Last time, I posted about “Failure” and some people chimed in with some great comments to that post.  Mike Carl listed out a lot of fears in his comment and others had some savvy responses.  In that post I mentioned the saying “Fortune Favors The Bold!” and that is one of my favorite quotes of all time.  It just brings out a sense of “courage” to me when I read that quote.  It makes me feel strong, bold, courageous and confident!

When I think about the millionaire marketers and business people I’ve met and known, nothing stands out more to me than their own courage and self-confidence in what they do and the actions they take.  I mean, even if these achievers are not sure their action will work or if it is even a calculated risk, they believe they can do it and make it work.

One of the first millionaires I ever met told me something I’ve always remembered.  It was kinda strange, but it certainly has been with me every since and that was almost 15 years ago now.  He said that his attitude was one where he would cut a check for $20,000 even if he did not have 20k in the bank.  He said he knew he had a day or two to go make that 20k and he was confident he could do that.  He said that’s the mentality of a go-getter millionaire!  wow

I had no idea what that meant at the time, but now I do.

(1) He had a business where he could “put it into overdrive” and make that money in a day.  He had a system (a business) that was capable of producing new revenue (profits) that could equal 20k in a single day.  He was a hard worker, a mover and shaker and he was hugely confident.  I used to say he “drank his own cool-aid” when describing him.  Fortune does indeed favor the bold.

(2) He had the confidence and was willing to take a risk.

(3) He thrived on putting his back against the wall — so he could come out swinging and fighting.  I understand this better now too.

It’s not uncommon for a successful business person to put themselves in a position where they MUST come out fighting and where their back is against the wall.  These people are known to put themselves in a tight-spot where they must defy the odds and triumph in the face of adversity.  Why is this?  Why does this happen?  I’ve seen it happen many times.  But why??

For me, I’ve done this myself.  I’m not 100% sure why.  Maybe you know and can shed some light on this phenomena.  Here’s what I think… I think it’s because we realize we must escape our current comfort zones and we know if we put our backs against the wall, we will force ourselves to escape our current comfort zones.  It’s the underdog mentality.  Is this just me that feels and notices this, or what?

Fortune does indeed favor the bold.

Therefore, one of the most profound characteristics of millionaires and highly successful people is:  SELF-CONFIDENCE!  Can self-confidence be taught?  Can it be coached?  Can it be learned?  Is self-confidence something some people are just born with, or raised with?  Or, can it be learned and achieved?

Well, I believe it can be learned.  I know it can.  I’ve lived it.  Besides, at times I’m shy and other times I’m far from shy.  At times I have the highest self-confidence in the world and border on cocky and arrogant.  Other times, I’m as humble and shy and insecure as can be.  Sometimes I drink my own kool-aid and believe I can earn 100 million per year in business and other times I am more on ground level… not in the clouds.

So, yes it can be learned.  I remember when I did my first tele-seminar in front a large audience.  I was intimidated, shy and NOT confident at all.  Well, I guess I was enough confident to do it, but it was terrible.  Now, today, I can do them in my sleep.  YES, self-confidence can be learned and I’ll give you some tips on how to boost your own in a second.

But why is this important?  It’s important to boost your own self-confidence because I believe with self-confidence comes faith and courage.  With faith and courage, you take action.  When you take action, you get results (good or bad).  When you get results, you can tweak those results (some would call that failure). When you tweak results and stick to something, you succeed.  eventually.  if you dont quit.

The root of all of this, is indeed courage and self-confidence.  Think about it.  It’s pretty hard for someone — who has barely made 30k a year — to become a millionaire, if that person does not have self-confidence.  How would that person ever take any action without it? How would that person EVER overcome adversities or obstacles or problems or set-backs (some would call those failures)?  How would that person handle ANY success they luckily get along the journey?  Would that person sabotage their success?  Probably huh?

A person without self-confidence — or courage — would be hard-pressed to find long-term success in just about anything, right?  It would be hard to sustain success or achieve it at all.  Ever met an insecure millionaire?  I have, all of them are!  They are just not insecure about what they do to earn money!!!

We’re all insecure at some things.  I bet if you put me in an airplane, 20,000 feet up, and asked me to jump out with a parachute, I’d probably cry like a little baby.  (1) I dont like heights too much and (2) I’m not jumping out of some damn plane ok!?!

HOWEVER, put me in a “make money” spot and I’ll make some damn money baby!  I’ll do it like a champ!  Put me in a tight spot money wise and I’ll come out swinging like a honey badger on steroids.  Cash flow is addictive and boy, I can be very good at it.  I’m confident in it.

Can it be learned?  Can self confidence be learned?  YES!  Here are some tips on boosting your self-confidence:

(1) Build relationships with people who are already confident in the area you want to be confident in!  Be around them, hang around them, collaborate with them, befriend them, emulate them, mastermind with them, get mentored by them, ask them.

(2) WRITE down your goals every day!  I know, you’ve heard this one about ten million times, but IT WORKS!  If you know where you want to go, you’ll get there.  Most dont know where they want to go, most never write down their goals.  Try it.  I double dog dare you.  Do it right now.  If you ever feel insecure about something you want, try this:  Write down your goals.  You’ll feel like a million bucks afterwards.  And if not, you’ll certainly feel more self-confident.

(3) Think about what you want not what you don’t want.  You always have a choice here on this one.  You do.  You have a choice as to how to think and there’s usually only two ways to think:  What you want or what you don’t want.  If you practice on ONLY thinking of what you want and NOT what you don’t want, you’ll change your life!  seriously.  Heck, I should write a post (or a book) about this topic.  For example (I dont have enough money) compared to (I want more money)…. or (I cannot afford this) compared to (I want to afford this).  Isnt that a total change in your perspective?  If it isnt then think about this more and stay tuned because I will write more about this topic soon!   However, this alone can boost self-confidence

(4) Develop faith.  However you can boost your faith, that’s what you should do.  Life is a very strange and mysterious thing, and it’s absolutely amazing what you can accomplish if you have faith.  AND, if you don’t believe in all that “faith” stuff, then my advice is to REALLY-REALLY-REALLY focus on self-confidence big time, because you’re going to need it… if you have no belief in “faith”.  I”m not saying that to be sarcastic.  I’m saying that because it’s true.  the one universal law of the universe is math.  You can not believe in religion, or the law of attraction, or any of that “faith” based stuff and that’s perfectly fine… but you’ve got to believe in math.  And, with math, you have to take action to produce “mathematical results”.  In order to take that action, you must have self-confidence.  So, self-confidence becomes critical, paramount, crucial to success/achievement.

(5) Work harder than everyone else.  If you work harder than everyone else, you’ll gain confidence in anything.  In other words, if you worked harder than everyone else at copywriting, you’d make a ton of money.  You’d study persuasion, writing, copywriting, sales and do all of this so much… and work so hard… you’d be confident at it.  If you work hard to be a runner and you run every day… running a mile will be childs play to you.  You’d run that mile and barely break a sweat.  You’d be confident running a mile, because you often run 5 miles or more!

Millionaires take action at what they are confident in despite fears, obstacles, adversities, problems or what anyone else on the planet says.  They have ultimate self-confidence in something that produces income.  If you are lacking in the “income” arena, then develop stronger self-confidence.  By doing that, you’ll become a millionaire on the inside first… then the outside (dollars) will quickly follow… and by the truckload!

Got Courage?

Eric Louviere

PS - How can people boost their own self-confidence, courage, faith, etc?  How can people increase their fortune?