Motivational Monday: Confidence Is The Willingness To Try

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Do you think confidence is a personality trait?  A friend introduced me to Mel Robbins’ inspirational “Million Dollar Morning” series this week, and I found quite a lot of what she said interesting!

Particularly, I love Robbins’ idea that “Confidence is a skill...the willingness to try”.  That means anyone can become confident, about anything.  Isn’t that such a liberating thought?

I’ve added my own, quick tips on gaining confidence below.

How To Gain Confidence

1   Do things for yourself.  It’s important to put yourself first, sometimes.  Find a skill  or hobby you really want to get good at, and make time in your schedule to make it a priority.  When you let yourself focus on YOU, you feel energized and ready to take on anything.

2   Take small steps and work towards your goals – Baby steps.  They’re SO important! Don’t expect to achieve everything all at once. Write down you goals. Breathe. Make a plan. Breathe.  Follow it 🙂

3.  Find a role model  – This is my biggest tip!  Hence, the reason I coined the term “blogger heroes”.  These are my top idols in terms of big bloggers who have huge communities and make a living off their websites, doing a job they absolutely love.  It’s the ideal world, in my view! I made a list of 16 influential bloggers that I follow and wrote the list on my whiteboard, next to the words:

                                                        BELIEVE.  YOU CAN DO IT, TOO. JUST LIKE THEY DID.

The Magic of Willpower & 5 Second Decisions

Mel Robbins’ talks about her “5-second rule” in her Million Dollar Morning video. That one is an hour long, but you can catch her much shorter TED TALK on “How To Stop Screwing Yourself Over”, which I first saw a few years ago, here. 

The 5-second rule basically says that you have 5 seconds to make a decision (about what you say, what you do) in every situation, that can change your life. You have the power to make a decision in every conversation, and every action. Your brain will try to stop you doing difficult things, though. So, you have 5 seconds before that automatic avoidance reflex kicks in. USE IT.

That’s “simple, but not easy”, Mel Robbins says.  Have the willpower to do the things you don’t feel like doing. Make those micro-decisions and get on with your goals!

You can check out a 5 minute clip from her TED Talk here:

By the way, I’m writing my 25 TED TALKS to Transform Your English Class ebook, and one of Mel Robbins’ talks will definitely be included. It’ll include 5 awesome themes,  full lesson plans for each talk and a guide for using TED TALKS in your class.

Want a preview of the book? My free TED TALK lesson on Kang Lee’s  famous TED TALK is in the printables library.  Sign up at the end of this post and get free, weekly motivational posters, too!

Have you used the 5 second rule? Do you think confidence is a skill?   I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Have a lovely and productive Monday!

P.S.  I took the photo for today’s main image at the Grand Canyon, on a road trip in 2010.