness in your life. But it took me a really long time to figure that out. The Olympics was just a stepping stone in my life and there are experiences in your life that work the same way.
For a child who learns to tie their shoes, it’s just the beginning. We don’t tell them, “Learning how to tie your shoes is the GREATEST thing you’re going to do in your life!” NO! We tell them, look what you accomplished! That’s just the beginning! And on they go.
But somewhere along the way we lose track of the little victories in our lives. We marginalize ourselves and think that the accomplishments we’ve made in the past aren’t worthy of our praise anymore. It’s simply not true.
Get out a sheet of paper and write down a list of your past victories. My wife puts down giving birth naturally to both of our kids as a victory! (And I wholeheartedly agree with her! 🙂 )
Practice Maximum Self-Confidence
Take a moment to visualize yourself with all of the confidence you need to achieve what it is that you want.
Are you looking to run a marathon? Ask your boss for a raise? Not snap at your kids when they ask for an ice cream AGAIN! Just visualize yourself performing as you want, when you want. See it happening in your mind’s eye. Now feel what it would feel like having performed your best in that situation. Can you see yourself putting down the cookie (or not buying it at all?). See your boss as he considers that raise request. See your child sulk and pout when you tell them no to that umpteenth request for the ice cream.
When you can see it happening in your mind, you now have the potential to see it in your life. It’s just the beginning.
