My “Castaway’s method”: How to enhance your confidence during a crisis
in Executive Coaching, High-performance, Leadership, Mindset, Motivation, Self-confidence, Self-development
Most of us are trained to focus on scarcity as a default mode. People with this mindset focus all the time on what’s lacking. The time the don’t have, the resources or even the skills. Especially in times of crisis, the scarcity mindset takes the lead causing feelings of fear, disappointment and helplessness, because one sees only the limitations and what’s not possible to be done, decreasing in this way his or her level of confidence about his or her ability to accomplish goals and overcome challenges.
Growing up in an environment with limited resources that contradicted my personality of not accepting that something is not possible to be done, I developed by myself a way of thinking that later on I named the “Castaway’s method”. Do you want to know what that is? Then keep reading.
The “Castaway’s method” has to do with the way a castaway thinks, when he wants to find a way to leave the isolated island he ended up after a shipwreck. So, what does he do? First of all, he elicits all those skills and strengths he poses from within in order to stay calm and optimistic, believe in himself and of course become creative and find a solution to his problem. Then, in practical level, he searches and gathers all those materials he needs and can be found on the island, to build a raft and achieve his goal of getting away. He’s not focusing on what resources and skills are missing, because in this way, he’s going to stay stuck in the island for ever! I mean, you can’t really use something you don’t have. Thus, what’s the point on focusing there?
If you also feel your scarcity mindset took the lead and you feel lack of confidence regarding your ability to overcome the adversities the crisis created in your way to success, use the Castaway’s method and do the following:
- Define exactly what you want to achieve. What is your own raft?
- Define what needs to be done to get there. What materials (step to be made) do you need for your raft?
- Make a list of your skills and strengths.
- Make a list with the resources you already possess. Make sure you include even those things you consider as non-important.
- See how you can use what you have (skills, strengths, knowledge, resources) to get to the first milestone of your “raft’s” construction
- When you reach to the first milestone, you will possess extra resources you gained during your route there, so repeat steps 3, 4 to get to the next milestone.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 till you build your end product, your raft (reach your final goal).
Sometimes, all is needed to regain your confidence and see the possibilities there are in front of you, even in the most challenging times, is to change where you focus on…
