Across the board, most people would say they desire greater Confidence. After all, it has been found to be the secret ingredient that allows some people to rise to challenges that others would not.

 

Higher confidence is correlated to higher life happiness thanks to the risk of taking on new challenges and the rewarding  feeling that you’re making an impact in the world by doing so.

Confidence is the secret to much of what we want to experience and achieve in life.

How specifically can you gain and maintain confidence as you deal with life+work challenges so you can elevate to next-level success? Because we aren’t just born with confidence – it is a character trait we can cultivate through purpose thinking and aligned action.

Here are the 3 C’s that Cultivate Confidence as outline by Brendon Burchard in the book, High Performance Habits.

 

Practice #1: Be Congruent

The more you live in congruence, or alignment, with who you chose to be the more you feel a sense of general confidence in life.

Confident people don’t wait for others to define who they are. They take control of their thoughts, who they want to be, and they live in alignment with that self-image.

They wake up with a clear intention of who they really want be and they go out into the world with authenticity, pride, self-trust and confidence by taking actions that align with who they are & who they want to be.

This means confident people regularly SEEK CLARITY, the first of 6 habits high performers practice. Because, you can’t be congruent with something that isn’t clearly defined. Clarity about who do you want to be and how you can align your actions with that self-image. No clarity. No congruence. No confidence.

 

 

Practice #2: Develop Competence

It makes sense, the better you get the more you are willing to try.
The more you are willing to try – the better you get.
And hence, more trying means more competence.
More competence leads to more confidence

You see how this works, right?

So, here’s the catch – you have to believe in yourself enough to trust in your ability to learn and figure things out – so that you will get started before you have competence. It’s the “chicken or the egg” argument, which comes first, confidence (to try) or competence? Well, that’s when you need courage, another core habits for high performance.  The courage to try new things. Try again until you cultivate the competence that leads to greater confidence. Be brave, friends.

 

 

Practice #3: Connection

What gives some people the confidence to talk with and connect with others?

When you enjoy connecting with people, learning how they think, what challenges they face, and what they are trying to stand for in the world you are more confident in sharing those things about yourself with others too.

Confident people want to learn from others. They are genuinely trying to engage and connect with people so they can learn about how they think , what they need and what they stand for.

They do well with others because they are interestED in them, and what to learn, NOT because they want to BE interesting.

Interesting right?  Connection cultivates confidence.

 

Practice #4 Curiosity

It’s curiosity that leads a confident person down the path of developing greater competence, gathering knowledge, skills and abilities to try new things

It’s curiosity that influences the questions they ask themselves to determine whether or not they are living a congruent life and taking aligned action. And it’s curiosity that drives their desire to seek out and enjoy connecting with and learning from others.

Confidence seems to be less about how awesome you are, but how CURIOUS you are.

 

Practice #5 Courage

Combined with curiosity, one needs the courage to step out and learn new things, to truly live in alignment with who you want to become and take interest in others in the process.

I would argue, confidence starts with courage.

The courage to try.

The courage to grow in competence.

The courage to live in congruence.

The courage to connect with others.

Courage cultivates each of these things, and these things cultivate confidence.

So, if you want to be more confident – start by being courageous.

How confident are you? How would you rate yourself on these statements?

• I know what to do and how to add value are (or at least I believe in my ability to figure it out).
• I know I am living in alignment with the person I want to become.
• I know I’ll do well with others, because I’m genuinely interested in learning about them and serving them.
• I am curious and eager to explore, learn and grow.
• I am courageous.

 

If your actions align with statements like these,  you’ll not only increase your confidence, but your performance, happiness, and overall success in life.

As you build your High Performance Habits, it turns out a dose of confidence is the secret ingredient.