Change only occurs if change occurs

As someone who is in the business of working with human performance, what that looks like and what major areas affect our performance I have come to some conclusion of what needs to change.

Some studies support that "mental health" is quite often the overall winner. What we do and what we consistently entertain will have a direct impact on our lives. Do we know this logically? Yes, we do. What we don't know is, "what literally has to change." What beliefs to challenge and are we seeking help to change it?

I have had the privilege of working with some of the major brands in South Africa and a core underlying challenge that most people struggle with is - Self Confidence. Having chatted to the Traci Freeman from the ICCCA (Independent Contact Call Centre Association) who confirms this as one of the major concerns in corporate SA, "Self Confidence" is a prevailing factor to team performance and effective personal leadership.

The reason for this is that no one ever told us what that means. No one ever taught us how to be self-confident. No one sat you down and said - " In terms of confidence, this is what you do..." We just know some people whom we think are confident according to our own measuring system.

Psychology tells us that there are 3 factors pertaining to confidence:

• Self Esteem: A measure of the degree to which an individual values themselves.
• Narcissism: A destructive form of self-esteem
• Self Efficacy: The ability to achieve personal goals

Research shows that the balance of Self Efficacy and Self Esteem and avoidance of Narcissism leads to happiness and contributes to success. If we have to consider the value of ourselves and we know that this becomes part of how we "do confidence", then the question is, how do we know what we value? How do we know when we value ourselves? How to cultivate these values? How do we measure them? Similarly, we can ask questions on self-efficacy and how well do we achieve our goals? Do we even try? Do we have the necessary skill set to provide us with achieving our goals? This brings me back to my point on seeking HELP to change my own beliefs.

Social psychologist "Amy Cuddy" with her world-renowned TED Talk suggests that how we use our bodies can also influence how we shape our minds. So not only are we affected by our own mental health but how we use our bodies has a direct impact on what we think. Walking into an interview or any socially evaluated situation can be tremendously stressful but if we had more tools in our tool kit to deal with the stressful situation we would probably perform better.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

The famous Anthony Robbins also shares with us the importance of 6 human needs.

1. Certainty
2. Variety
3. Significance
4. Love and Connection
5. Growth
6. Contribution

Certainty is 1 of the 6 core human needs that all humans have. Certainty also has a direct impact on confidence and when we look at certainty and confidence, it lends itself very much to how we feel about ourselves.

If we can create more certainty in our work environment we most certainly are on the right path to cultivating confidence. Certainty is a buy product to self-confidence.

Certainty in the presentation. Certainty in the product. In the way, we speak about the product. Certainty around being able to have conversations and starting conversations. The certainty that I am knowledgable about what I am doing in my work environment and credible. Having certainty in a job well done builds confidence but also builds credibility.

If we look at all the combining factors, we very quickly start realising how much stress we create in our own lives. We also tend to believe that stress is a bad thing which it isn't. Stress in itself is a trigger to something being ignored or very often not being paid attention to. Depending on how long we keep ourselves in a stressful environment stress can literally debilitate our lives. But that leads me back to confidence people? They obviously don't have stress, right? No. Confident people use their stress response to move. To create motion. To create action.

Here's my point. To break it down. There are 3 key areas that give us results:

1. Mind - What we believe and value about ourselves and what the constant conversation we have with ourselves will affect our state. How we feel.
2. State - As a rule. State ALWAYS begets behaviour. We always have to be aware of what state (feeling) we are holding because it will always affect our behaviour from the same state. No one can hold sadness and feel happiness at the same time. No one can hold anxiety and confidence at the same time. We aren't wired that way.
3. Behaviour - How we behave can literally change what results we get. Constructive and destructive behaviour can be just that. The point is we get to choose our behaviour.

Mind, state and behaviour working together produces results in everyone. From a personal perspective or a team perspective. As a CEO or as a college student. These 3 things can we can change because change only occurs if change occurs. You decide.