Latest / Inspirations for Your Life / Your Confidence Means Nothing Until It's Tested (S5) S35:E5 Wednesday
Transcript
- 0:24Well there, hello everyone and welcome to the
- 0:26ever-popular Inspirations for Your Life show.
- 0:29It's so great to have you here.
- 0:31If this is your very first time with
- 0:33me, I want to take the opportunity to
- 0:34say welcome and of course I want to
- 0:36say thank you.
- 0:37If you've been here one time, five times,
- 0:40ten, a hundred, or maybe even more, or
- 0:42maybe you've lost track of the count, that's
- 0:44totally okay.
- 0:45I'd like to take the opportunity to say
- 0:47thank you, welcome, but I also want to
- 0:48say the words, welcome back.
- 0:52Always great to have people that enjoy the
- 0:54quality of my content and want to keep
- 0:56using it to enhance the quality of their
- 0:59lives.
- 0:59So welcome everyone and yes, welcome back to
- 1:02the people that have been here before.
- 1:04Don't forget to check out BelieveMeAchieved.com for
- 1:07more of my amazing, inspiring creations, which you
- 1:10can do incidentally 24 hours a day.
- 1:12Do that after the show is over.
- 1:14I have some delicious RO water.
- 1:16A little trick on this, put a few
- 1:18cubes of ice in, it really maintains the
- 1:22temperature.
- 1:23All right guys, so let's move on with
- 1:25the show.
- 1:25Are you ready?
- 1:26I know I am, so you can check
- 1:27the show out later, but let's get into
- 1:29the show.
- 1:31So your confidence means nothing until it's tested.
- 1:39Series five, show 35, episode five, Wednesday.
- 1:44Welcome to Inspirations for Your Life.
- 1:46I'm John C.
- 1:47Morley.
- 1:48I'm a serial entrepreneur.
- 1:50I'm an engineer, marketing specialist, video producer, podcast
- 1:53host, coach, keynote speaker, graduate student at Montclair
- 1:56State University, a passionate lifelong learner, and so
- 1:59grateful now to be a published author.
- 2:02Yes, very grateful for that.
- 2:04Our master weekly topic is become someone your
- 2:07future self can depend on.
- 2:09That's the master topic.
- 2:11Today, I'm talking about confidence when it matters
- 2:15most.
- 2:16A lot of people think about confidence, but
- 2:19I think what we're going to talk about
- 2:21today when we say what it matters most,
- 2:23that's the key.
- 2:25Anyone can feel confident when everything works.
- 2:28I think that's an important piece that most
- 2:32people, they don't realize it, but they have
- 2:37to understand that.
- 2:39But what happens when pressure rises, plans change,
- 2:44or you make the mistake, and that's when
- 2:47confidence gets tested?
- 2:49Let's explore 30 ways to build confidence that
- 2:52can survive those moments.
- 2:54I know that sounds like a lot for
- 2:57many people, but I want to tell you
- 2:58this is really, really important, guys, really, really
- 3:03important.
- 3:03Number one, build confidence from preparation.
- 3:08Confidence isn't magic, guys.
- 3:10It grows from doing the work before the
- 3:13moment arrives.
- 3:14Study, practice, research, and prepare when pressure hits.
- 3:20Preparation gives you something real that you can
- 3:23trust in.
- 3:24Number two, stop depending on praise to feel
- 3:28capable.
- 3:29I know a lot of people that do
- 3:30this, and then when they don't get it,
- 3:32they're like, oh, what was me?
- 3:33And then they can't go anywhere, and then
- 3:34they just kind of like lose all their
- 3:37ambition.
- 3:39Compliments feel good, but they can't become your
- 3:43confidence supply.
- 3:45If you need approval to believe you're capable,
- 3:51you've given other people too much control over
- 3:54how you see yourself.
- 3:56You're the one that should be making the
- 3:58decisions, not other people, guys.
- 4:02Number three, know what you can handle.
