I have often heard that what you focus on becomes your reality and that if you believe things to be a certain way you are undoubtedly provided with evidence that supports that belief. Well, I am living proof that both of those statements are true and I am happy to say that so are many other visitors to this blog series.
This past week, our challenge was to focus on having tremendous confidence in ourselves and our abilities. Even when we started to have doubts or negative self-chatter, we brought ourselves back to that single focus. The results were astounding!
For myself, the Universe consistently provided me with supporting evidence that I am confident in my abilities – I am smart enough to figure things out, realistic enough to know what I don’t know and how to find the right resources, and talented enough to continuously provide great writing and guidance to my clients. The end result was that last week was one of my most creative and productive weeks of 2009.
I never heard the chatter of “you can’t do that”, or “it won’t be very good”. In the past, it never mattered that I had proven my inner chatter wrong thousands of times with quality work and great connections for my clients. This time I reminded myself that success leaves wonderful clues if you listen and look for them. Every day, even every hour I was accomplishing things that I might have otherwise procrastinated out of fear or initially fumbled through due to a lack of focus. I always delivered quality content and ahead of schedule, but sometimes the inner chatter made the process of getting to the outcome much longer and more tedious. This last week I was accomplishing great results in less time and with more concentrated efforts. For a productivity geek like me who never wants the tasks to compromise the creative process, that is huge!
For the visitors of this blog series I raise my glass to your success! Congratulations for allowing your focus on self-confidence to empower you to be more creative and more productive. For some of you I was ecstatic to hear how you were able to establish very reasonable boundaries with colleagues, clients and loved ones that made for much more fulfilling relationships. It is amazing how feeling great about yourself and your skills helps you to speak your mind in a constructive way. (This will come in handy during the upcoming holidays!) Some of you shared your newly found entrepreneurial spirit. Confidence definitely helps you take more risks and with that receive bigger rewards. Onward and upward!
Cheers to all of you who committed to staying focused. Your confidence was likely contagious, as I am sure others picked up on your great energy and were drawn to you. Great Mojo – keep it working for you!
Congratulations on having a confident and productive week! This little simple challenge had a profound impact on me and for that, THANK YOU!!!
For me, it was the little things that. I committed to the challenge and to remind myself, I wore a rubber band on my wrist.
I never realized how many little things I don’t do with confidence. I usually just fumble through the task and probably don’t come across as very confident.
but this week, before any task, I would look at my “confidence rubber band” and just act confident…and it worked! I could feel the reaction to the people around me, they also felt my confidence.
Love your work and love you for sharing it,
~Mike
Kudos to you Mike!
Congratulations for making the commitment and having staying power. It is truly amazing how other people can “read” or pick up on our feelings about ourselves and then act accordingly.
You have made my day with your comment! Thank you for you kind words and I hope to continue to add value with every post.
If you ever have a question or are struggling with any aspect of your creativity and productivity, I would welcome the opportunity to offer some assistance and brainstorm with you.
Have a wonderfully confident week!
Christine
Christine
Great article about Creating Lasting Change
All that you wrote is accurate and affects everyone; sometimes almost daily.
Here are some things I have learned to do to get moving and to stay moving when anxiety and fear strikes; of it is simply Monday once again
Recognise that the thoughts I am having are just that – thoughts, not reality.
Drop those thoughts and replace them with others; positive, or at least neutral. What is the point of holding on to the negatives?
Remember that I have been through this process a thousand times before, and I always got through it.
Let myself feel the anxiety or the fear; acknowledge it. this allows me to get past it. Avoiding it or letting it take over is much more painful than dealing with it.
Just begin writing WHATEVER The simple act of writing stirs things up; your knowledge, your experience, etc. Before you know it you will have recorded what you need; facts, issues, pros, cons, an outline, a draft, a report.
Get help. The most useful tool that I have always had is the telephone; reaching out to people I knew would be helpful. I know that I have been helpful to many people and helping them feels as good to me as it does to them.
As you move through these steps, you develop a positive rhythm, and your usual creativity and productivity come into play; along with the pure joy that comes from personal pride and satisfaction. There is nothing else like it! You know what I mean!
Raymond
Thank you for sharing! Your comments are spot-on and obviously come from experience. I look forward to rereading them when I find myself challenged by temporary circumstances.
Christine