Self confidence is one of the keys to career success in my Career Success GPS System.  If you want to become self confident you need to do three things.  1) Become an optimist.  2) Face your fears and act.  3) Surround yourself with positive people.

Fear is the enemy of self confidence – and success.  Most people fear failure, criticism and rejection.  It’s only normal.  We all want to feel good about ourselves.  Failure, criticism and rejection are not pleasant experiences.  They lower our self esteem and make us feel bad about ourselves, so we often avoid doing things that we think might lead to failure, criticism or rejection.  As a career success coach, I advise my clients to have to have the courage to do things that might result in failure, criticism or rejection.

Failure, criticism and rejection provide you with the opportunity to grow and develop – to become a career success.   You can’t take failure, criticism and rejection personally.  Failure, criticism and rejection are outcomes.  They are a result of things you have done.   They are not who you are.  Remember that.  We all make mistakes and fail on occasion.  We all do things that cause others to criticize or reject us.  This doesn’t mean that we are failures.  It means that we have made some poor choices and done some dumb things.

Failure, criticism and rejection provide the opportunity to start over – hopefully a little smarter.  Buckminster Fuller once said, “Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence of trial and error experience.  Humans have learned only through mistakes.”  As a career success coach I agree with him.

That’s why fear is the enemy of self confidence and career success.  If your fear of failure and criticism, and rejection paralyzes you to the point where you aren’t willing to take calculated risks, you’ll never learn anything or accomplish any of your goals.

Don’t be too hard on yourself when you fail, or when others criticize or reject you.  Instead, put your energy into figuring out why you failed and then do something different.  Here are my four career success coach questions to ask yourself the next time you fail, or get criticized or rejected.

1. Why did I fail?  Why did I get criticized or rejected?  What did I do to cause the failure, criticism or rejection?
2. What could I have done to prevent the failure, criticism or rejection?
3. What have I learned from this situation? 
4. What will I do differently the next time?

If you do this, you’ll be using failure, criticism and rejection to your advantage.  In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill says, “Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”  ‘

I know it’s hard to see the benefit or opportunity in failure, criticism and rejection.  But it’s there – you just have to look hard enough.  But it all begins by facing your fear and acting.

A year ago, my niece Brett and her move from Florida to San Diego.  She left a good job in Florida.  She had no job lined up in San Diego when she moved.  Several people criticized her for making such an audacious move.  I thought that she demonstrated amazing optimism in making such a long move in such a difficult economy.  I’m happy to report that 17 days after she arrived in San Diego Brett landed a job as an account manager for an athletic apparel manufacturer.  She has received two promotions since.  I’m proud of her.  She didn’t let her fear of failure, criticism or rejection stop her from pursuing her dreams.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Our most common fears are failure, criticism and rejection.  However, if you choose to find and use the learning opportunity in failure, criticism and rejection you will not only become more self confident, you will become more successful.   It’s sad but true – failure, criticism and rejection are the price you pay for becoming a personal and professional success.  Facing your fear of failure, criticism and rejection and acting will pay big dividends in your life and career.

That’s my take on the importance of facing your fears and acting.  What’s yours?  What have you learned from facing your fears?  How has it helped you become more self confident?  Please leave a comment sharing your story with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

The May 2010 issue of SUCCESS Magazine arrived in my mail box the other day.  If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I am a big fan of SUCCESS.  Darren Hardy and his crew put out an amazing magazine every month.  I read it from cover to cover as soon as I get it.  This month was no exception.  As a career success coach, I urge you to subscribe to SUCCESS.  I don’t endorse a lot of products, and I have no affiliate relationship with SUCCESS.  It’s just that good.  You’re really missing out if you’re not a subscriber.

As a career success coach, I’m a big believer in the power of optimism.  I often quote The Optimist Creed on this blog.  I think it is great common sense career advice.  If you want a copy of The Optimist Creed that you can frame and hang in your office, go to http://www.budbilanich.com/optimist.

