WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.118
JustLearn. Confidence built from small, kept commitments. Instead of waiting to feel

00:00:06.118 --> 00:00:12.235
impressive, practise making promises to yourself that fit your real capacity. This

00:00:12.235 --> 00:00:14.275
edition uses synthetic narration.

00:00:14.275 --> 00:00:18.625
Make the promise smaller than the performance. You decide to become more

00:00:18.625 --> 00:00:22.975
confident and immediately set a dramatic task: speak at every meeting, finish

00:00:22.975 --> 00:00:27.325
a large project or transform your social life. The intention may be

00:00:27.325 --> 00:00:31.675
sincere, but the size can turn an ordinary week into another demonstration

00:00:31.675 --> 00:00:36.026
of what you did not complete. Try a more definite commitment. Prepare

00:00:36.026 --> 00:00:40.376
one useful question before a meeting. Spend fifteen minutes on the first

00:00:40.376 --> 00:00:44.726
part of a project. Invite one person for a short walk. The

00:00:44.726 --> 00:00:49.076
point is not that small actions guarantee a feeling. It is that

00:00:49.076 --> 00:00:53.426
they give you a clear opportunity to act and an honest way

00:00:53.426 --> 00:00:54.876
to review what happened.

00:00:54.876 --> 00:00:59.380
Count the action accurately. If you asked the question but your voice

00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:03.884
shook, the action still happened. If the invitation was declined, you still

00:01:03.884 --> 00:01:08.388
made it. Avoid moving the standard afterwards so that only an ideal

00:01:08.388 --> 00:01:12.892
response would count. At the same time, do not turn a missed

00:01:12.892 --> 00:01:17.396
commitment into evidence that you cannot rely on yourself. Examine the design.

00:01:17.396 --> 00:01:21.900
Was it too large, badly timed or dependent on something outside your

00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:26.404
control? A commitment can be revised without converting the revision into an

00:01:26.404 --> 00:01:30.908
excuse for never beginning. The useful record contains both what you did

00:01:30.908 --> 00:01:34.286
and what made the next attempt easier or harder.

00:01:34.286 --> 00:01:38.763
Build a practice that does not require applause. Choose a commitment whose

00:01:38.763 --> 00:01:43.240
completion is reasonably within your control. ‘Write the first paragraph’ is clearer

00:01:43.240 --> 00:01:47.717
than ‘Make everyone admire the article.’ The first gives you work to

00:01:47.717 --> 00:01:52.194
do; the second gives an audience control of the verdict. Keep a

00:01:52.194 --> 00:01:56.670
brief record for a week: the promise, the action and one adjustment.

00:01:56.670 --> 00:02:01.147
You may find that the real benefit is less dramatic than feeling

00:02:01.147 --> 00:02:05.624
fearless. You become more familiar with beginning, following through and recovering after

00:02:05.624 --> 00:02:10.101
an awkward attempt. Confidence can then be approached as a relationship with

00:02:10.101 --> 00:02:14.578
your own actions, rather than a performance of certainty you must sustain

00:02:14.578 --> 00:02:16.443
in front of other people.

00:02:16.443 --> 00:02:21.136
A question to take with you. What is one commitment small enough

00:02:21.136 --> 00:02:25.829
to keep and meaningful enough to count? First published by JustLearn. Read

00:02:25.829 --> 00:02:28.566
the original article at justlearn dot online.