In the midst of this fast paced, hectic, get ahead, be successful, more is better world, I keep noticing that lots of folks are talking about one thing: Confidence.

Do you have enough confidence to get the job done?
Are you confident that you’ll meet your budget numbers?

Having enough confidence does seem to be the magical panacea for all things challenging our daily existence. A lack of feeling secure and confident is almost a weekly theme with a lot of my coaching clients. To normalize this, it all makes sense as the pressure to perform is at an all-time high.

Here’s what I know: The more successful we are, the more pressure there is to keep the success going—which over time, reaches a limit and then we actually begin to, unconsciously, sabotage our own success… simply because we cannot possibly find all the confidence we need to keep our success loop going.

Feel familiar?

When I get caught in this loop, which happens frequently, I have to remind myself to focus on what compelsme. I believe that when we are compelled by something that grabs our imagination and our creative juices, confidence is just there—it becomes a non-issue.

Years ago, my brother was diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer, given literally months to live. I will never forget how my sister-in-law kicked into high gear and had doctors and nurses and all kinds of support structures in place to do everything in her power to keep her husband alive. Because of this, he’s alive and well today. Now, you talk about being compelled—that is the real deal. She had no time to look for confidence.

I know for a fact that if you asked her today if she had confidence during this time of their life, she would say, “I have no idea. All I knew was that I was compelled to keep my husband alive!” Talk about leadership—there it is right there.

So, when you hear folks talk about wanting others or themselves to be more confident, simply train them in this idea….

The path to personal confidence is accomplished by being compelled with something that matters deeply. 

I promise – your confidence will be an amazing by-product of what you’re compelled by! What compels you?

Namaste-
Rick