By Kristie Kennedy
Take a deep breath for a moment and center within. Quietly listen to your heartbeat and the rhythm of your soul’s deepest desires. You’ve visualized the joy of attaining a magnificent victory. In order to seize it, you must see it.
There is a cutting-edge advantage that will allow you to stand out in any crowd. It’s the invisible crown of internal confidence, and it often will be the determining factor between a win and a loss. Many individuals forfeit countless achievements because they are unaware of the top five confidence killers that can remove that crown:
1) Comparison: In business school, we are taught to study our competition. In the royal academy of excellence, a true queen (or king) understands that she is unique by design and that is her competitive advantage. It is paramount that you study every aspect of your being. This includes being honest about your strengths and weaknesses. The question to focus on is, “Are you the best that you can be?” The amount of effort that you will be investing towards the cultivation of personal greatness leaves no room for comparison to others.
2) Past Failures: It takes an unflinching audacity to rise from the pit of past disappointments with a renewed vigor to reach new heights. Winston Churchill expressly stated, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” In the heart of a crown bearer, there is no space for housing debilitating thoughts of yesterday. Become preoccupied with winning and pursue victory until you possess it.
3) Lack of Preparation: It has been said, “Victory loves preparation.” Every day presents an opportunity to prepare for the next win. To create a lifestyle of winning, it requires a champion state of mind. Are you willing to go the extra mile? Are you willing to become extremely uncomfortable? Are you willing to rise early and go to bed late if that’s what it takes? Are you willing to do what others won’t do until you can do what others can’t? This is your life! How will you live it?
4) Fear: Recently, I saw a homeless man in the parking lot of Walmart holding a sign that said, “Don’t judge me.” This is one of the No. 1 fears that hold most individuals back from chasing their passion. The opinion of others has no power unless you yield to it. The world is full of critics who stand on the sidelines of life haunted by their own fears, attempting to stop dreamers dead in their tracks. Your beliefs have to be more powerful than any anxiety, terror or dread.
5) Negativity: How do you combat negativity when it seems to continually assail you on a daily basis from countless media platforms? I believe Eleanor Roosevelt said it best, “I dwell in possibilities.” There is no other place I would rather be. This requires intentionality and constant watchfulness to every thought that comes across your mind. Our beliefs are potent seeds that create full-grown trees in our mind—producing either ripe or rotten fruit. Which do you desire to consume and contribute to the world at large? Be diligent in weeding out every negative thought; your future depends on it.
Lastly, before you step foot on any stage, remember that you are the crown, esteemed and highly valuable. Embrace your divine essence. Love yourself fiercely and relentlessly. In the words of Leonard Ravenhill: “The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.”
FROM MAY 2017
Kristie Kennedy is a Licensed Image Enhancement Consultant and Certified Women’s Worth and Wellness Expert who provides confidence and clarity coaching to female leaders, executives and business owners who are exhausted from being the world’s best kept secret, ready to claim center stage as the leading lady of their own life, powerfully shift in mind and magnificently shine. She is skilled in four areas of personal development: mindset mastery, massive momentum, magnetic messaging and potential maximization. Kristie has a passion for helping leaders who have reached a plateau with the ability to turn their cant’s into cans and their dreams into plans. Her life is a testament that you can shift from mediocrity to magnificence one bold step at a time. Visit www.kristiekennedy.com.