- 4:05Confidence isn't pretending you can do everything.
- 4:09Know your strengths, limitations, and where you need
- 4:12help.
- 4:13Accurate self-knowledge creates stronger confidence than pretending.
- 4:18Many people try to pretend because they think
- 4:20that's the right thing, but then it just
- 4:22causes people to just be superficial.
- 4:25I think that's an important piece, again, that
- 4:27a lot of people, they just don't seem
- 4:29to understand.
- 4:31Number four, let previous challenges become evidence.
- 4:35Remember what you've already handled.
- 4:39Problems you once thought were enormous are now
- 4:42part of your experience.
- 4:44Your past challenges can become evidence that you're
- 4:47capable of facing the next one.
- 4:50I think that's something a lot of people
- 4:51miss.
- 4:52Number five, stay steady when plans change, because
- 4:55plans are going to change, absolutely.
- 5:01Plans change, people cancel.
- 5:04Technology unfortunately fails sometimes.
- 5:06Circumstances pivot or they shift.
- 5:09Confidence means being able to say, this wasn't
- 5:13the plan, but I can adjust.
- 5:16I can adapt.
- 5:19Number six, stop interpreting pressure as failure, all
- 5:28right?
- 5:30Pressure doesn't mean you're failing.
- 5:33Sometimes it simply means you're doing something difficult
- 5:36or important.
- 5:39Don't make discomfort for inability.
- 5:42I know so many people that do that,
- 5:44and then they go on the woe is
- 5:45me journey, right?
- 5:47And the woe is me journey, oh, it
- 5:48always happens to me, nothing good happens to
- 5:51me, you know, those kinds of things, right?
- 5:52I had a client the other day, it's
- 5:54like, oh, John, everything bad always happens to
- 5:56me.
- 5:57I get that.
- 5:58We got to believe good things are going
- 6:00to happen, okay?
- 6:02We got to believe good things are going
- 6:03to happen.
- 6:05That's the most important thing for us to
- 6:07understand.
- 6:08Number seven, give yourself time to respond.
- 6:13Not everything requires an instant reaction.
- 6:16Slow down.
- 6:17You might have heard the phrase, slow down,
- 6:19you're moving too fast.
- 6:21You got to make the morning last, yeah.
- 6:24Slow down and understand what happened.
- 6:27Gather the facts and then respond.
- 6:30A thoughtful response usually beats an emotional reaction,
- 6:34okay?
- 6:37Number eight, practice thinking while uncomfortable.
- 6:43Many people stop thinking when they're uncomfortable, like,
- 6:45oh, I don't want to do this, this
- 6:47is uncomfortable.
- 6:48Okay, it's uncomfortable.
- 6:50Deal with it, all right?
- 6:52Deal with it.
- 6:53That's probably the most important thing that I
- 6:56can tell you is that you need to
- 6:58deal with it, all right?
- 7:01You won't develop confidence under pressure by avoiding
- 7:06discomfort.
- 7:08Unfortunately, guys, you're not.
- 7:10And I think that's a problem for a
- 7:11lot of people.
- 7:12They think that, you know, they can weasel
- 7:15around the discomfort, you know?
- 7:16They don't need to be discomforting.
- 7:19But the truth of the matter is they're
- 7:21really only fooling themselves.
- 7:29They're fooling themselves.
- 7:34That's an important piece, guys, very important piece.
- 7:37Learn to think and communicate while you're nervous,
- 7:42uncertain, or challenged.
- 7:45Discomfort doesn't have to shut down your full
- 7:48abilities.
- 7:49But I know many people it does because
- 7:52it attacks their confidence.
- 7:56It attacks their belief.
- 7:59It attacks emotion.
- 8:05It attacks their substance.
- 8:10And that attacks their credibility and their aptitude
- 8:15to do something.
- 8:15Number nine, don't let one mistake erase your
- 8:18confidence.
- 8:18Because, guys, that's important, okay?
