What's Wrong With Unstoppable Confidence?

 

 What do you think of when you hear the phrase  self-confidence? Is it a desirable quality, or is it some kind of ego driven, inflated assessment of one’s own abilities?
Do you desire greater confidence, or do you harbor negative feelings toward those that seem overly confident, or both?

Seeking balance

As with anything else, a balanced, healthy sense of confidence is what we should strive for. Here is a question worth considering, is it possible to have a realistic view of one’s own abilities, and still have unstoppable self-confidence?
Yes it is, and that’s where balance comes in. Confidence is an inner feeling of certainty about what we have to offer, and what we are capable of accomplishing. It is closely related to self-esteem, which is our personal estimation of our own value and worth as a person.
Without a reasonable degree of self-esteem, it is impossible to manifest extraordinary confidence. So, self-esteem levels are an important factor, and they need to be maintained within certain reasonable limits. Just as an unreasonable level of self-esteem creates an egomaniac, too much self-confidence can also prove to be unrealistic and counterproductive. If it’s unrealistic, then it is also potentially harmful on some level, physically, emotionally, or financially. How can being too confident be harmful?

Everything has its limits

While a strong sense of self-confidence will create new opportunities, it cannot change reality. For example, on a physical plane, having complete confidence that you can fly off the top of a 50-story building will not negate the force of gravity. Gravity is a force of nature, and it is not susceptible to your will. That my friend is just reality.
Here’s an example from the financial world. Dumping your life savings into a falling stock market because you have complete confidence that things are about to turn around, will not change the direction of the markets. You will either be very lucky, or very broke.
How about emotionally? Having blind faith (unrealistic confidence), as in these two examples will probably have a negative impact on your self-esteem. As a result, doubt will erode your level of confidence and you will experience an emotional set back.

Extremes aside, what benefits come from confidence?

Confidence makes life much easier and much more fun. It creates opportunities that would not exist otherwise. Having confidence gives us the energy to pursue our dreams, and the power to overcome obstacles. It gives us a sense of certainty in our ability to bring about a favorable outcome, even when others have doubt.
Many people are afraid to go for the life they truly desire. Lacking self-confidence they fear failure, worse yet, they actually anticipate it. Their lack of confidence stifles their willingness to reach out for their dreams.
On the other hand, being confident opens the doors to your dreams. When you carry yourself with confidence, people will naturally be attracted to that quality. When you have confidence in yourself, others tend to feel that way also. When you speak and act with conviction, it changes the way the world responds to you.
Developing and displaying self-confidence will change your life on almost every level. Confidence is like a powerful magnet that will attract into your life whatever opportunities, resources, or people are needed to facilitate your ability to create the life you desire.

Where does self-confidence come from?

Confidence grows, or shrinks, in response to your personal beliefs about who you are, and what you are capable of. These beliefs are influenced by your self-esteem, and reinforced by the results you have produced in previous experiences.
If your self-esteem is low, your level of commitment will also be low. Lack of confidence will cause you to hold back in expectation of failure. With only a half-hearted commitment and negative expectations, results will probably be disappointing. Being unable to produce your desired result will further erode your self-esteem. It’s a negative reinforcement loop.
On the other hand, if you already have a healthy level of self-esteem, you will likely have a correspondingly high level of self-confidence. When you take on a new challenge, you will anticipate a successful outcome and so your level of commitment will also be greater. These factors will combine to create another successful outcome, which will continue to fuel your level of confidence. This is a positive reinforcement loop.

How do we build more self-confidence?

We build our self-confidence by creating a positive reinforcement loop. This will allow us to bolster our self-esteem, increase our level of commitment, and produce our intended outcome. As a result, our self-confidence will grow. Each time the loop is completed successfully, we will become more and more confident in our own ability to succeed.

The key is to start small

Starting small allows us to control the outcome and generate some momentum. Here are five simple steps that will help you get started.
1) Choose an area in your life where you know you can take control. No matter who we are, there is always some area in our life where we feel a level of competence. Start by setting a reachable goal in that direction and then take action.
2) When you experience success, set another reachable goal in that same direction and follow through with more action.
3) Continue this pattern until you become comfortable with your ability to produce your intended outcome. Now you have created a positive reinforcement loop.
4) Next, choose a different area in your life where you have a degree of competence and repeat the process.
5) As your feelings of confidence grow, allow yourself to identify with your success. Learn to view yourself as a successful person and attach feelings of approval to your positive experiences.
You can also explain your challenge to a friend and ask them to provide you with some positive feedback every time you succeed in producing an intended result. Now you will have both an external, and an internal source of positive validation.
These steps can be followed to increase your level of self-confidence regardless of your current level. Just scale the first step according to where you are now, and build your self-confidence from there. The phrase start small is relative to where you currently are.