The “Legends” column in this month’s SUCCESS is about Wally Amos, founder of Famous Amos cookies.  In a sidebar, Wally Amos lists his 13 Keys to an Optimistic Attitude.  Check them out…

1. Stop being your own worst enemy.  Be your own best friend.
2. Don’t put yourself down.  Pull yourself up.
3. Don’t permit others to define who you are.  You can’t be a failure without your own consent.
4. Respect yourself.  Place a high value on yourself.
5. Take stock of who you are and what you’re capable of.  Work on weaknesses and find new strengths every day.
6. Replace “I can’t” with “I can” and “I will.”
7. Treat yourself generously, the way you want others to treat you.
8. Be compassionate. Love yourself, and others will love you.
9. Remember that you are an individual expression of God.  As a work of God’s art, you are priceless and irreplaceable.
10. Visualize what you want from life, then work toward it.  See it, then be it.
11. Allow time to be by yourself, with yourself.  Take time to appreciate yourself.
12. Enjoy your uniqueness.  Out of all the billions of people since the beginning of time, there has never been and never will be another you.
13. Realize that you are important to the entire world; what happens to the world begins with you.

No wonder Wally Amos is famous.  He gets it about life and optimism; at least from the perspective of this career success coach. 

Here’s one last quote from Wally…

“It doesn’t matter how bad things look or what appearances are.  If I can just continue on – one breath at a time – that’s all I have to do.  There’s no tomorrow.  There’s not future or no past because those are just words.  Those aren’t places you can visit.  So, if I can just keep on keeping on with enthusiasm and excitement over what I’m doing, I absolutely believe I will succeed.  And my life demonstrates that.”

In my soon to be released new book, Success Tweet: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice All in 140 Characters or Less, I mention optimism three times…

Tweet 42: Choose optimism.  It builds your confidence.  Believe that today will be better than yesterday and that tomorrow will be better yet.

Tweet 43: Optimism is contagious.  Become a powerful, optimistic person.  Surround yourself with positive people.  They will build your confidence.

Tweet 44: Be an optimist.  Believe things will turn out well.  When they don’t, don’t sulk.  Learn what you can; use it next time.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Optimism is the foundation of self confidence.  Wally Amos’ 13 Keys to an Optimistic Attitude provide some great career advice.  Here are some of his words of wisdom that really resonate with me.  “Don’t put yourself down.  Pull yourself up.”  “Respect yourself.  Place a high value on yourself.”  “Visualize what you want from life, then work toward it.  See it; then be it.” “Realize that you are important to the entire world; what happens to the world begins with you.”  I really like this last piece of career advice.  It highlights the importance of the Power of 1.  The Power of 1 begins with optimism.  I believe in the Power of 1.  Wally Amos believes in the Power of 1.  What a great world it would be if everyone believed in the Power of 1.

That’s my take on Famous Amos and optimism.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to share your thoughts with us – leave a comment.   As always, thanks for reading. 

Bud

PS – Don’t forget to get your subscription to SUCCESS Magazine.  Go to www.success.com

The Olympics are over.  I enjoyed watching them over the past two weeks.  The last sporting event of this year’s games, the USA – Canada hockey game, was really something.  I hope you got a chance to see it.  Even though my home team lost it was an exciting, well played match that went into overtime.  I also tuned into the closing ceremonies last night.  I saw something there that I want to comment on in today’s post.

If you recall, at the opening ceremonies there was a problem with the torch lighting.  The cauldron was free standing, but there were four ornamental supports that were supposed to rise from the stadium floor to give the appearance of supporting it.  Well, only three of the supports actually rose, and there was a several minute delay in the proceedings while technicians tried to raise the fourth support.  They were not able to do so, so the torch was lit with only three of the four supports in place – a blunder that the entire world saw.

Last night, the closing ceremonies began with a mime climbing from the space in the floor where the fourth support was located.  He was dressed in overalls with a tool belt.  He acted as if he had just fixed the problem with the fourth support.  He then connected two large wires with a plug from which sparks flew — and the fourth support slowly began to rise from the floor of the arena and settled into place where it was supposed to have been on the first night.  The crowd applauded like mad.

As a career success coach, I said to myself, “There is a lesson here.”  And that lesson is simple common sense.  As you go through life you will run into some problems.  Sometimes you will be embarrassed.  When this happens, your ability to laugh at yourself is important.  Last night, the Vancouver Olympic Committee demonstrated this.  They took an embarrassing situation, and made light of it.  They were willing to laugh at themselves – in front of the whole world — and move forward.

Their actions reminded me of the seventh point of The Optimist Creed…

Promise yourself to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

If you want to become a career success, you need to adopt this attitude too.  Mistakes, problems, frustrations, embarrassments are all part of life.  Sometimes, they are small in scope.  Sometimes they are whoppers seen by millions of people.  Regardless, they all provide a learning experience.  If you want to become a career success, you need to keep your sense of humor, learn from your mistakes and then move forward toward the career success you want and deserve.  That’s what The Optimist Creed suggests.  And that’s what I, as a career success coach, suggest too.  By the way, if you would like a copy of The Optimist Creed suitable for framing and hanging in your office go to http://BudBilanich.com/optimist and I’ll send you one.  My copy hangs just above my desk.  I read it every day as I’m beginning work.

