Self

Self confidence is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. 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.

I love it when things converge. I was watching a cd by Mike Litman on internet marketing the other day, and Mike showed a slide that had four bullet points, one of which said:

• Surround yourself with action-oriented people.

That same day, I was cleaning up my bookshelves and came across Susan Jeffers’ great book, The Little Book of Confidence. One section in Susan’s book is entitled “Create a Circle of Fear-Less Friends.” She offers some great advice in this section…

• Cultivate the sort of friends who make you feel good about yourself and who encourage you to “Go for it!” It is amazingly empowering to have a circle of supportive and loving friends.
• Think of six of your friends and ask yourself if they are “Be careful” friends, or “Go for it” friends. Now you know who to talk to when you want to move forward in your life.
• Be a “Go for it” friend who encourages others to move forward with their lives, not a “Be careful” friend constantly warning others of the possibility of failure.
• Be your own best friend. Break the habit of putting yourself down. Quiet you negative chatterbox with reassuring messages of power and love. Follow the path with your heart and watch yourself grow into a confident human being.

In different words, Mike and Susan are reinforcing my third point: surround yourself with positive people. Susan’s last point is subtle, but important. In order to surround yourself with positive people, you must first become a positive person yourself.

The common sense point here is simple. Successful people are self confident. Self confident people surround themselves with positive people. If you want to become self confident, you need to surround yourself with “Go for it” friends – people who encourage you to have the courage to live your dreams and become the person you can be. To find and attract “Go for it” friends, you need to become a “Go for it” friend to the people around you.

That’s my take on self confidence and surrounding yourself with positive people. What’s yours? Who are your “Go for it” friends? Leave a comment, giving them a shout out. As always, thanks for reading – and writing.

Bud