Start where you are and make progress

Often, it was circumstances beyond our control that had a decisive influence on our self-esteem and self-confidence. But that was then and this is now. Taking the time to build, or even rebuild, these important personal assets is definitely worth the effort.
So, in addressing our opening question, “What’s Wrong With Unstoppable Self-Confidence?” the obvious answer can only be –
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL!

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Start this New Year with a Bang - Acheiving your Goals

Start This New Year With A Bang!

Have you kept your 2012 New Year's Resolutions? Odds are you may have lost your way a little. Now it's time to get back on track and make 2011 the year that you achieve your fitness goals!

 

1st January, 2012- "From today onwards I will begin my journey to get strong and big/lose fat and will surely make it happen this year"

Maybe that was the New Year's resolution that you made to yourself in 2012. And probably by mid 2012 that was already a broken promise. You are definitely not the only one with this issue. I can safely say that 95% of all New Year's resolutions end up being unsuccessful. Barely 5% make it a success. Maybe you are guilty of making the same New Year's resolution every year and end up breaking it barely 21 days into the New Year every single time. Well if that is the case then you should realize that you need to plan well rather than just make a wish every 1st January and expect it to happen. Yes, all great achievements are, as they say, 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.

I can safely say that 95% of all New Year's resolutions end up being unsuccessful

Anyways, regardless of how many unsuccessful New Year's resolutions we may make every year, we still find a new source of motivation and hope with every 1st of January approaching. That is something that I truly love about the human spirit. So, if you are one of those who never say die and are determined to make this year your best yet, then let me help you make it special this year.

Common Training Mistakes

First of all you need to look at the mistakes that you committed in 2012 so that you do not repeat them this year as well. Here are some of the common mistakes that trainees make when they fail. You may have committed one or many of them - check out for yourself.

• Failed to consistently train.
• Pushed too hard.
• Pushed too little.
• Neglected proper nutrition. Ate mostly junk and refined foods.
• Rested very little. Slept no more than 5 hours on most nights.
• Failed to progress with intensity, weight lifted, and going faster in your workouts.
• Changed your workouts too frequently to not gain from any of them.
• Were so confused between losing fat and gaining muscle that you ended doing nothing much.

Of course there can be other reasons too that may have caused you to fail in 2010. So if you can identify with any of the reasons mentioned above or any that you may have detected then obviously first you need to get that sorted out.

A common mistake is neglecting proper nutrition

Let's move onto training in 2013, assuming that you will sort out the other problems like nutrition, rest, etc.

Fixing Your Training Mistakes

Frankly speaking the number one problem I see that most trainees make in regards to their training is that they do not train for quality. Just one example to prove my point, have you ever seen a guy make a dumbbell lateral raise into a compound movement using his lower back, legs? Yes that is a fine example of poor quality training. So this year commit to improving your exercise form. Remember what eight times Mr. Olympia Lee Haney used to say "when you do a rep properly, one rep equals to two reps".
Another thing, please promise me that this year you will listen to your body better. I can't tell you how many times I have seen trainees show complete lack of patience and push their bodies so that hard that working out becomes fruitless and something that they dread.
A good workout should leave your body flooded with endorphins, growth hormone, and testosterone. In a simpler language, it should leave you feeling on top the world! If your workouts leave you crawling outside the gym then you have pushed yourself too far.

A good workout should leave you feeling on top of the world.

Okay so now lets move on to the workouts. I will share 3 workouts with you in this article, one for bodybuilding, one for fat loss and one for size and strength training. So who should do the workouts that I will suggest, beginners, intermediates or advanced trainees? The workouts that I shall suggest should be done by anyone wishing to improve their body. It will work great for beginners and early intermediates. However more advanced trainees who have overtrained their bodies out of the progression mode will also find the workouts to be great to help restart their progress once again by allowing their bodies to start recovering from workouts and get stronger and fitter.

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