The Power of Confident Belief

Believe in yourself.

To be successful in your personal and business life, you must display confidence for others to also believe in you. When you are uncertain about performing well, seek expert help to get you past your fear and uncertainty. Help may come in many forms including self-help, reading materials, taking a class and hiring a coach. Once you do take advantage of the expertise of others, you will possess the knowledge you sought and become more confident than ever before.

For instance, early in my sales career, I would become a nervous wreck in anticipation of meeting with CEO’s of larger companies. I recognized a strong need to improve my public speaking skills and enrolled in a 3 month class. It was expensive but proved to be one of the best investments I ever made in my career.

Due to an unethical office later in my career, I quit corporate sales. Shortly after, I found myself on a stretcher with a severely broken neck. The doctors were predicting paralysis. I ignored the prediction. Instead, I mentally wrote my first business plan on the stretcher and vowed to help others upon my recovery.

The next morning, I was heavily medicated for surgery and was told I would only have 1.5 minutes to meet the surgeon. Dr. Lee greeted me with a stern look and said, “Mrs. Stutz, when you wake up most likely you will be paralyzed.”

I refused to listen. Instead, I immediately employed my sales skills even though I could not move. I locked my eyes on his and mirrored the look on his face, sound of his voice and vocabulary and retorted, “Dr. Lee, when I wake up, I fully expect to be well.” Four days later I walked out of the hospital deemed a walking miracle.

Twelve years later, I was an accomplished salesperson with an admired client roster. However, I was in for a rude awakening upon announcing my new venture of sales training. The men wanted me to prove myself all over again and the women ran away. I began to devour marketing materials. They all said the same thing: “Write a book!”

Initially, I self-published. That book was out only two weeks when a man I know said in a mean voice, “If your book were any good, a publisher would have picked it up.” Rather than getting angry (I felt like slapping him), I smiled and agreed with him – the fastest path to getting rid of him. Then I stood back to analyze what was said. I did not want one more person doubting my ability. The very next week I hired an agent to find a publisher for me.

I have found it is the people with all of the answers who are the most insecure and know the least. Never allow anyone to stop your future accomplishments!