Dear John,

Are there things in your life that you want to do but you keep on delaying? One of the common reasons that people hesitate and procrastinate stepping into the growth zone is that they are unsure if they will be successful, and their self-image is too fragile to take a hit. In other words, they don't have the confidence and trust in themselves to take the “risk.”

One of the ways to build confidence and trust in yourself is to build a track record of success. The way you do this is simple. A couple times a month review what you have learned and how you have grown in the last two weeks. What projects did you complete? What wins did you have? What relationships did you deepen? What decisions did you make? If it is your first time doing this you can go down memory lane and ask yourself how you have grown in the last 3 months, 6 months, year, 2 years, etc. As you remember these past learning, growing, and winning moments, then reflect in gratitude on how much you have developed as a person.

Now, when a big opportunity comes to step out of your “comfort zone” and take a “risk,” just review your track record of success and you will realize how much you have grown. This will give you courage that you can learn the skills for the new opportunity because you have proven this - over and over again!

Here are three books that inspired my thinking on this and will help you with this concept:

• See You At The Top by Zig Ziglar
• The Gap and The Gain by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
• Trust by Dr. Henry Cloud

Choose to Win!

Tom