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Dear Confident Leader,
I saw Keith Johnson give a speech in 2016 at the Get Motivated Business Seminar. I enjoyed his speech so much that I knew I had to read one of his books. I chose “The Confidence Solution: Reinvent Your Life, Explode Your Business, Skyrocket Your Income.” Honestly, simply reading the book helps increase confidence. Of course, it helps even more to apply exercises from the book, too. And I’ve done that as well.
As I give you my book review of “The Confidence Solution,” you’ll get some idea of what Keith Johnson’s practical guide for growth is like.
Achieving anything worthwhile basically comes down to confidence. You think you can. You believe you can. You know you can. Then it’s simply a matter of proving those thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge true.
The Power of Focus
“Every great life has a focus. Focus equals power. Focus gives you both strength and direction. … When you start understanding and applying the principle of focus to your life or organization, you will become a virtually unstoppable force.” – Keith Johnson
When I attended the Get Motivated Business Seminar, I got to watch and listen to many people giving speeches that day. And most of the speakers were there to promote one weekend workshop or another.
Keith Johnson’s speech stood out to me. It was the shortest, easily less than 15 minutes, and it wasn’t promoting any weekend workshop. He came on stage, gave his speech, and left. He talked about stories from his life. He gave quotes about confidence and talked about why confidence makes such a difference, including what it has done for him.
Johnson’s speech left me curious enough that I wanted to know more about him and about his approach to confidence. I first read “The Confidence Solution” in 2016. Out of all the speakers that day, Johnson is the only one that I was interested enough about to seek out one of his books. That’s an example right there about the power of focus. The speech and the topic, confidence, got my attention and my focus.
Yes, the book can seem corny at times, but so what? It’s still accurate. It still describes necessary actions to take to increase your confidence, including the “Confidence Makeover Steps Now” sections. There are many other exercises and tools throughout the book as well that you can use and apply to grow personally and professionally.
And it’s amazing what the power of focus does. You can use focus to accomplish anything. You can write posts and build a website. You can create a movement that helps improve the quality of life for thousands or millions or even billions of people. You can accomplish what you used to consider impossible. You really can become virtually unstoppable.
“The key to long-term success is constantly taking positive action to move in the direction of your dreams and goals for the future. It is time to get moving!” – Keith Johnson
The Art of Strategic Planning
Johnson emphasizes the importance of focused action filtered through strategic planning.
“Desperate times demand strategic planning. … Organize your life. Plan your daily activities. What are you going to do every day to achieve your dreams and goals? Plan the use of your time. … Use a calendar and make a daily list of things you need to accomplish. … Writing down your personal dreams, goals, and plans for the future gives you a clear picture of where you want to go. When you have a clear picture of where you want to go, you step into your future with confidence.” – Keith Johnson
Clarity helps to create confidence. Johnson is right, of course. As you go ahead and start planning out the actions that are required to bring about the life you desire, you are already moving forward with confidence. Because the mere act of planning is admitting to yourself that you have what it takes to turn your dreams, goals, and plans into reality.
Planning might not be fun, but it is necessary. As you plan, see your desired life as already being here. Already being achieved. Already being accomplished. Even if you can only focus on a small part of it at a time. Even if you can only believe in a certain amount of it as being achievable. You don’t have to believe in the entire picture all at once in order to achieve it. You just have to believe in enough of it to get moving.
Plan what you can. As you progress, you will get stronger. You will build your confidence and your momentum. As you get further along on your path to your ideal life, you will see what you couldn’t before. You will build connections and bring about positive outcomes that you couldn’t even have predicted.
Visualize your life. See what you’ve created for yourself and for those you care about. As you do that, you are ready for the next step…
Don’t Just Think It. Ink It
Write down your strategic plan. It’s enough to do a simple first draft of your strategic plan. At least for now. Just get it out of your head. Write it or type it. And use present tense. Show yourself that you’ve already achieved your plan rather than projecting it into a future that never arrives.
As long as it’s in written form, you’ve shown yourself that you’re taking things seriously. You matter. Your growth is real. You’re intentional about your growth, about what you need in life. Your plan doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be better. Better in this case refers to having it in writing and not only in your head.
Your plan is a work in progress. And so is your life. You’ll update it as you go through life. As you continually apply your plan, you might see that you have to make some changes to it. There could be some improvements to make that you couldn’t have predicted when you first put your plan in writing.
