LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
How To Build Real Self-Confidence And Resilience
In the 1920s through the ‘ 50s , several inventors attempted to design and patent “ teaching machines ” that could educate an individual about a subject without a teacher and without failure .
These machines achieved this largely by quizzing the individual very closely on the subject matter , delivering a piece of information and then immediately serving up a question on that data , making it very difficult — if not impossible — for the student to fail a test . ( The rainbow consists of seven colors ; how many colors are there in the rainbow ? __________) Students did learn the material , and nearly everyone received a 100 % passing grade ; however , the minute they put those students back in a traditional classroom , where the guardrails were off and it was not easy to get the answers right , the students came apart like a cheap suit , highly stressed and unable to deal with the failure . Unfortunately , there were no participation awards or “ safe rooms ” back then , so they had to deal with their failure the old-fashioned way — by toughening up .
Here ' s the point : Dealing with and overcoming failure and big challenges , resistance , difficulty , stress , and the chaos of life is something that all humans need to experience to toughen up and get stronger . It is the only way to build resilience — by consistently overcoming difficulty . It is a “ mental muscle ” that can be strengthened , and by strengthening your resilience , you simultaneously build your self-confidence . But like all muscles , resilience must be practiced and used or it will atrophy . Growing a company requires the “ resilience ” skill — and anyone with honest ambition , walking around with “ owner ” on their business card , must develop by leaning into failure , embracing chaos , and intentionally putting themselves into new situations where they are outside of their comfort zone and current level of abilities . Only by doing that , and embracing such challenges on a daily basis , can you get stronger .
But that is absolutely not what usually happens . Most people repeatedly surrender and retreat to their own “ safe zone .” When the pressure is on , they step back to a slower , easier pace , a more familiar path . Is it any wonder that
Robin Interviewing Jocko Willink On Stage At The 2021 Producers Club Meeting
Founder And CEO , Technology Marketing Toolkit , Inc .
79 % of the people running IT services firms never break the $ 1 million mark , even after running a business for five , 10 , 15 , or more years ? They ’ re not dumb — they ’ re anti-chaos and anti-stress .
Recently , we had a retired Navy SEAL officer , Jocko Willink , speak to our Producers Club members about leadership during intensely stressful and difficult times . Jocko served eight years in active duty as a Navy SEAL . He was commander of SEAL Team 3 ’ s Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi and led operations to help bring peace to the war-torn city , facing and leading his unit through multiple intense , life-threatening situations and firefights , witnessing acts so inhuman and terrible that he won ’ t speak of them . As Jocko repeatedly says , “ Stop looking for a shortcut … and find your discipline and your will . Then you will find your freedom .”
That ’ s the essence of a leader . They stop looking for “ easy ” buttons and shortcuts and choose to do the work . All of it . The ugly , boring , painful , uninspiring , stressful , detail-oriented stuff that must be done — and they do it with excellence . Not complaining , not procrastinating , not trying to pawn it off onto someone else , abdicating their responsibility . Own it . All of it . Extreme ownership . ( Thank you , Jocko .)
In tough markets , the weak do not survive by exhibiting greater weakness or by surrendering . Only the strongest of the strong survive and thrive . Note : Be sure to go to MSPSuccessMagazine . com / jocko for a short clip of my on-stage interview with him . You ’ ll laugh at my advice to him regarding “ the enemy .” n
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