The common sense point here is simple.  If you want to become a career success, you need to become self confident and optimistic.  Treat problems, setbacks and embarrassments as opportunities to learn and grow.  Learn from your mistakes; then put them behind you.  Move forward toward the career success you want and deserve.  The Vancouver Olympic Committee gave us a great example of this at the closing ceremonies.  They poked fun at themselves and their embarrassing moment at the opening ceremonies – and then moved forward with a great show.  Do the same, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a career success.

That’s my take on learning from your mistakes and the Olympic closing ceremonies.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I saw this quote from George Will on line the other day…

“The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.”

I couldn’t let it go.  As a career success coach, I’m always telling my clients that they can boost their self confidence through the power of optimism.  So I don’t see a lot of value in being a pessimist.  If you’re “constantly being proven right” you’re probably creating your own self fulfilling prophecies.  Pessimism works like that.

I choose to be an optimist and create my own positive self fulfilling prophecies.  I do whatever I can control to be constantly proven right in my optimism.  I follow point 3 of The Optimist Creed: “Promise yourself to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.”  If you want a .pdf of The Optimist Creed that you can frame and hang in your workspace – just like me – go to http://BudBilanich.com/optimist.

You’ll be surprised at what optimism will do for you and what you can get – if you only have enough self confidence and optimism to ask.  A couple of years ago, I got a great lesson in self confidence and optimism from Cathy, my wife.  We are members of the Denver Art Museum.  We had been meaning to see a traveling exhibit, “Inspiring Impressionism” there.  It was closing in a day or two. 

We piled into our car and drove to the DAM.  As we were entering the parking lot, there was a sign saying that the Inspiring Impressionism show was sold out.  That was a drag, but all was not lost as there was another exhibit featuring the quilts of Gee’s Bend that we wanted to see.

Admission to the museum is free for us because we are members.  When we entered the museum, a volunteer told us that the Inspiring Impressionism show was sold out.  I headed for the line that would let us in to see the permanent exhibits and the Gee’s Bend quilts.  I was doing my best George Will impersonation – a pessimist being proven right.

Cathy chose optimism.  She went to the will call for tickets for the Inspiring Impressionism.  She told the woman there that we were members, and asked if any tickets had been returned for that day.  Sure enough, two tickets were available, and we had an opportunity to see some great art. 

This reminded me of a story that I read in Randy Pausch’s book, “The Last Lecture.”

“On my dad’s last trip to Disney World, he and I were waiting for the monorail with Dylan, who was then four years old.  Dylan had this urge to sit in the vehicle’s cool looking nose cone, with the driver.  My theme park loving father thought that would be a huge kick too.

“‘Too bad they don’t let regular people site up there,’ he said. 

“‘Hmmmm,’ I said.  ‘Actually, Dad, having been an Imagineer, I’ve learned there’s a trick to getting to sit up front.  Do you want to see it?’”

“He said, ‘sure’.”

“So I walked over to the smiling Disney monorail attendant and said: ‘Excuse me could the three of us please sit in the front car?’

“‘Certainly, sir,’ the attendant said.  He opened the gate and we took our seats beside the driver.  It was one of the only times in my life I ever saw my dad completely flabbergasted.  ‘I said there was a trick,’ I told him as we sped toward the Magic Kingdom.  ‘I didn’t say it was a hard trick.’

“Sometimes all you have to do is ask.”

I relearned that lesson about asking, and about choosing optimism courtesy of Cathy.  I had seen at least three signs and had one person tell me that there were no tickets available for the Inspiring Impressionism show.  I believed them, and was willing to give up.  Cathy was not so easily deterred.  She got us two tickets for the show.

The common sense point here is simple.  Self confident, optimistic people ask for what they want.  They may not always get it, but often they do.  If you want to become a career success, you need to be confident enough to ask for what you want.  Randy Pausch and his father and son got to ride in the nose cone of the Disney World Monorail – because he chose optimism and asked.  Cathy and I got to see the sold out Inspiring Impressionism exhibit at the Denver Art Museum – because she chose optimism and asked.  Ask for what you want.  You’ll be surprised at how many times you’ll get what you want.  What do you think of that, George Will?