- 8:23You make mistakes.
- 8:25It happens.
- 8:26A mistake proves you made a mistake, okay?
- 8:29It doesn't prove you're incompetent.
- 8:31Keep the mistake in proportion.
- 8:33Learn from it and continue, right?
- 8:38You made a mistake.
- 8:39Let's learn from that mistake.
- 8:40Can we do that?
- 8:41Let's learn from it.
- 8:43And I think that'll make life, like, really,
- 8:45really amazing for all of us.
- 8:47If we could just do that one thing.
- 8:50Number 10, separate performance from self-worth.
- 8:55A bad performance doesn't make you a bad
- 8:57person, guys.
- 8:59Evaluate what happened honestly without putting your entire
- 9:04identity on trial.
- 9:08Fix the performance without attacking yourself.
- 9:12Number 11, recover without dramatic self-judgment.
- 9:19You know, they put this whole drama show
- 9:20on.
- 9:21Sometimes our reaction to a mistake causes more
- 9:25damage than the mistake itself.
- 9:29Ask what happened, what you learned, and what
- 9:32you'll change.
- 9:34Then move forward, okay?
- 9:37Keep your emotions from driving every decision.
- 9:42Fear can exaggerate risk, guys.
- 9:45It can.
- 9:45Anger can make temporary problems seem permanent.
- 9:49Excitement can hide danger.
- 9:52Feel your emotions, but keep your judgment available.
- 9:58Number 13, build confidence behind the scenes.
- 10:02Some of your strongest confidence gets built when
- 10:07nobody is watching, guys.
- 10:09Practice, study, train, ask questions, and improve.
- 10:18Public confidence often comes from private preparation.
- 10:26Number 14, guys, prepare before confidence is required.
- 10:29If you prepare and have confidence ready, it's
- 10:33going to be a lot easier to execute
- 10:34it if you've already prepared for the confidence.
- 10:38I think that's a big win for everybody.
- 10:41We've got to prepare for the confidence, and
- 10:43then you have it at your disposal to
- 10:45use.
- 10:47Don't wait until the presentation, the negotiation, the
- 10:51meeting, or the crisis to say, oh my
- 10:53gosh, I've got to prepare confidence.
- 10:55Build the skill before you need it.
- 10:58What are they always saying?
- 10:59Credit.
- 11:00You ask to borrow money when you need
- 11:01it, you don't get it.
- 11:02If you plan to get the money when
- 11:04you don't need it, you'll get it.
- 11:06Confidence becomes easier when preparation comes first.
- 11:12But so many people, they fail to plan,
- 11:18and thus they've directly planned to fail.
- 11:24If you fail to plan, then you've directly
- 11:27planned to fail.
- 11:28Number 15, stop borrowing confidence from other people.
- 11:35Encouragement matters, but eventually you need your own
- 11:39evidence.
- 11:40You need to say, I prepared.
- 11:43I know what I know.
- 11:45I can handle the next step.
- 11:48That's a belief, guys.
- 11:50That's a belief.
- 11:50And if you cannot act on a belief,
- 11:54you'll have problems.
- 11:55Every thought we have becomes a reality.
- 11:59Now, not in 24 minutes or in 24
- 12:01hours, but it becomes that.
- 12:04It becomes that.
- 12:07That's important, guys.
- 12:12It's very important to understand that.
- 12:19That's an important thing to know.
- 12:22Number 16, learn how you respond under stress.
- 12:28Do you know how you respond to stress?
- 12:31You should know.
- 12:32Do you rush?
- 12:35Do you freeze?
- 12:36Do you become defensive?
- 12:40Or better yet, do you stop listening?
- 12:45Understanding your stress response gives you something specific
- 12:50to improve.
- 12:52You can't manage a pattern you never notice,
- 12:55guys.
- 12:56You can't.
- 12:58Number 17, strengthen the weak points.
- 13:01You can improve.
- 13:03Pressure exposes weaknesses.
