Confidence:  PART ONE

This is a multi part series on the value of confidence in improving our performance. In this post we will discuss a few components of confidence, and how a lack of confidence can impede our ability to do our best in various scenarios.

In building confidence, naming the “why” is almost as important as showing the “how”. People need to have faith that what they are doing or learning is going to not only work, but work when it counts. Confidence is anchored by Faith. Faith, and belief that they can perform.

Confidence is a slippery animal. To some it is a collection of thoughts, to others it is a track record of success. I am somewhat in the middle on that. I would say it is a combination of all of these things to some degree.

In Personal Defense Readiness, we use the Blauer Tactical Systems’ Cycle of Behavior™ to walk our clients through specific performance in scenarios. The following are just a few steps in that process, but I think they sum up what makes up our confidence given a specific situation.

The reason we focus on scenarios for determining our Cycle of Behavior is because we have different levels of confidence given different scenarios that we face. Ever notice that some people just can’t get enough of snakes? I like pictures of them, but don’t care to use them as fashion accessories. I, however, love doing Aerobatics in small aircraft. That same guy laughing at me for not thinking Sam Slither is the coolest thing on earth won’t even consider a trip around the pattern with me. As you can see, each individual has confidence on a different scale given a specific scenario, or variables in that scenario.

How does confidence factor into performance?

If you lack confidence in your ability to be successful in a situation, how does that reduce your ability to perform?  Two words; working memory.  When we address any scenario we use our focus to direct energy at the task at hand.  The part of the brain where our working memory lives is also the junction box for the emotional and cognitive controls of our brain.  Working memory is fairly limited in we human animals, and we need to keep our working memory free of clutter to keep maximum performance.

I know, you are still trying to link confidence to working memory.  How about this.  What is the opposite of confidence?  Fear and Doubt.  Fear and doubt live opposite of confidence, and they involve a lot of emotional energy.  Fear and doubt lead to worry and anxiety.  The emotional influx of these emotions take up space in the limited working memory space, cramming the junction box with emotional chatter.  Have you ever found yourself unprepared for something in life?  I can remember belt tests in Karate that I obsessed over.  I worried so much, I didn’t practice effectively, nor long enough.  What did I forget?  What would they ask me to demonstrate?  Who would I have to spar?  The first few went very mechanically, passable, but not the performances I would have liked.   I worried that I wouldn’t remember the steps in Kata, wouldn’t remember the combinations, wouldn’t move quick enough, think fast enough……..

All of that worry clogged up the working memory I needed to focus on what I had prepared long and hard for.  The anxiety was impeding performance.  The key to being set free was two fold, and is highlighted by the bullet points above.  I changed the way I practiced, more like every day was a test.  I changed my attitude towards practice.  I was starting to enjoy the work, the mastery, the new learning.  I gave up the perception of perfect, and went for the experience.  When I injected more fun into the process, I freed up a lot more brain to bring to the effort.  The change between my last two Belt tests was dramatic.  I felt like I was the only person in the room.  Even the mistakes I made didn’t bother me, although there were fewer than any test I had taken before.  I felt more “present” in the test, able to focus and truly do the best I was capable of.  No worries!

Where do I go with this?

Defeating worry, doubt, fear, anger and anxiety frees us up to do our best.  Confidence is the cure.  The next post will deal with a deeper discussion of each of the factors in the Cycle of Behavior model components above, and dive into how we can develop confidence to increase our performance.

How can confidence improve your life?  Your job?  Your relationships?

What has a lack of confidence cost you in the past?  What unfulfilled potential has a lack of confidence cost you?