Today in my M5 seminar, we talked about having calm confidence in the face of struggle, and my 5 steps to returning the calm confidence if it’s ever shaken. Confidence is often mistaken for cockiness, but confidence is not about being bold and blindly brazen. Calm confidence is a deep knowing that even if you don’t know how you’ll figure something out, you have faith that you will. It’s knowing, believing, and focusing on the notion that all human beings are infinitely creative and resourceful, and trusting yourself to navigate your options and come out ahead.Let’s go over those 5 steps:1.   – Awareness – Allow yourself to become aware of the feelings that your confidence has been shaken. If you feel nervous, thrown off-center, stressed and aggravated, it’s probably because your confidence has been replaced with a state of doubt.
a. Locate a place in your body where you typically carry those feelings when your confidence is shaken.b. When you feel it, let it trigger a sense of awareness.
2.   – Trigger – Allow the awareness to trigger calm confidence.
a. Allow yourself to remember what that means – the deep knowing that even if you don’t know how you’ll figure something out, you have faith that you will.b. Allowing this awareness will put you in a receptive mode to access the ideas, creativity , and resourcefulness that will lead to a great solution.
3.   – Identify – Identify the following:
a. What’s working? – What’s already in place that you can continue to use to leverage an ideal outcome?b. Ideal Outcome – What is the best possible outcome? Shoot for the Bull’s Eye – even if you miss, you’re still on target!c. What’s broken? – What’s really wrong?d. What’s missing? – Once you’ve established what’s really wrong, you’ll identify what’s missing in order to fix it.e. What’s next? – Decide upon your next action steps to lead to an ideal outcome.
4.   – Remember – All human beings are infinitely creative and resourceful.
a.  This belief allows you to brainstorm new solutions and get you thinking about who you know who can help you with the situation.
5.   – Don’t Quit – Don’t quit until the ideal outcome is achieved, or at least a satisfactory outcome is in place, even if it’s a temporary fix as you’re working toward a long-term ideal outcome.Always explore the question: what is the ideal outcome? Frame your strategy off of that. It’s likely you’ll have to go back through the steps more than once, but when you do, you’ll find yourself with the focus, creativity, and resourcefulness to get through any situation with calm confidence and productivity.And if you’re dealing with a particular situation and you’re unsure how to tap into your calm confidence, give me a call! Let’s figure it out together. :)* M5 – Monday Morning Mini-Motivation Meetings – Every Monday morning at 8 am EST.

Author's Bio: 

Jonathan Flaks, M.C.C., Business Success Coach - http://www.jfcoach.com . Since 1998, Jonathan has been helping entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals focus on and reach ambitious goals, maintain continuous confidence and motivation, and achieve balanced success. Jonathan maintains a Master Certified Coach distinction from the International Coach Federation. He earned a dual degree from Cornell University and was Adjunct Professor in Business Leadership and Coaching Skills for New York University. Clients have come from BMG Entertainment, Morgan-Stanley-Smith-Barney, KPMG, Disney, Deloitte, Honeywell, Goldman Sachs, and many entrepreneurial and professional service firms. If you want to start every week with a positive, confident attitude, visit Monday Morning Mini-Motivation Meetings .