- 13:07Good.
- 13:08Now you know where improvement is needed.
- 13:11Don't be embarrassed by useful information.
- 13:14Turn that weakness into assignments.
- 13:21And again, it's going to feel uncomfortable, guys.
- 13:24It's going to feel uncomfortable.
- 13:25I'm sorry, but it's going to feel uncomfortable.
- 13:27And that's a real important thing for us
- 13:29to really understand.
- 13:31Number 18, accept what you cannot control.
- 13:38You can prepare perfectly and still encounter surprises.
- 13:44Control your effort, response, communication, and decisions.
- 13:51Stop wasting energy fighting circumstances you cannot control.
- 13:56Number 19, stay calm.
- 14:00Enough to notice that you have options.
- 14:04Panic creates tunnel vision.
- 14:07Slow down and ask, what options do I
- 14:11still have?
- 14:12There may be another route, a resource, a
- 14:15person, or a solution you couldn't see while
- 14:19you were reacting.
- 14:20Okay?
- 14:21Don't make fear larger than the facts.
- 14:24Number 20, fear fills uncertainty with worst-case
- 14:28scenarios.
- 14:30And a lot of times when people do
- 14:31this, they make the situation 10 or 100
- 14:35times worse than what it really is.
- 14:42That's key, guys.
- 14:47That's key.
- 14:54You understand that?
- 15:00I think a lot of people don't understand
- 15:04things day one.
- 15:08So they exhibit stress.
- 15:15Stress is a byproduct to help us cope
- 15:19with our situation.
- 15:20But if we could learn other ways to
- 15:22handle stress, taking a breath, enjoying a nice
- 15:28cold sip of water, taking a walk, listening
- 15:32to music, right?
- 15:36Maybe doing a craft or another exercise.
- 15:44Okay?
- 15:46Return to reality, guys.
- 15:48What actually has happened?
- 15:50What can you verify right now?
- 15:52What are you assuming at this given moment?
- 15:55Right?
- 15:56What are you assuming?
- 15:57What can you do next?
- 16:00Or can you not do anything?
- 16:03What is it you can control?
- 16:05What is it you can't control?
- 16:06So I think that's a very important piece.
- 16:09If we can't control something, then I feel
- 16:12that we've got a serious problem.
- 16:20And this might be something you don't understand
- 16:22today because you've been into this capsule of
- 16:26stress, and you respond because that's the only
- 16:28thing you know how to do.
- 16:32The body can be reprogrammed to not do
- 16:37those things that can damage and hurt our
- 16:39bodies.
- 16:43These are important things, guys.
- 16:46But many of you won't acknowledge this.
- 16:50You know why?
- 16:52Because of this.
- 16:54The ego.
- 16:56The ego gets involved and says, you know
- 16:58what?
- 16:58I know what to do.
- 17:00And suddenly you're in this big stress ball.
- 17:05And it gets worse.
- 17:07And you don't know how to handle it.
- 17:09Number 21, guys.
- 17:12Remember what you've already survived.
- 17:15Because you've survived a lot in your life.
- 17:19Your history contains evidence.
- 17:22Think about the difficult situations, the setbacks, the
- 17:25changes and challenges, and the problems you thought
- 17:29might stop you.
- 17:31They didn't.
- 17:32You found a way to move forward before.
- 17:37You'll do it again.
- 17:40You'll do it again.
- 17:42Have faith and belief in yourself.
- 17:45Number 22, guys.
- 17:49Let pressure reveal your training.
- 17:52Because it will.
- 17:54Pressure reveals what you've practiced when you've prepared
- 17:58repeatedly.
- 18:00You have fundamentals to return to when circumstances
- 18:03become unfamiliar.
- 18:08You do.
- 18:08But you take the time to pause about
- 18:11this.
- 18:12Or you say, well, I don't know.
- 18:16And then you get yourself into the stress
- 18:18boat again.
- 18:19All because you thought you couldn't do it.
