Build Skills And Abilities

How do we build confidence? By building and developing our skills and abilities. Most of the time we get “skill” and “will” confused. Too many times we fall into the “will” trap when it’s truly a “skill” issue and take the wrong approach with discipline instead of persistence in helping build the skill. Most people will make excuses or display avoidance behavior when they don’t have the confidence in their ability. Rarely does one display a “will” issue when they have confidence in their skills. If you know how to drive a stick shift you are more willing to drive one. If you don’t have confidence in driving a stick shift you might make “excuses” or come up with reasons why you can’t drive a stick shift. Same holds true with giving a presentation, or a sales call. If you’re confident in your abilities you will be the first to step up and say I can and will do it, but if you’re not confident excuses begin to creep in and others might look at it as an attitude problem or a “will” issue. Most people will make up excuses, not because they have a bad attitude, but because they don’t feel confident with their ability or their comfort level is low. That is why persistence while executing is crucial to positive movement, along with giving lots of encouragement along the way.

I was watching a football game the other day and was amazed by how intense it got when the game was close at the 2 minute warning. It seems as if the offense, which couldn’t move the ball all game, suddenly had a new game plan and was moving the ball at will against a defense that had stopped them up until that point in the game. However, if the game hadn’t been that close, the team’s intensity may have gone down and the players could have begun to “give up” and get ready for next week’s game. Sometimes that is how we are as human beings. If we have had a great year, and things are continuing to progress in a positive way, then our intensity goes up at the end of the year. If our year has just been the same year over and over, then we are saying, “I can’t wait until next year, things are going to be different, I am going to start over……” Get my drift?

I am going to challenge everyone reading this to persist through obstacles and those “curve balls” that life throws you, no matter what you are going through, persist! Don’t “write off” this year, this month, or this day. Don’t wait until next year, next month, or tomorrow to make changes, do it now. Make forward progress now and think about how much further you will be when next year, next month, or tomorrow is here. You’ll never know what progress you can make unless you take action. Here is one of my favorite quotes: “Actions may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action”. Benjamin Disraeli (Former British Prime Minister).

If things are going great, do something positive to keep your momentum. If you would rather forget the recent past, do something positive now, that will move you in the right direction. Once again, we cannot change the past, we can only influence and impact the future.