The One Thing All Highly Successful People Have…
Right in my element on the mountaintops.
The One Thing All Highly Successful People Have…
Shannon’s March update
I recently finished Walter Isaacson’s book Elon Musk and wow, what a read! It sent me down a very deep rabbit hole of reflecting on my own life as well as what I will most need in the future to be successful. I absolutely love the quote “what got you here, won’t get you there,” but after spending some time deep in that rabbit hole, I believe there is one thing that carries us from one season of life into the next and into the next. And that one thing is CONFIDENCE.
I don’t mean confidence in the way that you are the best (or even great) at something and therefore that means you can do it. But I do mean confidence in the way that you will lean into trying, and improving, and failing, and learning, and trying again, and seeing new solutions, and heading in a new direction, and getting a bit better each time to try, not giving up when it seems impossible, until finally you have done it.
There certainly are a lot of factors that go into being great at something like your technical skills, your community and network, your ability to multi-task or focus, the quality of your ideas and execution, and of course Lady Luck too. But even if you have ALL of those things, if you don’t have the confidence to try, you’ll most likely never be great!
I do feel like I was a GREAT mogul competitor, and have no regrets about my career, it filled every expectation (and then some) that I had set for myself. But in my career after skiing, I feel like I have often fallen short of my potential. I don’t share that lightly and it’s very scary to put it into words. I feel this way because I’ve lacked 100% confidence in myself. I think I’ve had 90% confidence in myself, but 90% is not good enough to be great, it’s good enough to be good, but my goal is GREAT! It has taken a lot of time, self-reflection and awareness, and seeing what I know IS possible to understand that my confidence is the only thing standing in my way from my good to great.
Here are 3 ways to start practicing confidence daily
Focus on solutions! So many of us focus on the negatives and what is wrong. If you can train your brain to ask this one simple question every time you come across a problem, it will become second nature: “What is one thing I can do right now to change this situation?”
Start and finish the day by talking positively to yourself. While I brush my teeth in the morning I say out loud 3 things I have right now that I am really proud of. For instance, “I treat others the way I want to be treated, I am always willing to learn, I am proud of my efforts and how I show up in the world.”
Say NO to things and people that suck up energy and time. Full stop!
We are getting closer and closer to revealing my next venture and all that it entails, but just not QUITE there yet. Momentum is building, information is flowing, and I can feel the GREAT coming into focus. Until then, start building your confidence and take it into every single area of your life. Show up as you and only you, because YOU are great!!
Experiences I have had that gave me tons of confidence
1) Breaking my jaw & blowing out my knee in consecutive seasons to make my 2nd Olympic team in Torino, Italy.
2) Traveling SOLO from Lake Tahoe back to Salt Lake with a 5 yo and 4 mo (still breast feeding) when Zoe started to projectile vomit all over the car and I had to hose everything and everyone off in a truck stop carwash. LOL.
3) Building a brand new business only to have COVID turn it from hero to zero.
It’s keynote time!
As always, my calendar is filling up with speaking engagements so if you want me to be a part of your SKO or conference or retreat, let’s start planning NOW before time runs out. Click HERE to connect!
Be confident, be great, you’ve got this!!