- 18:24Number 23, become comfortable making adjustments.
- 18:29Changing the plan isn't automatically failure, guys.
- 18:33Sometimes adapting is exactly what competence requires.
- 18:37Don't continue doing something ineffective just because changing
- 18:42direction feels uncomfortable.
- 18:45Uncomfortable.
- 18:47Number 24, stop expecting yourself to feel fearless.
- 18:55You don't need to do that, guys.
- 18:58You can be nervous and prepared at the
- 19:02same time.
- 19:04You can be uncomfortable and capable.
- 19:07Confidence isn't eliminating fear.
- 19:09It's continuing to think responsibly while fear is
- 19:13present.
- 19:16Number 25, guys, trust preparation more than the
- 19:20adrenaline.
- 19:22So adrenaline provides temporary energy.
- 19:30Preparation, on the other hand, provides capability.
- 19:34Under pressure, return to your knowledge.
- 19:43Process, practice, and experience.
- 19:48But many people do not do this because
- 19:51they think they don't need to.
- 19:55Number 26, guys, keep your thinking available under
- 20:02pressure.
- 20:03When everyone else reacts, can you still listen,
- 20:06evaluate, communicate, and recognize the options before you?
- 20:10Maintaining your ability to think under pressure can
- 20:13become a tremendous advantage.
- 20:17Number 27, return to what you know.
- 20:20When everything feels chaotic, return to fundamentals.
- 20:28What do you know?
- 20:29What can you verify?
- 20:31What can you control?
- 20:34What is the next useful action?
- 20:38That's the game.
- 20:39Number 28, confidence grows from tested capability.
- 20:46See, this is when confidence becomes real.
- 20:52You prepared, you faced some difficulty or challenges,
- 20:57and you morphed or you adjusted, you pivoted,
- 21:01and then you continued on your path, right?
- 21:05If you're on a road and there's something
- 21:08in the way, you turn the wheel, you
- 21:10pivot your path, and you continue on your
- 21:11way.
- 21:12Now, you don't just believe you're capable.
- 21:18You have evidence of doing this.
- 21:20You've been doing it in your life your
- 21:22whole time.
- 21:25You're a resilient being.
- 21:29Number 29, become steadier each time you're challenged.
- 21:35The goal isn't eliminating pressure, guys.
- 21:38It's becoming better at handling it.
- 21:42Pressure's going to exist, but how we choose
- 21:46to handle it, how we choose to respond
- 21:51is the key.
- 21:53Now, we can't change others and then we're
- 21:55not trying to, but when we change the
- 21:57way we respond, other people change the way
- 22:00they respond too.
- 22:01Every challenge can teach you something about your
- 22:04preparation, your emotions, your judgment, and guess what?
- 22:08Your recovery.
- 22:10That's a lot, guys, but you do this
- 22:13subconsciously in your head.
- 22:17Number 30, build confidence that pressure cannot easily
- 22:24take away.
- 22:26Build confidence rooted in preparation.
- 22:31Confidence, experience, recovery, and evidence, that's far stronger
- 22:38than confidence dependent on applause or perfect conditions.
- 22:44You see, perfect conditions, guys, they don't exist.
- 22:48As I get ready to wrap this show
- 22:50up and close it today, here's what I
- 22:52want you to remember.
- 22:54Today, untested confidence is easy.
- 23:00Tested confidence is earned.
- 23:03You discover the strength of your confidence when
- 23:05something goes wrong and you can still think.
- 23:08When somebody questions you and you remain grounded,
- 23:12when the plan changes and you adjust, when
- 23:15you make a mistake and recover instead of
- 23:17allowing it to define you, yeah, you're doing
- 23:19it.
- 23:19You're winning.
- 23:20Pressure isn't automatically evidence that you're failing.
- 23:23Sometimes pressure is simply revealing what your preparation
- 23:27has built.
- 23:29Our master weekly topic for this week is
- 23:33become someone your future self can depend on.
