Convincing Confidence Day 3: Preparation Builds Conviction

“Success depends upon previous preparation.” — Confucius

When are you most confident in yourself?  When you’ve been able to meet challenges and not falter in yourself, feeling insecure and dumbfounded by what has happened.  You become confident in your skills, reactions, and problem-solving knowledge.   The strongest confidence comes from preparation.  People who prepare rarely need to convince others with words.  Their preparation and actions speak loudly.  Athletes train, leaders study, professionals practice, and martial artists drill the same techniques thousands of times over.  Their repetition builds certainty.  When preparation is specific, deep, and performed without hesitation, confidence builds and rises.  You see solutions to problems, you practice those solutions, and preparation is key.

Stop telling reminding yourself of regrets that only tear down your confidence, things like: ‘If I had only made the time’, or ‘I had the time, but never made the effort’, or  ‘I let things go out of control, and lost the opportunity’.

The kind of confidence we are discussing is difficult to shake because it is not based on hope—it is based on effort, proven effort.  The effort you’ve put into developing a strength practiced from worst-case scenarios, creating best-case scenarios where you come out on top.
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Preparation removes doubt and replaces it with conviction.