Alex Hormozi said that “you do not become confident from shouting affirmations in the mirror but by having an undeniable stack of proof that you are who you say who are. Outwork your self doubt.” Just telling yourself that you are capable does not disprove the doubts you have about yourself. You need to couple these words with action. By leaping into the activity you prove that you are capable, or at least capable of learning the skills to be successful, which can eradicate your self doubt. In an episode of The Diary Of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, Hormozi stated that to move past his self doubt he makes unreasonable statements that if he does enough, will become true. For example you may have just joined a sales team with no previous experience. If you then said that you will become the best salesperson in the whole company, that would be classed as an unreasonable statement. However, if you shadow the best seller in the company and then do twice the volume of calls, it is not unreasonable to think that at worst you will be above average. Dr Julie Smith suggests that avoidance feeds self doubt. By avoiding the activity you doubt yourself over, you give yourself more reason to believe you can’t do it. Take the leap and learn the skills. Entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu states that self doubt can be a motivator behind learning these skills. It can highlight your weaknesses which you can use to progress.

Have you ever watched Wimbledon? If yes, you will probably be aware of arguably three greatest Tennis players of all time; Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic (in no particular order!). Well they have very different styles in how they approach a game. Nadal has an all or nothing approach (David Goggins esc as George Mack describes it). He is going all in sprinting up and down the court like a machine. Djokovic is a focused machine, almost robot like. He is there to do a job and get it done. Federer is much more laid back. He is trying new trick shots, laughing with his friends, and not seeming to bothered that he is about to play a competitive game. All three have reached the pinnacle of the game yet all three adopted different approaches. The point is that to become the best, there is no set path. You don’t have to do things a certain way. Experiment and find the most productive way for you. You may like having 15 minute time-block or you may like leaving a 4 hour block in the morning. Yes there are certain skills you need such as communication and resilience to make it to the top. But the way you use them and develop them is unique to you. Find your own philosophy and what works. This is from Chris Williamson’s conversation with George Mack. The original source for this tennis metaphor is Matthew Syed.

In his book ‘Feel Good Productivity’, Ali Abdaal shares how an old film can help shape how we think about work. Have you ever watched Mary Poppins? If you have you will be familiar with the song ’A Spoonful Of Sugar’. Now I’m not asking you to go and watch the film or ass this song to your growing list of affirmations. But pay attention to the first verse below: In every job that must be done There is an element of fun You find the fun and snap! The job's a game The legend that is Mary Poppins is telling you to find the fun in your work. So how can you apply this to your life? Well maybe you could: Listen to music whilst you work Time yourself doing tasks and try and beat your time each week. See how many upsells you can get in a day. Work with friends. Give yourself a treat if you get a certain amount done. These are a few ways you could make the work fun. It’s not about grit, willpower, and determination. These will come and go depending on how you feel. But who turns down something that is fun? Personally, I’m only allowed to listen one of my favourite comedy podcasts on my long runs. So sometimes I’m going out just as an excuse to listen to them! Make the work fun and listen to good old Mary Poppins!

Here are some ways you can make your work more fun. Comment below what you think and if you have any ideas!