Building Confidence

During a recent gym workout, I was reminded that when you are doing weight work, your muscle doesn’t really change or grow until you reach the point of failure.

That means you set the proper weight and do the exercise or machine as slowly as you can, in the best form possible, until you can no longer move at all. That’s when you have reached the point of failure.

Most people doing weightlifting stop when they get tired. They rest and then start up again and do more reps. Then they rest again and do more reps. Each time, they stop just short of their point of failure. In other words, they never push through the hardest part of the workout to tear down their muscles so they can grow stronger.

In pilates, we do the same thing. We focus on standing on our toes and squatting or lifting our legs until we feel the “burn,” that excruciating burn. We push through it and continue until our shaking legs fail to hold us any longer or the instructor goes to the next position.

In both cases, it is hard. It is REALLY hard. You start wondering if you can really do it. But if you push through the pain, you finish. Hooray! Not just because it’s over, but because next time you have the confidence to finish and push ahead to a new level.

Building our confidence is the same as building muscle. It is hard work. We might wonder if we can really do it — whether it is giving a speech in front of 100 people, supervising a department, writing a book, designing a building, or maybe running our own company. Once we have completed that assignment though, we are filled with confidence to take on the next even-more-difficult task!

This is what happens when we expand our comfort zone because our comfort is truly just like a muscle. The more you work at it, the more comfortable you are and the further you can expand and grow.

Stretching, whether it is at the gym or the office, helps build confidence, tenacity, and perseverance. The more you stretch, the easier it becomes. We just have to remember that change, real change, is right outside our comfort zone.

Janie J is the author of “Live the Life You Have Imagined,” “Single and Sixty,” “The Unimagined Awakening” and The New I Am Document, Volume 1.”
She began writing books after a spiritual awakening let her tap into universal wisdom. Her mission is to help others live a life of more joy and understanding and to raise the consciousness of all humankind. Get started on your own journey with a free copy of the Connect to Transform Process at www.TheNewIAMMovement.com/transform.