Two-time USA Memory Champion, Ron White, would like to share with you lessons on building confidence as taught by himself and former U.S. Navy Seal, T.C. Cummings in their “Mind of a U.S. Navy SEAL†workshops.
Self-confident people inspire confidence in others. The key to success is to be able make those you are speaking to confident that if they put their trust in you that you will do what is best for them – whether it is selling a product, advising them on investments, or conducting a seminar on success. The way in which a message is conveyed is even more important than the message itself.
“A person will not buy from you until he is convinced that you are a friend and are acting in his best interest. You must make this clear.†~ Brian Tracy
How do you think you present yourself to others? What would your impression be if someone was giving you a presentation on how they were going to market your business, and they appeared to be shaky and uncertain? Would this inspire you to hire them to project your image? It sure wouldn’t inspire confidence from me. When I turn to someone to create an image of my company I want them to make me feel they believe strongly in what they are saying. If they can convince me they can convince potential clients.
If I wasn’t enthusiastic about what I was telling you, and acted as if I believe every word I am saying is going to improve your life and help you become more successful, would you think the lessons I am trying to teach would be effective? I wouldn’t. You can’t motivate others if you lack confidence in yourself.
Now, you may be thinking that it’s not lack of confidence in the product that is the problem; it’s lack of confidence that you can’t be effective in selling it. In that case, you have two options: Find a way to get your self-confidence, or find another line of work.
My friend T.C. Cummings is constantly reinforcing the mindset Navy SEALs must have in order to be effective at their jobs. If a SEAL were not confident he is up to the task he would not be a SEAL to start with. It is not arrogance, but the knowledge they have that they WILL be successful, their life and the lives of their buddies are counting on that. Failure is not an option. Any lack of confidence is a sign of weakness, and there can be no weak link in the SEAL chain. That is why 85% of the men who start Navy SEAL training complete it. They couldn’t get their mindset around to the fact that they can accomplish any task, no matter how much pain they have to endure, as long as they believe they can.
One lesson T.C. Cummings teaches in our Mind of a Navy SEAL workshops is the idea that: ‘Pain that does not kill me makes me stronger.’ This means that in order to become successful we have to experience pain, or hardship to find out what we are made of. Navy SEALs are about strength of character, of mind, and of body. In order to get the body into perfect shape for the dangerous missions they have to undertake they must be able to discipline themselves, to work out constantly, and as SEALs like to say: “Muscle growth is in direct proportion to muscle irritation.†That means that in order for their muscles to grow they have to keep pushing the envelope each time they work out, and experience the pain that goes along with the extra effort.
How does that help me to build self-confidence? Confidence is a muscle. If you want to build your confidence you are going to have to do things that are difficult, maybe even painful, in order to build that muscle. You have to “irritate†your comfort zone. Your confidence building requires you to step outside your normal area of comfort and keep trying new things that have been difficult for you.
You will find that the more you step outside that zone, the more confident you will become in yourself. And, don’t be afraid if you don’t always succeed. Keep moving forward, and you will find you will become more confident in your abilities, and that will lead to more success, and more confidence. It’s a cycle that won’t stop, as long as you don’t.
You will find the lesson in conquering your pain and fear in order to build confidence among many available on the training CDs “Mind of a Navy SEAL,†and in our training “Think Like A U.S. Navy SEAL†workshops.
Sources:
“Mind of a U.S. Navy SEAL†workshop
Wikkipedia – Confidence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence
Building Self-Confidence – Preparing Yourself For Success! http://www.mindtools.com/selfconf.html