I was reminded of 3 powerful lessons about confidence as I talked with him and observed him throughout the weekend.
I want to pass these 3 powerful lessons to you in hopes that you will apply them as you are working to build greater confidence in your spoken English…
Lesson 1: Nervousness does not have to mean fear – it can be viewed as excitement.
Before the first show I could tell my son was nervous. He talks non-stop when he’s nervous. It’s adorable. I asked him if he was nervous and he said, “no, I’m just excited”.
I don’t know about you but feeling nervous feels like an emotion I want to move away from but feeling excited is one I’d love to feel more of. When we view nervousness as excitement I’m much more likely to move into it the situation instead of away from, how about you?
Lesson 2: You don’t have to give so much power to your mistakes.
My son told me that during the first show he made a mistake. He didn’t dwell on it, he didn’t make it mean anything big. He simply said, “I’ll do it better during the next show”.
What if you decided to release the power you give to making mistakes in English? What kind of confidence would that bring?
Lesson 3: When you build skill, you build confidence.
After the last show I asked my son, ‘Why do you like performing so much?” He replied, “Because I’m good at it”.
I appreciate this comment for 2 reasons:
- I know how hard he has worked to develop this skill. He practices, he trains, and he has done this consistently for a few years.
- I know that this belief will serve him as he continues to practice and improve.
What if you decided you were good at English? You ARE at an intermediate to advanced level. How many across the world can say that?
By believing you are good at English I don’t believe it would keep you from improving. I think it would actually motivate you to get even better.
I hope you’ll reflect on these lessons and see how you can apply them in your life. As you do I know you will create even greater confidence in the way you speak English.
