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“How #1" to have Copious Success

I recently promised to share my secret to having copious success with my subscribers. But as I sat down to document it, I wasn’t sure where to start.

Which hard-won accomplishment should I dissect to show you my process?

But then I realized that the answer doesn’t lie in dissecting the accomplishments; it comes from looking back to them.

When I set a goal sometimes I lack the belief in myself to pull it off. I’m no different from you. Shadowy thoughts of self-doubt and failure creep into my mind. But these thoughts are a recipe for procrastination, self-fulfilling prophecies, and failure.

So when this happens, I look to my past accomplishments to build self-confidence. “Building self-confidence” is one of the Three Catalysts for Cultivating Courage that I uncovered in writing Growing Bold.

I’ve heard it said that you should keep your head forward and not look back, keeping your eyes on the prize. And in some instances, this is a good plan. But if we fail to look back to the past, we can’t leverage our lessons, especially those born from the wins we’ve achieved despite our uncertainty and lack of confidence.

So “How #1” to have copious success is:

Look to your past accomplishments to “Build Your Self-confidence.”

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This can be awkward because, often, we aren’t taught to toot our own horn. Past accomplishments might be slow to come to mind, at first, but once you start, you’ll have plenty of wins upon which to reflect.

Here is a process you can follow to help you utilize How #1.

1. Take out a piece of paper and write at the top “My Achievements.” Put a line down the center of the paper. On the left side, write “Accomplishments,” and on the right side, write “Challenges I overcame.”
2. Set a timer for five minutes and then begin writing a list of your successes on the left-hand side. Note: Write! Don’t censor or judge your accomplishments as you are writing. Just write and don’t stop until your five minutes are up.
3. Then on the right side of the page, next to each accomplishment, list at least one challenge you faced and overcame to achieve your win.
4. Reflect on your achievements and the accompanying challenges, one by one, and breathe in your capacity to win despite difficulties.

That’s it!

Keep your list handy and refer to it when you are about to tackle a challenging goal. You can even pick a particularly meaningful achievement from your list and call it to mind whenever you feel self-doubt rise inside of you, allowing it to anchor you to your source of strength.

Do this! It really works. It wasn’t my intention to boost my confidence when I wrote my newsletter last week and listed my past successes in it, that’s exactly what it did!

Reminding myself of hard-won accomplishments spurs me forward even when life gets hard. It builds faith in myself and helps me bounce back when I have a setback. Doing this allows me to go after what I want in life and win a lot of the time.

But the truth is I couldn’t have gotten to where I am today, living in France, building deep relationships, and generally loving life, without two other elements. Because you, too, deserve to live life on your terms, and I genuinely want that for you, I’ll be unveiling “How #2” next week.

In the meantime, complete the activity above and let me know your feedback by commenting on this article!