Today's Inspiration:Find out Your Inner Confidence Through Skills You Already Love

Passion and doing something really well are inseparable lovers. When you’ve crafted something into exquisite refinement, passion effortlessly flows from it.
That’s my experience playing music, writing book and blogging at least. But it wasn’t always that way.
This didn’t happen overnight. It took me about six years to become “pretty good.” There were eureka moments along the way where I took larger steps.
Eventually, with deliberate effort, I knew enough to feel comfortable teaching others.
Have you ever tried to learn a new skill? Hard work, isn’t it? It takes effort and time. Unless you’re a genius. And I’ve met very few of those.

Start with What You’re Proud Of

Write down ten skills you’re proud of. I know it sounds like a lot, but ten is the magic number. Use language that expresses your pride deeply.
Writing skills, Make up skills, Designing skills and lots more..
For example, I am proud that I can:

1. Play sweet sounds on the Keyboard
2. Write well-researched inspiring blog posts that can help people be the best they can.
3. Sing
4. Co-ordinate group or an organization with a better social interaction.
5. Teach People how to become self employed
6. Organize my time to be amazingly productive
   [ugh…this is getting hard…]
7. Read one book every week
8. Study academic papers and distill the key points
9. Play sweet sounds on the Bass
10. Cook delicious, healthy meals that nourish my family

Your turn! Do this exercise. It’s an important first step.
After all, how can you work on something new, like building supreme confidence, without knowing what worked for you in the past?
Next, read the list out loud. Mentally reinforce your exceptional skills. When you’re struggling or trying to master a new skill, read it again. These are your reminders that mastery is possible.

You Can Master Anything; the Skinny on Accelerated Learning

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggested that, with 10,000 hours of practice, anybody could become a world-class expert in any skill. He cited an academic article in Psychological Review titled, “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance.”
In the article, the authors found that:
“The differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain.”
Gladwell admitted that this doesn’t apply to skills that require genetic ability, like sports. But it works like a champ for everyday skills.
Also, how you practice makes a huge difference.
Therefore, we can say that repeatedly taking the right actions to improve performance will make you much better at a skill.
Here’s the formula for mastering a skill:

1. Identify what to work on—by seeking out experts.
2. Identify how to work on these—see same experts.
3. Put in deliberate, consistent effort—by carving out the time and developing habits.

Question: How do I seek out experts (steps 1 and 2)?
It’s the twenty-first century, my friend! Use the Internet—eBooks, blogs, podcasts, webinars. Or go traditional with paper books and conferences. Seek and ye shall find.
Question: How do I put in deliberate, consistent effort (step 3)?
In her book Everybody Writes, Ann Handley says that practicing thirty minutes each day is much more effective than practicing for four straight hours. If you do the math, that’s 210 minutes spread out over a week vs. 240 minutes in one sitting. Less time? I’ll take that any day.
Go ahead and schedule daily time on your calendar and use an automatic reminder. Even if it’s just fifteen minutes every day. Focus on only the one skill during those fifteen minutes. You will progress rapidly from amateur to ace.

What Are You Waiting For? Discover Your Inner Confidence!

I get wonderfully lost in the moment when I’m on stage. I’m relaxed. I’m having the time of my life. But a few years back, if you asked me to stop playing keyboard and say a few words to the audience? {Silence} {Heart beating faster} {Sweat, anxiety, palpitations}
I couldn’t do it!
Like almost everybody with a pulse, I was afraid of public speaking.
I realized that, to pursue better opportunities, to network with people who could help me, and to portray myself as a true professional, I needed to be more confident.
First thought: “Nah, I’m an introverted, socially awkward engineer. Not gonna happen.”
…a few minutes go by as I ponder my continued stagnation…
Second thought: “Hmm. How will I know unless I try? Let’s do this!”
At that point, I decided to take up a new skill: the skill of confidence.
I read books and blogs on speaking and influence, joined Toastmasters, attended public speaking conferences, and volunteered for small leadership positions.

When you practice a skill, it becomes your passion. You start connecting with others, who respond with deep, meaningful emotion.
You’ve arrived at artistry—the ultimate in human expression.
Okay, enough daydreaming! Go forth use your inner confidence to develop outer confidence:

• Look at your list of already-mastered skills to get motivated.
• Identify a new skill to master, like confidence.
• Seek out experts (online, books, podcasts, webinars, conferences).
• Develop a fifteen-plus minute daily habit of working on the skill.
• Conquer the skill.

Did you try the exercises? Are you excited about your journey toward mastery of a new skill?