Two-time USA Memory Champion Ron White, would like to share with you lessons taught by former U.S. Navy Seal, T.C. Cummings on cause and effect in building self-confidence.
The key to building self-confidence is to not dwell on the negative and apply a positive spin to whatever you are doing. Attitude is everything, and can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you approach anything with a negative attitude the chances are you will have a negative result. If you approach with a positive attitude, you will see a positive result. Positive energy and confidence attracts confidence from others.
On the other side, overconfidence or arrogance could be construed as a negative attitude, and negative results will ensue. Get to know the difference so you take the correct approach.
Confidence is certainty that what you are doing is correct, and will have a positive ending. Self-confidence is having confidence in yourself to make sure the ending will be as you predict. Both of these attitudes are positive, and are coming from the heart, that you actually believe in the project, and your ability to carry it out.
U.S. Navy SEALs always are confident that they are prepared to carry out any mission assigned. They train, practice and train some more to make sure every detail is understood and every contingency is planned for. They go into a mission knowing they are prepared to carry it out, and confident in their individual ability to succeed.
Arrogance (hubris) is unmerited confidence, where the belief that anything can be accomplished when in fact the appropriate training or capability is not there. Along with that goes overconfidence or presumptuousness, is an exaggerated belief that something can be done without regard for the possibility of failure. An example of this would be a recent college grad who enters a workplace believing he knows more than those who have been there 20 years, and proceeds to ignore their input or learn from their experience. The results usually turn out disastrous.
There is nothing wrong with being confident that you are capable of doing a job because you are prepared, as the SEALS. It is not arrogance or overconfidence. They have taken the time to learn all they can, practice and practice some more to work out any bugs, and are well prepared to get the job done right. With more practice and experience confidence builds.
When you are working on building your confidence you must understand it takes a lot of hard work, and pain, to be successful. Even though you may have setbacks, what you have learned will help you to understand where you need to go from there, so look at errors or setbacks as learning experiences. Building confidence is not about always being right, but in understanding what you can accomplish what you need to with a little more knowledge. The more you learn, the more confident you become.
This is not always easy, and sometimes it requires confronting your fears in order to succeed, but confidence is a building process and an attitude that you are working from your heart, and going in the right direction. As long as you can do that even the small setbacks will be confidence builders.
You will find lessons in building confidence in 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