- 23:36And your future needs more than a version
- 23:39of who feels confident when everything cooperates.
- 23:43Your future needs someone who can stay capable
- 23:46when it doesn't.
- 23:49Don't spend all your energy trying to feel
- 23:52confident.
- 23:54You'll burn out.
- 23:55Become prepared.
- 23:57Become confident.
- 23:58Gain experience.
- 24:00Study your reactions.
- 24:01Strengthen your weakness.
- 24:03Learn from mistakes.
- 24:04Remember what you've already overcome.
- 24:07Every challenge you handle gives you evidence that
- 24:10you can think, adapt, recover, and continue.
- 24:14Eventually, confidence changes from I hope I can
- 24:19handle this to I've been challenged before.
- 24:24I've learned from it and I trust myself
- 24:27to respond and I can do it again,
- 24:29again, and again.
- 24:31Ladies and gentlemen, you don't control every challenge.
- 24:34You don't control every outcome.
- 24:36But you can control how prepared you are
- 24:38when the challenge arrives.
- 24:41See, that is known as durable confidence.
- 24:45That's no smoke and mirrors here.
- 24:49Not believing you'll never fail.
- 24:53Not pretending you'll never be afraid.
- 24:57Not needing everyone to tell you you're capable.
- 25:02It's knowing that when something difficult happens, you
- 25:05can still think, make adjustments, learn, recover, and
- 25:10take the next responsible step.
- 25:12Ladies and gentlemen, I am John C.
- 25:15Moore, a serial entrepreneur.
- 25:17And I thank you so much for choosing
- 25:19to join me for another amazing episode of
- 25:22the Inspirations for Your Life show.
- 25:25Lee Schoen, prepare before you're tested.
- 25:29Think while you're uncomfortable.
- 25:32Adjust when it's necessary.
- 25:36And that adjustment doesn't need to be a
- 25:38full turn.
- 25:42You know, micro adjustments can be the difference
- 25:47in a correct blade coming out of a
- 25:50machine and one that's either dull or one
- 25:54that's too sharp.
- 25:57Adjust when necessary.
- 26:02Remember to recover when you miss.
- 26:04Because you will miss sometimes.
- 26:06Trust what you've trained yourself.
- 26:10And keep becoming someone your future can depend
- 26:14on.
- 26:15Now, all this sounds like a lot of
- 26:18great talk.
- 26:20It's not talk.
- 26:22Go back in your mind and relive the
- 26:27experiences of how you were resilient in a
- 26:30situation.
- 26:31How you handled it.
- 26:33How you didn't blow up.
- 26:34How you managed the team or just you
- 26:37in the situation.
- 26:38Does that make sense?
- 26:40I know that sounds hard.
- 26:42But you already have done it.
- 26:49And guess what, guys?
- 26:50You can do it again.
- 26:52Again.
- 26:53Again.
- 26:54Again.
- 26:54And again.
- 26:55And again.
- 26:56You see, ladies and gentlemen, your confidence means
- 27:02nothing until it's actually tested.
- 27:11Seems logical, doesn't it?
- 27:13It is.
- 27:16So that means we need to test.
- 27:20We need to build the kind that survives
- 27:24the test.
- 27:26And if the test fails, we need to
- 27:30go back to the drawing board with our
- 27:32head held high, not in our lap like,
- 27:34oh, whoa, it's me.
- 27:35No.
- 27:36Our head held high and retool where we're
- 27:39going.
- 27:41Not hard.
- 27:43Something you guys can do every single day
- 27:47of your life.
- 27:48Okay?
- 28:02I think that's an important piece.
- 28:09I think it's a very important piece for
- 28:12us to be acknowledging.
- 28:16So I'm John C.
- 28:17Morley, serial entrepreneur.
- 28:18Be sure to check out BelieveMeAchieve.com for
- 28:19more of my amazing, inspiring creations.
- 28:21Have a great one, everyone.
- 28:22Be well.