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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.” Simply reading the book helps increase confidence. It helps even more to apply exercises from the book. And I’ve done that, too.
As I give 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 comes down to confidence. You think you can. You believe you can. You know you can. Then it’s simply proving those thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge true.
The Power of Focus
“Every great life has a focus. Focus equals power. Focus gives you … 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 watched and listened 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 spoke about why confidence makes such a difference, including what it has done for him.
Johnson’s speech made me curious enough to know more about him and his approach to confidence. I first read “The Confidence Solution” in 2016. Out of all the speakers that day, Johnson was the only one where I was interested enough to seek out one of his books. The speech and the topic, confidence, got my attention and focus.
The book can seem corny at times, but so what? It’s still accurate and describes necessary actions to increase your confidence, including the “Confidence Makeover Steps Now” sections. There are many other exercises and tools throughout the book 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, millions, or even billions of people. You can become virtually unstoppable and accomplish what you used to consider impossible.
“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 (will you) 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 … 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. As you start planning the actions 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. 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 to achieve it. You 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 momentum. As you progress on your path to your ideal life, you will see what you couldn’t before. You will make connections and achieve positive outcomes you couldn’t have predicted.
Visualize your life. See what you’ve created for yourself and 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 start with a simple first draft of your strategic plan. Just get it out of your head. Write or type it. And use the 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 written, 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. As you continually apply your plan, you might see that you have to change it. There could be 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, … preparing for future changes, or when you … need to clarify your plans for the future.” – Keith Johnson
In “The Confidence Solution,” Johnson details both the positive and negative sides 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 the desirability of the positive side. It’s a comprehensive book, and there is a lot you can get from it.
You’re focusing on what you desire for your life. You’re putting together a strategic plan for achieving that and putting your strategic plan into writing. Now what?
Unleash Possibilities
“In (twenty years), 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
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 ten-year goal being achieved in seven years and a five-year goal being achieved in three years.
Imagine accomplishing almost anything you desire within twenty years. Dream big. What do you want to accomplish? How many lives do you want to affect for the better? What are you here for?
Think deeply. Have fun considering the possibilities and going beyond any limitations that you and anyone else has placed upon you. This is your time to shine.
You’ve written your strategic plan, and now you’re ready to put it into action. This is what you’ve prepared for. 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
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 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 are? And are you disciplined enough to take the necessary action even if you aren’t excited enough?
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.
I have confidence in you. And now it’s time for you to have confidence in yourself. Be confident. You are here to win. Now you’ve got the chance to prove it.
Conclusion
There are three options for reading “The Confidence Solution.” The first is where you can read and apply the exercises immediately. The second option is to read the book 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 I chose. For me, “The Confidence Solution” is a book to read more than once. 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 inspired when I read “The Confidence Solution.” Johnson includes examples from many other people’s lives, countless quotes from many other leaders, and many strategies for increasing confidence for improving one’s life. He has been a leading confidence coach for decades now. He knows 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
