Your Inner CEO: No Doubt About It

Doubt – the feeling that things just might not work out as planned – is a negative viewpoint that, in business, can easily turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Doubt is a way of saying, “What’s the use?” without even knowing you’re saying it, or perhaps being afraid to say it. In fact, doubt is really a form of fear.

Since doubt is of course a mental and emotional process, the best remedies for it are also ways of thinking and feeling. For example, if you’re going into an important meeting or presentation, being prepared with a strong and well-defined sales agenda can take guesswork (and doubt) out of the picture. You feel confident, and the client naturally picks up on that. You don’t have to wonder where you’re going because you’re following a clearly defined template throughout the encounter. Within that template there’s room for freedom and creativity, but there’s no room for doubt.

Along those lines, let’s look at a few general principles to follow. For example, when preparing for an important event, ask yourself this question, what has been your most successful experience since you’ve been in business? And by the way, how often do you think about that experience? The chances are, you don’t think about it enough. For some reason recalling setbacks is a much stronger reflex than re-living success. That reflex is perfectly designed to foster doubt – but confidence is what you need.

When you have some time, write down some notes on your most memorable successes in the sales profession. Describe not only what happened, but how you felt about it while it was happening. As you do this, notice how you instantly feel better about yourself. Notice how your vague sense of self-doubt that’s often in the background starts to lift like a fog. That’s the power of focusing on times when things went right.

A second strategic technique is to model confident, successful people. This means analyzing and understanding the success techniques of people you admire. It is based on the simple fact that if one person can do something, so can another. If one person can be complete professional, so can you.

So think of someone who is really achieving what you plan to achieve. It’s especially valuable to pick a man or woman who’s noted for a sense of confidence. With whomever you choose, think about  their values, beliefs, and behaviors -- and then try adapt them to yourself. Do this mentally at first, and then the transition to real world action will happen naturally by itself.

One advantage of this technique is that you can model not only people you know but also people that you’ve read about or know of. The more information you have, the more effective this approach is likely to be.

A third strategy is one you can use just before initiating a business contact -- whether it’s a cold call, a sales meeting, or a negotiation. Here’s what to do. Take some time beforehand to mentally ask yourself some questions that will focus your mind on how you can be more confident. These pre-selected internal questions will sharpen your thoughts and positively impact your emotions. That’s because the content of your internal dialogue is the determining factor in banishing doubt and fear.

For instance, you might want to ask: “How can I feel confident in this situation?” “How would I behave if I were totally confident?” “What do I need to change in order to feel confident all the time?” There are lots of variations to these questions – but the key lies in challenging yourself to answer them with confidence and positive belief.

So now you have three strategies for transforming doubt into confidence in your career as a whole. Write descriptions of your successes. Model successful individuals. Ask and answer empowering questions. With those strategies in place, you’re ready banish any doubt from your professional life.