That’s my take on optimism and asking for what you want.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

Self confidence is one of the four pillars of career and life success in my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in detail in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success; Star Power; I Want You…To Succeed, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.  If you want to become interpersonally competent, you need to do three things: 1) become an optimist; 2) face your fears and act; 3) Surround yourself with positive people.

A while back in a post I did on optimism and self confidence, I mentioned a quote in which a guy by the name of Ambrose Bierce bashed optimism.  “The doctrine that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong… It is hereditary, but fortunately not contagious.”

The other day, I came across another quote from Mr. Bierce, “Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.”  I found these quote to be really cynical, so I decided to learn something about Ambrose Bierce.  As it turns out, he was called “Bitter Bierce” by his contemporaries.  And I can see why.  First he bashes optimism, then he suggests that human beings see the good fortune of others as a personal calamity. 

Ambrose Bierce is an interesting character.  He was born in 1842, and served in the Union Army during the Civil War.  No one knows for sure, but it is thought that he died in 1914.  In 1913, he traveled to Mexico to observe firsthand the revolution going on there. 

He joined Pancho Villa’s army in Juarez.  On December 26 1913, he posted a letter to a friend from the city of Chihuahua.  That was his last correspondence.  Wikipedia says, “Several writers have speculated that he headed north to the Grand Canyon, found a remote spot there and shot himself, though no evidence exists to support this view. All investigations into his fate have proved fruitless, and despite an abundance of theories his end remains shrouded in mystery. The date of his death is generally cited as ‘1914?’”.  His disappearance is one of the most famous in American literary history.

In 1906 he published “The Cynic’s Word Book”, later to become known as “The Devil’s Dictionary”.   It is a book of satirical definitions of English words.  Ambrose was clever, I’ll give him that.  I often see quotes from this book online, including the one that inspired today’s post, “Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.”

But I digress.  I wish he were around today, because I would like to ask him where he got his bleak view of human nature.  He defines politeness as, “The most acceptable hypocrisy.”  In another quote, he defines perseverance as, “A lowly virtue whereby mediocrity achieves an inglorious success.”

Do you know any people like Ambrose Bierce?  If you do, hold them at arm’s length.  While you may find them to be witty and entertaining at first, they will drag you down in the long run.

People like Ambrose Bierce may be clever, but their views are incompatible with becoming self confident.  Self confident people look for, and usually find, the best in others.  They are polite because it is the best way to build strong relationships.  They are willing to extend themselves to help others, even when they can see no immediate return to them for so doing.

If you read this blog regularly, you know I am a big fan of The Optimist Creed.  Point 6 says,

“Promise yourself to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are of your own.”

This is 180 degrees from the Ambrose Bierce quote that I cited at the beginning of this post and from his life view in general.  Self confident, optimistic people aren’t jealous or upset by the success of others.  They are genuinely pleased when they see others succeed.  They use others’ success as an inspiration.  They use it to motivate themselves to achieve bigger and better successes.

If you would like a copy of The Optimist Creed that you can frame and hang in your workspace, go to http://budbilanich.com/optimist.

The common sense point here is clear.  Successful people are self confident and interpersonally competent.  Self confident and interpersonally competent people build strong relationships with the people around them.  In part, they build these relationships by being genuinely pleased about the success of others.  They are not jealous, nor petty.  They are happy to see others succeed.  Self confident and interpersonally competent people use the success of others to motivate themselves to greater success.

That’s my take on Ambrose Bierce, self confidence and interpersonal competence and how one reacts to the success of others.  What’s yours?  Please leave a quote sharing your thoughts on these ideas.  As always, thanks for reading – and writing.

Bud

Self confidence is one of the keys to personal and professional success that is part of my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Star Power, I want YOU…To Succeed, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success. 

You can become self confident by doing three things.  First, choose optimism.  Believe in your heart of hearts that today will be better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today.  Second, face your fears and act.  Procrastination and inaction feed fear and rob you of self confidence.  Action cures fear.  Third, surround yourself with positive people.  Don’t let the naysayers into your life.  Hang around with people who are positive about themselves, their careers and life in general.

When I was a young guy, I participated in the Optimist International oratory contest.  The topic that year was, “Optimism, Youth’s Greatest Asset;” which is hard enough for a ninth grader to say, (Think Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinnie.) let alone to write and deliver a 10 minute talk.  It was a great experience for me; one that gave me some of the confidence I needed to become a professional speaker. 

