Building confidence

I found the following in a magazine with no author's name given:

"Fear and worry are closely related. You might say fear is the parent of every kind of worry because every worry starts as a fear. When we worry, we rotate our minds around a problem and come up with no answers. The more we do it, the more anxious we feel. When we worry, we actually torment ourselves with a type of thinking that produces no good fruit. Worry starts with our thoughts, but it affects our moods and even our physical bodies."

This certainly applies to many people in our business.  It's something to think about. "What ifs" that people seem to worry about include:

- What if they say "No?"

- What if they are negative?

- What if they ask me a question?

- What if they say "Yes?"

- What if I'm not very good at giving a presentation?

- What if they ask how I'm doing?

I think a good question is how can a person become confident and overcome fear and worry? I have learned that small successes over time build up a person's confidence. What this means to me is we have to cross that line in the sand and be willing to do some things that we're not very good at, but at the same time realize that with repetition comes skill and confidence.  

I could go on and on about the anxiety I felt in the early years because I didn't have any experience doing what is necessary to become successful in this business. My desire to have a Shaklee business was stronger than the anxiety I felt. I saw other people doing it and I just had the thought that I had some things to learn and skills to develop. 

Step out this week and do two or three things you're not very good at. I know it's a challenge but it's a start for you to build your confidence. Remember that confidence is built over time by doing specific activities over and over and over.

Enthusiastically,

Gary Burke