What I learned this week:  This week I share a little bit from chapter 3 of The Confident Mind - a Battle-tested guide to unshakeable performance.  There is a lot to learn and it begins by taking our mental filter to another level.  Last week we learned about our mental filter and how to think the best of ourselves and this week I share a bit about what Dr. Zinsser says we say about ourselves in the present.  He share in the book that we are constantly telling ourselves things about ourselves.  He writes “... the thoughts we have about ourselves and the thousands of statements we make to ourselves about ourselves in the present are perhaps even more important."   (p77)

All these thoughts he tells us become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Do we think we are going to do well in a class or have a talent for a certain thing?  If we have thoughts of curiosity and a willingness to try then we usually can have a outcome of those things on the other hand if we believe something is going to suck or be the worst then we can usually be focused or not try as hard and then make those thoughts true as well.  He calls these the stories we tell ourselves.  He writes, “Winning the First Victory, then involves first becoming aware of the stories and statements you make to yourself about yourself, the dominant narrative that you use to define, reinforce, and motivate yourself, and second exercising the discipline to ensure that the stories, statements you do make to yourself meet the criteria we established in the last chapter for passing through the mental filter – creating energy, optimism and enthusiasm. “  (p83) And the challenge that Dr. Zinsser gives us is are we willing to change that? 

He then tells us about positive affirmations and gives us a few guideslines to follow.  First begin with something you know you are good at. Then create a statement that is personal, present tense and phrased positively.  Then he goes on to tell us about how we can also make statements of things that we want to become, qualities, actions and outcomes that we have not take but desire to.   We then do the same thing but in the book he gives us 5 guidelines for this: 

Five rules to write three statements that affirm some of your best qualities and skills: 

1. In the first person - I participate in the daily functions where I can be visible.” 

2. In the present tense - “I enjoy competing in close games”

3. With positive language - “I organize my activities and time effectively”

4. With precise language - I run four miles three times a week and a seven-minute-per-mile-pace”

5. With powerful language  - I explode from any position like a bullet through a gun.”

(p89)

Then we need to consistently say these affirmations.  We can write them down at night, or we can say them everytime we go through a doorway or create another trigger that will help us to say them everyday multiple times a day.  

I also loved learning the story about Alessandra Ross throughout this chapter.  Her goal of 1:56 in the 800m to qualify for the 2000 Olympic trials - which she did.  Then she goes on to become and Orthopedic surgeon, served in the Army for a time and used all these skills to help her build her confidence.   

At the end of the chapter is this challenge for us: 

"Who do you think you are?  What are the ongoing stories you are telling yourself about yourself right now? Again, are those stories consistent with the level of success and satisfaction you wish to have?  Whatever you choose to believe about yourself will find its way into your actions and eventually into your outcomes.  

Do you want to be Radiant?  Affirm it first and then don’t be surprised at finding yourself becoming it."  (p107)

Let's all work on being radiant!!