Building Self-Confidence – Part of Chapter VI of the upcoming book “Find Your Passion”

Building Self-Confidence – Part of Chapter VI of the upcoming book “Find Your Passion“

Building self-confidence

What skills and qualifications will give you the confidence you need to deliver to others the results they want? If you have already the skills, great! If not, no worries! You can and will learn them! “Anything?”, you might ask. Yes, anything. Your passion is exactly what you need to make it happen. And in case the new skills you need to build are not your natural strengths, this is still not a problem for you to make a living out of your passion.

So, if you need new skills, once again, think in terms of value. Yes, credibility is also important. But why? Because it builds trust. Trust for what? Exactly. Trust to deliver your promises and meet your employer’s and clients’ expectations. In other words, results. So, you don’t need to pay or take a loan of thousands of dollars for a degree to build credibility. You can do that by delivering value. Yes, value builds trust.

“Value builds trust.”

That’s exactly how I built and keep building trust and turned my passion into a profitable online career coaching business. I graduated from law school, but I didn’t want to attend university, be overconsumed by too much theory, without practice and hands-on experience. That’s why I chose to attend professional coaching training.

Experiential learning is the best way for one to learn. Because when you actually apply what you’ve been told, you immerse yourself in the learning; and when you immerse yourself, you store the new info in your long-term memory, faster and better. Why? Because when you do something, you start developing new neural connections in your brain, based on the specific activity you do. That’s also why I told you before that your habits shape who you are! They shape your brain, literally! This process is called “neuroplasticity”, the brain’s ability to change its neural networks through growth and reorganization. This means that when you do consistently a new activity, you create new neurons in your brain related to the kind of this activity. The more you practice this activity, the more neurons you create in your brain, and the more adept you become at doing it, all the way to mastery.

For example, if your passion is playing the piano, and you have been playing just for a short amount of time, be aware that, regardless of your talent for it, you can master it. Yes, it’ll take you more time in comparison to someone who’s apt at it, but remember that this is none of your concern. It’s all about you and the effort you’ll put into it, day-in-day-out. And when you master it, remember this:

You can, at least, make a living from it. Because the skill becomes a “natural strength”, “second nature”, as Aristotle said. What is not guaranteed is if your performance will be world-class. Doing your passion professionally and becoming the best in the world at it are two completely different things. Being at the top of the world at what you do depends on many factors, including both your personal ambitions and your natural strengths and talents – “your first nature”.

Besides the above, be aware that confidence in the value you bring to others also comes from the results you’ve brought to others! So, it’s an ongoing process. The more experience you get, the more opportunities you’ll have to improve and be sure about the value that you bring to others. I don’t say this to discourage you. Don’t take it this way. I share this with you because I want you to focus on the quality of the value you’ll bring to others. The more value you bring to the table, the better your results will be, and the more confidence you’ll build. Value builds confidence. So, deliver amazing value to build amazing confidence.

“Value builds confidence.”

So, how will you know what you don’t know? How can you find out the minimum legal and self-confidence requirements for the skills and qualifications you need to make a living out of your passion?

First, do your research. All the resources are out there. Best part? They are instantly accessible online and free! Google anything you want to know. Second, find and reach out to insiders. “Insiders” are the professionals who already make a living out of your passion. They don’t necessarily love what they do, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that they know the day-to-day tasks of the role you want to turn your passion into.

Their insights cannot be compared even with years of research. Because the best way for you to see if this role is actually a great way to express your passion is to actually try it out. That means you need to get your foot in the door. An insider’s insights will save you so much money, time, and energy!

Imagine if you get hired or start your business based on your ideal role and the job tasks that really resonate with your passion expressions, at least in the job description, only to find out that the day-to-day job has little to do with the tasks you saw!

No, you didn’t waste your time by doing the previous exercises. You got the clarity you needed regarding your online research. The last one is important, but not enough. That’s where focusing on looking for and connecting with others who do what you want to do comes in. If what you want to do does not exist at all in the market, which is quite rare to happen and I’d highly recommend you do your research again, keep reading. There’s still value for you here.

A great way for you to reach out to insiders is through an “informational interview”. In fact, it’s not an interview at all, and I don’t know why they call it like that. But the term is widely used, so I couldn’t ignore it. It’s basically a conversation where a person seeks insights on a career path, an industry, a company, or general career advice from someone with experience and knowledge in the areas of interest.

It’s more of having a coffee with someone, virtually or in-person, than “interviewing them”. Think about it. If you have a few questions for someone, do you interview them? Of course not! You’re having a conversation that interests both of you! Yourself, because you are the one who wants to know, and the other person because they’d be happy to guide you! Yes, people generally love to give advice and answer questions! Ask them for their opinion, and there you have it! And then some more!

