Based on my previous blog, we’ve talked about how acknowledging your wins really boosts your mood. On today’s blog, we’ll be talking about measuring your progress and why it’s a part of the secret to self confidence.
Time For Action
Take action now and download Tally Counter by Mikrasya on the App Store!
Step 5 – Measure And Report Your Progress
American author and highly respected religious leader Thomas Monson once famously declared:
“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported,
the rate of improvement accelerates.”
After a few months of consistent deliberate practice of your new passion, new results and newfound confidence should begin showing up automatically without even thinking about it. This is where the magic really starts to happen, and most appropriately, the time to actively “get out there” and test it out.
So how do you measure confidence?
If you’ve practiced enough and progressed in a particular passion, you’ll begin to notice that conversations come easier and you won’t struggle for words as much.
For instance, when someone asks you “what’s new,” instead of saying “nothing” or “same old same old,” you’ll actually be excited and have something to talk about. Eventually, engaging people without hesitation or discomfort will be automatic, simply because you “feel” more confident.
This should also start showing up in your body language, how you walk, stand and look people in the eyes (more on this later). Your voice should also become stronger with more power and conviction behind your words, which will begin to reflect passion and confidence in the interests you’ve been mastering.
You may also notice people asking questions like: “What’s different about you” or “You seem different.” If you get feedback like this from your environment, it means you’re on the right track.
You’ll need to test this out and set aside time to place yourself in the right circumstances where you can clearly gauge any new results. This could be anywhere but if you’re short on ideas, I’ve listed some suggestions below:
- We mentioned this earlier but if you don’t already belong to any meetup groups, check out www.meetup.com and find some groups that appeal to your interests; then attend the scheduled meetups.
- Go to events and outdoor fairs where people are already feeling good.
- Definitely go to the supermarket or street market and notice the different people and opportunities that show up to test your confidence.
- One of the greatest ways to meet people and test out your newfound confidence in your community is through Facebook Events. The basic strategy here is to go to events where compatible people are and strike up a conversation.
So let’s say you’re practicing to be a martial arts expert. You can do a simple search on Facebook for “martial arts” and start liking the pages and friending these people associated with martial arts who will then begin sending you invites to special events.
Or lets’ say you’re working on mastering yoga, cycling or climbing. You can start by simply friending the movers and shakers in these communities, like the teachers, studios, and practitioners. Then, once someone accepts your friend request, immediately test your online confidence by sending them a private message such as:
“Thanks for connecting (fill in their name here) looks like you’re up to great things in the (fill in their passion here) world, I just wanted to reach out and introduce myself instead of becoming another random stranger in your feed. I’m an aspiring (fill in the blank) always looking to create more friendships and get inspired by the community. Looking forward to your posts and let me know if I can support you in any way. Take care”
Once you start building your community on Facebook, you’ll start getting invites to several community events. By using this strategy I literally get over 50 invites every week to really cool events where I’ve not only tested and developed my confidence but established great relationships and expanded my professional opportunities tenfold.
Measure Your Progress
Once you get these invites, RSVP if necessary and just show up! This is a test to measure any potential increase in autopilot confidence.
If for any reason you’re still feeling really uncomfortable, hemming and hawing in conversations and slumping in your body language, you simply need to continue developing confidence with the strategies in this book.
If you fail at all from any of your attempts just remember this Master Mantra from Jim Rohn:
“You learn more from failing
than you do from winning!”
And here’s the catch – you can NOT win until you first fail! Yes, failure is an integral part of winning. We’ll talk about this in detail in the 2nd Level of The Triad. For now, just get out there and fall flat on your face, but laugh about it, because in reality, everyone, including the most confident world leaders, superstar athletes and Hollywood bombshells all have to go through this process of rejection and failure.
Time For Action – Report Your Progress
Now once you’ve measured your progress and noticed any subtle shifts in your level of confidence it’s time to report that progress which will accelerate your improvement. To do this, simply click +1 on the Tally Counter App and report your victory to your accountability partners.
Since repetition is the “Mother of all skill,” let’s go ahead and summarize how to Stack Victories and take immediate action on these 5 steps.
- Pick Your Passion – This is your “One Thing” or “One Domino” you need to knock over.
- Pick Your Teacher – Find a reputable coach, mentor or teacher then supplement that with books and other resources online or offline.
- Get Accountability & Support – Find a coach, individual or group of people to learn with who will hold you accountable.
- Schedule & Deliberately Practice – Open up your electronic calendar and schedule your deliberate practice sessions for a minimum of 1 hour per day 5 days a week. Then track your progress by writing down your victories daily in Tally Counter. Do this NOW and get your first victory under your belt! Don’t Wait, jump up and take action NOW!
- Measure and Report Your Progress – After a few months of solid practice, you’ll need to get out there and test your newfound confidence! And once you notice any changes report that progress to your accountability partners.
Keep in mind; once you get your sequence correct and the dominos start to fall, major changes and massive results take time. Once again quoting from Gary Keller:
“When you see someone who has a lot of knowledge, they learned it over time. When you see someone who has a lot of skills, they developed them over time. When you see someone who has done a lot, they accomplished it over time. When you see someone who has a lot of money, they earned it over time.”
If you are not getting results after a few months it simply means you need more practice over time, and more often than not, the solution lies in one of the other areas of The Triad of Unbreakable Confidence.
Always remember, progress is progress. If you’d like to learn more, check out the top-selling book Get High On Confidence by Chad Scott here.
