I just read this from Rich's email and I think this is great for personal development,
read it also & maybe you can also apply it on your own :-) chow, hehe, need to
apply them also on myself:
Read first his message then his article below:
Hey (your name here),
Your next five issues may be the most important you'll read all year.
Because I'm going into reruns!
All kidding aside, I've gotten tons of feedback about the newsletters we've produced this past year. Since it's kind of a slow time of year, I thought I'd share a handful of the most popular with you.
Sort of a "best of" collection to help launch you into the new year.
I pulled them out of the archives for a couple reasons. First, because I believe reviewing good tips is always helpful in your personal and business growth.
But more importantly, I chose these because I hope they'll inspire you to dive in and really take charge of your life and your business in 2012. To overcome the obstacles holding you back and get yourself on the path to real achievement.
One that was especially well received, was an issue I published back on October 7th that was part of a series on self-confidence.
A lot of people are bothered by self-confidence issues. Those issues can range from little nagging doubts to full blown "inner game" issues.
A lack of confidence can cripple your ability to move forward and achieve
So I outlined three specific, simple ways to give your self-confidence a kick start.
Hope you enjoy it...
To higher profits and beyond,
Rich
--------
"Keeping Score" and Other
Confidence Boosting Techniques
Confidence Boosting Techniques
By Rich Schefren
The first technique I'm going to tell you about is extremely powerful. But it takes a little persistence and work.
I want you to start what's called a "Victory Journal." If you're already keeping a journal, you don't need a separate one. Maybe put these entries in a separate color ink or different color font or note them with a highlighter so that you can spot them easily.
What do you write in your victory journal? Quite a bit.
- Any time you have done something well (not perfectly - in fact, if you're prone to procrastination, you may want to note any progress you've made on any project you've been procrastinating on)...
- Any time you've done something for the first time...
- Any time you've stepped outside your comfort zone...
Anytime you do any of these you should record it and congratulate yourself for it in your journal. The longer you do that, the more confidence you will build because you're constantly reminding yourself that you actually are better than you're giving yourself credit for.
Now you could add to those entries by going back in time and recalling certain times and places where you've had specific successes in the past. It doesn't matter whether it's related to business or not. They could have to do with education; your career, family, hobbies and sports; learning new things - whatever.
Write them in your journal.
Listing out successes so that you can quickly review them from time to time is a really powerful thing. That's because most of us experience many more successes than we can call to our mind at any given moment. And when you're feeling like a failure, you usually can't recall any past successes. So if we collect these stories about our triumphs, they can be extremely powerful as concrete reminders of what we're truly capable of doing.
Now what else can you do?
Rewrite History
Another place you can start working to build self-confidence is with your memories.
There are memories that you carry around with you like emotional baggage. You pick them up and lug them with you everywhere you go. These are usually memories from your past when things didn't go right; when problems happened, etc. And you keep dragging them around like a ton of bricks for no other reason than you never thought the fact through that they really don't serve you.
Realize that your memory is not really designed to take accurate depictions of the past. That's not what the human memory is for. You have the ability to go back in time and "reframe" what past incidents really meant. You can consciously decide they didn't mean whatever you originally assigned to them. Whatever meaning that's now preventing you, blocking you, hurting your confidence in yourself.
One of the most basic examples is reframing a failure as a learning opportunity (assuming, of course, you took some positive feedback away from it.) If you were late for an appointment, it might have been because you were helping a friend who needed you at the moment. There can always be a positive associated with a negative.
So basically, reframing past misses is a powerful way of kind of clearing out the baggage.
Take the Action You'd Prefer Not To
Remember in your last issue where I wrote Action = Competence = Confidence?
Taking action and making it a habit is the last technique I want to share. This one is not easy but it's very powerful. Make it a habit to do something each day that you would prefer not to do.
It might be picking up the phone and having that difficult conversation with someone. It might be taking an action inside your business that you've been putting off. It might be shutting off the internet or television for an hour or two a day while you focus on doing something important.
Whatever it is, it should be something that - left to your own devices - you probably wouldn't do.
A Word For Those Of You
Who Have Plenty Of Confidence
Who Have Plenty Of Confidence
My biggest concern is that there might be some of you listening right now who think that you're not affected by a lack of self-confidence. That this conversation doesn't apply to you. I am positive that it does.
The reason I am positive, is because a lack of confidence affects everybody in different ways. Every successful entrepreneur has had to overcome these feelings and self-doubts. It's not as if you succeed at something once and suddenly they all go away. In fact, for some entrepreneurs, success can be just as dangerous. They taste some small amount of success then get so scared of losing it that they shift from confident to a lack of confidence.
So that's the thought on self-confidence. I truly believe it would of great value to every one of you to think about this. Really start to explore deep-down your level of confidence in your ability to succeed in the business you're growing - the goals you're pursuing.
Understand that any twinges of doubt are costing you more than you realize. They're costing you in terms of your performance. They're costing you in your ability to get others to believe in you and work with you and help you succeed. They cost you in your willingness to jump in and get things done. They cost you in so many ways.
Now you have two important things going for you.
First you understand the costs associated with a lack of self-confidence. And second you have the tools you need to counteract them and boost your self-confidence.
Focus on the three exercises I've given you: 1) Starting to record your victories (and even going back and writing down some of your past victories); 2) Reframing any memories in the past you think may really be dragging you down and 3) Stepping outside your comfort zone on a daily basis.
Do those and I promise you'll start to see an increase in your self-confidence - and an improvement in your life - more quickly than you thought possible.
