One of the biggest killers of business is low confidence. We succeed mainly because we believe we will succeed. Confidence is really about a frame of mind.

Michael Phelps is best known for winning 22 Olympic medals over three Olympics, 18 being gold. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics he won the gold in the 200 meter Butterfly after his glasses filled with water halfway through the race. He was asked how he was able to maintain his composure and go on to win the race swimming virtually blind. He stated that his coach had him practice without lights in a dark pool to maintain a high level of confidence and preparedness.

Words of wisdom well executed.

Many crises have derailed our confidence over the past 30 years: hyperinflation in the early 80s, the market crash in 1987 followed by the Savings and Loan default, the 1990/91 recession, the tech boom bust at the turn of the century followed by 9/11 and the recent Great Recession.

Despite these “bad times” we have had businesses seemingly unaffected by these events. Take Apple for one.

Steve Jobs and Apple rose to stardom initially from 1976 through 1984 with the rise of the Mac. Steve was fired and then came back to the helm of Apple in 1997. He then pulled off one of the most successful turnarounds of a company on the brink of bankruptcy to make it the world’s largest public corporation. All during a time when the stock market was flat and the world was in crisis.

Confidence is about execution as much as it is about a frame of mind. What are some executable tips/tools for maintaining a high level of confidence?

First, consider scheduling just three things to accomplish each day, only three things. No matter what else happens during the day make sure these three things are accomplished, fairly simple, but for many of us hard to execute. This is a great habit to help stay at a high level of confidence.

Second, in the last post we mentioned starting every meeting by asking each person to say what they are currently excited about. Your team has the same confidence killers as you and maybe more so. Focusing on what can be and what excites us to move to action helps increase our level of confidence.

Lastly, consider an exercise to instantly increase your confidence, at the end of the day write down five positive things that happened during the day. Write down next to each one why it was positive and then what you will do for continued future progress. This Positive Focus™ exercise from The Strategic Coach® Program is a great way to focus your mind on the positive results of the day.

Confidence is so important that in the next blog we are going to explore some additional tools to combat other confidence killers, especially behavioral change.

Enjoy!

Send me your response, query or comment to gklaben@coylefinancial.com

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