But how can you reach out and connect with them? Leverage your network. Who do you know that can share with you a few insights? Who do you know who might know someone who can be an insider? Who do you know who might know someone who might know someone else who’s an insider? Yes, that’s how it works. That’s the power of your network. You are just a few introductions away from your dream job or your ideal clients.

So, ask for introductions till you connect with an insider. Should you not be able to find anyone through your existing network, no worries at all! Reach out to them directly! That’s right. If you want to turn your passion into your dream career, search, and make a list of the companies you’d love to work for. The same applies to you if you’re looking for your ideal clients. Research online places where your ideal clients “hang out”. Do they use social media? If so, which ones? Are they on blogs and forums? What about specific online networking events, per location or/and industry?

When you do your “Favorite Companies” list, go on LinkedIn (if you don’t have an account, do create one. It’s free and necessary for you to build your professional network) and search for them. On the profile of every company, there’s a section that says “People”. You can click there and type titles that are likely to be aligned with your ideal role. Then, you’ll have available profiles of people who have the title you typed. You need to connect with them.

Don’t just try to send them a cold invitation to connect. Read their profile super carefully to see if they are the right people to give you some insights for the role you’re looking for. How will you know if they are the right people for you? Simple. Do you admire what they do? Do you love their tasks and the role as indicated on their profile? If the answer is yes, then do reach out to them. Why? Because this way, you’ll be able to give them an authentic acknowledgment and show them your respect and appreciation for what they do.

As a result, they’ll be more than happy to talk with you. How are you going to show them your admiration? Connect with them by adding a note to your connection request. In the note, tell them how much you love what they do, what you admire/love specifically about their profile, as well as share your eagerness to learn more about what they do. This way, not only do you make your invitation personal, but you also add value to them first. How? By being authentic and acknowledging their value, talents, and skills.

“Ok, Jim. But does this really work?”, you might ask. This way, I’ve connected with more than two thousand professionals. Did everyone connect with me? No. Did the vast majority? Absolutely! Around 1700.

Regarding your ideal clients, it’s exactly the same thing. You add a note on your connection request where you’ll acknowledge their value and share with them your intention to learn more about them and see what resources of value you can share with them! Yes, sharing with others free valuable resources is also a great way to add value. More about it in a few lines.

Once you connect with them, don’t ask to have a getting with them. This is like just sending your resume to a recruiter, a hiring manager, or a prospective employer. No! This is like throwing yourself at their face! It’s like cold calling your ideal client and start telling them how amazing you and your products are. Now, listen up carefully because this is one of the most important tips you’ll ever get to have a successful transition into your dream career. Ready? Here goes:

Nobody cares about your passion! Let me say that again: Nobody cares about your passion. Who’s the first person that people care about? Yeeeees! Themselves!! That’s why you should add value first, and authentically. Remember the “Give Unconditionally” principle? Do you get it now? Do you understand why the best way for you to have a successful career transition is not by applying online, where your applications are most likely to be scanned out by automatic selection systems and AI recruitment software? Why many companies have already started interviewing and hiring through referrals before they even post the vacancies online? Why the typical “networking” does not work because it’s primarily transactional, even cheesy?

Finally, do you realize why the best way for you to get hired by your ideal employer or client is by building trust? And that one important way to do this is by building a relationship with them?

Furthermore, by building meaningful relationships? How can you do that? Give unconditionally. Give them value without expecting anything in return. If you come from a place of compassion and generosity; if you are a great listener and act as an advisor, not as an aggressive salesman, you will be amazed by others’ willingness to learn more about you and support you! In fact, they’ll ask you to have a getting with them! Whether it’s a call, a virtual, or an in-person coffee! That’s exactly what happened in my case. Because my goal and focus were, are, and will be on adding value and giving.

Hey, I know that this is not easy, especially if you have to bring money to the table. But if you’ve worked on your limiting beliefs, you won’t have a problem to act and think in this way right now. What can also help you apply the “Give Unconditionally” principle is to ask yourself the question:

“If I was financially free and I wanted to have a career/venture/project based on my passion to stay productive, creative, and make a greater positive impact, how would I talk with my new connections?”

Last but not least, you can always connect with potential insiders by attending networking events. Right now, there must be plenty available online because of the pandemic. This way, you’ll have access to even more opportunities.

Bottom line: It’s all about building relationships and trust. Now, it’s game time.

By the way, if you do want to make a successful transition into a more fulfilling career and if you want to kickstart 2021, check out the Dream Career Accelerator, our newest career fulfillment program! The latest version will be released on Christmas day! Now, here’s the unique offer:

A quick start $4000 discount (from $4439.8 to $497) only for the first 5 professionals who enroll. This discount will be available only on Christmas Eve, 24 hours before the official launch, and only for those who are on my special Early Access VIP list. So, if you want to have the chance to be one of the first 5 who will get this discount, text me “VIP” at +1 302-260-8758.