Optimist International is a great service organization.  Their mission is to bring out the best in kids; and to help them develop to their full potential by providing hope and positive vision. 

The Optimist Creed is their touchstone.  It some of the best common sense advice I’ve ever seen.  I have a copy of it posted in my office.  See for yourself.

The Optimist Creed

Promise Yourself:

• To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
• To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
• To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
• To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
• To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
• To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
• To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
• To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
• To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
• To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Friday night, I saw a great example of optimism in action.  Cathy and I watched the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.  There were some great performances.  I particularly liked Cheryl Crowe, Keith Urban and Kid Rock doing “Lean on Me,” and Jennifer Hudson singing “Let it Be.”  I downloaded both of them to my iPod. 

Besides the musical performances, the show told the story of many people involved in the tragedy in Haiti.  Most of the pictures and stories were devastatingly sad.  Some were happy.  One man survived ten days in a collapsed building.  Another survived 11 before he was pulled from the rubble.  Unfortunately there were more sad stories than happy endings. Yet, the people in Haiti seemed to be as upbeat, positive and optimistic as possible given the situation.  Haiti is a poor country and it has always suffered from natural disasters – none of the magnitude of this earthquake though. 

Don’t worry.  I’m not going to ask you to donate to help the people of Haiti.  I’m sure that if you’re going to, you’ve already done so by now.  But I do want to comment on the spirit of optimism that came through on the television a couple of nights ago.  If the Haitian people can persist, if they can be optimistic in the midst of such devastation, you and I can too. 

As I write this, I’m reminded of one of Humphrey Bogart’s famous lines in Casablanca, one of my favorite movies….

“It doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

And that’s the way I look at it.  When I see the devastation in Haiti, people in the US losing their jobs and homes, people losing their lives in wars, I realize that my problems and troubles are small in comparison.  I bet if you look at your problems and troubles and compare them to what’s happening in this “crazy world,” you’ll agree.

That’s why I think that The Optimist Creed is so important.  Optimism is the foundation on which all self confidence is built.  And self confidence is an important key to creating the successful life and career you want and deserve.  So become an optimist.  When things start to get you down and you feel overwhelmed, “Promise yourself to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, to strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.”

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Optimism is the key to self confidence.  The Hope for Haiti Now telethon showed the resilience and optimism of the Haitian people.  When I see the optimism of the Haitian people in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, I’m reminded that my troubles and problems are small in comparison.  That’s why I keep a copy of The Optimist Creed hanging right above my desk.  I read it and think about it when I begin to feel overwhelmed.  If you would like a copy of The Optimist Creed to frame and hang in your office, go to http://budbilanich.com/optimist.  Choose optimism.  Believe that today will be better than yesterday and that tomorrow will be better than today.  Then do whatever it takes to create the successful life and career you want and deserve and to “make your optimism come true.”

That’s my take on the disaster in Haiti, optimism and success.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

PS: If you liked this post, you’ll love my free 90 minute DVD on career and life success.  To get your free copy, go to www.CareerSuccessDVD.com.  That’s www.CareerSuccessDVD.com.  Go there now and get started creating the successful life and career you want and deserve.

Self confidence is one of the keys to personal and professional success that is part of my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success. 

You can become self confident by doing three things.  First, choose optimism.  Believe in your heart of hearts that today will be better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today.  Second, face your fears and act.  Procrastination and inaction feed fear and rob you of self confidence.  Action cures fear.  Take responsibility for yourself and do something.  Third, surround yourself with positive people.  Don’t let the naysayers into your life.  Hang around with people who are positive about themselves, their careers and life in general.

I have been in business as a success coach, speaker and management consultant for 21 years.  I’ve been through several economic downturns.  This past year, however, have been the most difficult of all my years in business.

As a result of the economic downturn, many of my clients are in a severe cost containment mode.  This means that a lot of my consulting and coaching work dried up this year.  I’m an optimist, so I feel confident that it will return.  However and more important, I’ve used my down time as this opportunity to change my business model and learn some new tricks. 

For 21 years, I have operated in the B to B sector.  This downturn has led me to refocus my business on the B to C sector.  This year, I invested time and money in becoming adept as an internet marketer, selling coaching services and information products via the internet to individuals, not corporations.

