Common Sense Ideas for Becoming the Career Star You Are Meant to Be

Happy New Year!  Today is Monday, January 1, 2007, so this post is on self confidence. 

I’ve chosen to begin the year with a quote from Virgil, author of the Aeneid.  Virgil lived form 70 BC to 19 BC.  According to Wikipedia, “Virgil was an ancient Roman poet, the author of the  Eclogues, the Georgics and the  Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that became the Roman Empire’s national epic.  Dante used a fictional depiction of Virgil as his guide through Purgatory and Hell in his epic poem, The Divine Comedy.”  Virgil was a significant thought leader in ancient Rome.  Enough of the history lesson – on to the quote.

“They can do all because they think they can.”

They can do all because they think they can. 

I think this is a great quote to begin the new year.  If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that self confidence -- along with personal impact, outstanding performance, communication skills and interpersonal competence – is a key part of my model of career and life success. 

Virgil’s words – “they can do all because they think they can” – are true today, just as much as they were over 2,000 years ago.  They highlight the importance of self confidence.  Self confidence is the starting point for success in your career and in your life.  You cannot succeed if you do not believe you can succeed.  It’s as simple as that.  If you approach each project you begin with the idea and confidence that you will be successful, you’re well on your way to success.

Here’s a personal story that illustrates my point.  In 1995, I traveled to New Zealand to participate in the Golden Oldies Rugby Festival.  These festivals happen every two years.  Thousands of rugby players from all over the world – and all over the age of 40 – gather at a site for a week of rugby, fun and fellowship.

In 1995, my team the Colorado Ole’ Pokes, asked the festival organizers to set us up with one competitive match and two social matches.  We got a little more than we asked for in our competitive match.  Our opponent was a team called Once Were Warriors.  Every player on their team was a Maori (the indigenous people of New Zealand).  More importantly, every player on their team had played representative (all star) rugby in their younger days.  Seven or eight of them had been members of the All Blacks, the famous New Zealand national team.

I was excited by the challenge.  I was going to get to play against some guys that, at one time, had been among the best rugby players in the world.  However, as we began warming up prior to the match, I could see that we were in trouble.  Guys on my side were saying things like “seven All Blacks, they’re going to kill us”, or “this isn’t going to be pretty”. 

When we got into the huddle just prior to the match, our captain asked if anyone had anything to say.  I spoke up and said “these guys are pretty good – but so are we.  I believe that if we play hard we can win”.  My comment was greeted mostly with silence, but also with a few guffaws.  I walked on to the pitch that day in a nasty mood.  I was frustrated with my teammates – we were conceding the match before it started.  I decided that I was going to play as hard as I could for as long as I could.  I wasn’t going to concede anything.

We lost.  They had about six “tries” (a try is the equivalent of a touchdown in American football).  We had two.  I scored both of our tries. 

At the post match gathering, Bill Bush, their captain and one of the most famous rugby players New Zealand has every produced – he played for New Zealand over 60 times in his career – announced that Once Were Warriors had voted me the “opponent of the match”.  He asked me to come forward.  He presented me with a fetish – a good luck token that is to work around the neck.  Everyone on their team had one.  As he attached the clasp, he said to me, “this is presented with either great love or great admiration, in this case it’s both”.  That necklace is one of my most prized possessions today.

The point here – other than a walk down memory lane?  I thought we could win, so I did everything in my power make sure that we did.  We lost.  I’m not saying that the other 14 guys didn’t do their part, but I do think that had they gone into the match with a slightly different mind set, we might have won.  Remember Virgil: “they can do all because they think they can”.  As a team, we didn’t think we could.  As an individual, I thought I could, and I did OK.

In my heart of hearts, I know that we were probably never going to beat those guys.  We were amateurs, they were ex professionals.  But I do believe that the score would have been closer had we believed in ourselves a little more.

Self confidence is not enough to guarantee success – but it is a great start. 

As we begin 2007, I urge you to choose some goals for your life and career.  Choose goals that you are truly confident that you can achieve.  Then go out an achieve them.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.

I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.