“Put your confidence on paper. … Effective leadership begins with a crystal clear and compelling vision. Your first responsibility as a leader is to see. If you can’t see the future, you can’t lead others into it. … The foundational building block for making wise decisions is a strategic plan. … When you have clear long-term plans, immediate decision making is easier. … The best time to start developing a strategic plan is when you are embarking on a new business or project, when you are preparing for future changes, or when you just need to clarify your plans for the future.” – Keith Johnson
In “The Confidence Solution,” Johnson details both the positve side and the negative side of life. The positive side results from applying confidence, strategic planning, and wise actions. The negative side results from the lack of those things. Johnson paints vivid pictures of both outcomes and demonstrates clearly the desirability of the positve side. It’s a very thorough book, and there is definitely a lot that you can get from it.
Alright, you’re focusing on what you desire for your life. You’re putting together a strategic plan for achieving that, and you’re putting your strategic plan into writing. Now what?
Unleash Possibilities
“In a twenty year period, you can accomplish almost anything you desire. … There were leaders with Life Confidence who deliberately refused to look at their present condition and started dreaming and planning for a great new future.” – Keith Johnson
For me, that quote, including what I didn’t include from it, is the most inspiring part of the book. It reminds me of how long-term goals can be achieved in shorter periods of time. Such as a 10 year goal being achieved in 7 years and a 5 year goal being achieved in 3 years.
Imagine accomplishing almost anything you desire within 20 years. Dream big. Dream really big. Dream really, really big. What do you want to accomplish? What are you after in life? How many lives do you want to affect for the better? What are you really here for?
Think deeply. Have fun as you consider the possibilities that you want to unleash in life. Not even the sky is the limit. You are bigger than the sky. Your reach is farther than that. You go beyond any limitations that you’ve placed upon yourself. And you go beyond any limitations that anyone else has placed upon you. This is your time to shine.
You’ve put your strategic plan into writing, and now you’re ready to put it into action. This is what you’ve prepared for. You’re ready for this. You’ve reached the moment of decision. What will you do? Will you move forward in new and exciting ways? Will you launch forth into the great unknown and redefine who you are?
“We are on a journey filled with questions. Where do I go next? What do I do now? How am I going to get there? A degree of uncertainty is a natural part of life and a natural part of decision making. However, decisions have to be made. Clear decisions. … For every success story, there must be a confident decision to do what is necessary to arrive there. … Confidence will cause you to jump at opportunities that come your way. … Life is shaped in the moment of decision, so make the right decisions.” – Keith Johnson
Exactly. You won’t have all the answers. And that’s okay.
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. To search out a matter is the glory of kings.” – Proverbs 25:2
The questions can be exciting enough all on their own. And it’s up to you to make whatever decisions you can even though you don’t have all the answers.
Are you excited enough to be more of who you really are? And are you disciplined enough to take the necessary action even if you aren’t excited enough?
Yes, you are. And even if you don’t think you are, you can still surprise yourself. You can apply “The Confidence Solution.” You can reinvent your life, explode your business, and skyrocket your income.
You really can. I have confidence in you. And now it’s time for you to have confidence in yourself. Be confident. You are here to win. You are a winner. Now you’ve got the chance to prove it.
Conclusion
There are three options for reading “The Confidence Solution.” The first one is where you can read through it and apply the exercises right away. The second option is where you can read the book first and then apply the exercises as you read it a second time. The third option is a blend of the first two options. Apply more of the exercises each time you read the book.
The third option is the one that I chose. For me, “The Confidence Solution” is a book to read more than one time. There is plenty of value within its pages, and it rewards revisits.
Keith Johnson applies a certain energy to his writing and a welcome vulnerability. I get very inspired when I read “The Confidence Solution.” Johnson includes examples from many other people’s lives. He includes countless quotes from many other leaders. And he includes a great many strategies for increasing confidence for the betterment of one’s life. He’s been a leading confidence coach for decades now. He does know what he’s talking about, and it shows.
Buy “The Confidence Solution.” Read it. Apply the lessons from its pages. Grow in confidence. Reinvent your life. Explode your business. Skyrocket your income.
The world is waiting for you. You are waiting for you. Be the confident leader you were born to be. And live. Really live.
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Until next time,
James Barnett