This change has not been as simple as it seems.  To begin, I had to learn an entirely new marketing model, one in which I prospect for lots of small clients instead of a few large ones.  I’ve learned to focus more on my cash flow.  I’ve opened merchant accounts that allow me to accept credit cards.  I’ve learned about list building, joint ventures and internet shopping carts.  In short, it’s been a time of incredible learning as well as a time of high stress.  Instead of bemoaning my “bad luck” as a result of the economic situation, I have turned 2009 into an exhilarating year.  I’ve chosen to be happy and optimistic and to use the economic downturn as an opportunity to learn new things and put them into play.

This change has also impacted my home life.  For many years, I got on an airplane on Sunday or Monday almost every week and returned home on Thursday or Friday.  Now, I stay at home more and work out of my home office.  While this is good, it has introduced an entirely different dynamic into my marriage.  Cathy and I are both had to get used to being together 24 -7 instead of just on the weekends – and this is a good thing.  I live a healthier lifestyle too.  I eat better when I’m at home — and I exercise more too.  It’s all good.

This change has had some other unexpected benefits.  I’ve met some great people that I never would have had I not begun marketing my services to individuals.  One of my coaching clients is the pastor of a Chinese Christian Church in New York.  Another is a woman real estate developer here in Denver who has done well for herself buying abandoned buildings and turning them into condos.  I’ve met some dynamic young people who are mentoring me in the art of internet marketing.  Had I not added a B to C component to my business, I would never have met these interesting people, and I would have lost an opportunity to serve many others, helping them create the successful lives and careers they want and deserve.

In short, I’m grateful for the opportunity this economic downturn has afforded me.  I chose optimism and committed to taking personal responsibility for creating positive change in my life and work.  As a result, I’ve expanded my business.  I’m traveling less.  I’m healthier.  And, I am building a business that I can sell when, and if, I decide to retire.  Right now though, I’m having too much fun learning new things and meeting new people to think about retiring.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Self confident people are optimistic.  They face their fears and act.  They commit to taking personal responsibility for their lives and careers.  When you are optimistic and commit to taking personal responsibility you realize that the stuff that happens to you is not nearly as important as how you choose to react to the stuff that happens.  I used the recent economic downturn to add another component to my business.  I learned a lot in the process and created a more sustainable and stronger business.  And that’s how I suggest you think.  When the fates seem to be conspiring against you look on the bright side.  Figure out what you can learn from the situation and how these learnings can help you move forward.  Then commit to taking personal responsibility for doing what it takes.

That’s my take on tough times, optimism, personal responsibility and success.  What’s yours?  I’d appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

Self confidence is one of the keys to personal and professional success that is part of my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success. 

You can become self confident by doing three things.  First, choose optimism.  Believe in your heart of hearts that today will be better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today.  Second, face your fears and act.  Procrastination and inaction feed fear and rob you of self confidence.  Action cures fear.  Third, surround yourself with positive people.  Don’t let the naysayers into your life.  Hang around with people who are positive about themselves, their careers and life in general.

Today, I’d like to focus on optimism – more specifically The Optimist Creed.  I have had a copy of The Optimist Creed since I competed in an Optimist International Oratory Contest when I was a sophomore in high school – way back in 1965.  The wisdom in The Optimist Creed has served me well over the years.  Periodically, I like to share it with readers of this blog.

The Optimist Creed

Promise Yourself…

• To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
• To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
• To make all of your friends feel that there is something in them.
• To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
• To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
• To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
• To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
• To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
• To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have not time to criticize others.
• To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Living up to the 10 points of The Optimist Creed can be a tall order.  I try, but it seems as if I fail to conduct myself in accordance with at least one of them almost every day.  Yet, I keep on trying.  The behaviors in The Optimist Creed are something to which I aspire.  I don’t always succeed in living according to these principles but I try.  And when I fail, I remember the seventh point…

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

Yesterday, I did a post in which The Ladders founder, Marc Cenedella, shared a story about blowing a job interview as he was finishing business school.  Marc made some great points about what to do when you screw up.  Check out the post.  I think you’ll agree.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are self confident.  Self confident people are optimistic.  The Optimist Creed is the best guide to optimism and self confidence that I know.  I like it so much that I have created a .pdf of it.  This .pdf is suitable for framing and hanging in your workspace – just like me.  You can get your copy of The Optimist Creed by going to http://budbilanich.com/optimist/. I begin every day reading the words of The Optimist Creed.  I do my very best to conduct myself in a manner consistent with its principles.  If you take The Optimist Creed to heart and do your best to live it every day, you’ll become a more self confident – and successful person.

That’s my take on The Optimist Creed and self confidence.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud