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The skill of self confidence | Dr. Ivan Joseph | TEDxRyersonU

IntermediateCanadian accentTEDx talk13 min

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  1. 0:00 Transcriber: Jaime Ochoa Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard In my past life as a soccer coach, once you won a national championship,
  2. 0:10 everyone wants to come play for you.
  3. 0:12 Really not true.
  4. 0:13 Once you paid them $ 25,000 a year in scholarships, everybody wants to come play for you.
  5. 0:19 And parents would always come to me and they'd say: "Okay, my son or my daughter wants to come play at your university, what is it that we have to do?
  6. 0:26 You know, what are you looking for?"
  7. 0:27 And being the Socratic professor that I am, I say, well, what does your son or daughter do?
  8. 0:31 What do they do really well that we'd be interested in?
  9. 0:34 And typically their answers are, well, they've got great vision.
  10. 0:37 They're really good.
  11. 0:38 They can see the entire field.
  12. 0:39 Or, my daughter is the fastest player, there's nobody that can beat her.
  13. 0:43 Or, my son's got a great left-footer.
  14. 0:45 Really great in the air and can hit every ball.
  15. 0:47 I'm like: "Yeah, not bad; but to be quite honest with you, those are the last things I'm looking for.
  16. 0:54 The most important thing?
  17. 0:57 Self-confidence."
  18. 0:58 Without that skill, and I use the word skill intentionally, without that skill, we are useless as a soccer player.
  19. 1:06 Because when you lose sight or belief in yourself, we're done for.
  20. 1:11 I use the definition of self-confidence to be the ability or the belief to believe in yourself, to accomplish any task, no matter the odds, no matter the difficulty,
  21. 1:23 no matter the adversity.
  22. 1:24 The belief that you can accomplished it, self-confidence.
  23. 1:29 Some of you are saying, "Great, I don't have it.
  24. 1:31 I'm so shy.
  25. 1:31 I'll never do that, bla, bla, bla."
  26. 1:33 And you start to drag all the way down here.
  27. 1:37 But, I use the word skill because I believe it can be trained.
  28. 1:42 And I'll show you a couple of ways in which we do.
  29. 1:44 Hopefully I won't run out of time.
  30. 1:46 I don't use any slides because my speech always goes here, or here, or here.
  31. 1:49 So we'll see which way we get to.
  32. 1:51 The easiest way to build self-confidence: there's no magic button.
  33. 1:55 I can't say: "Hey, this plane is going down, who can fly?
  34. 1:57 Put your hand up."
  35. 1:58 "I can, I'm confident!"
  36. 2:02 Repetition, repetition, repetition.
  37. 2:05 Right?
  38. 2:06 What does Malcom Gladwell call it, the 10,000-hour rule?
  39. 2:10 There's no magic button.
  40. 2:11 I recruited a goalie from Colombia, South America one year.
  41. 2:13 Big, tall 6'3" man.
  42. 2:16 You know, he had hands like stone.
  43. 2:18 I thought he was like Flipper.
  44. 2:20 Everytime I threw him the ball, down, onto the ground.
  45. 2:23 I was like, oh my god, we're in trouble.
  46. 2:24 Simple solution: get to the wall, kick a ball against the wall and catch it.
  47. 2:28 kick the ball against the wall and catch it.
  48. 2:30 His goal was 350 a day for eight months.
  49. 2:33 He came back, his hands were calloused, the moisture on his hands were literally gone, he is now playing in Europe.
  50. 2:40 Magic?
  51. 2:41 No.
  52. 2:42 Repetition, repetition, repetition.
  53. 2:45 The problem is, we expect to be self-confident but we can't be unless the skill, or the task we're doing, is not novel, is not new to us.
  54. 2:53 We want to be in a situation where we have so much pressure in that and what I mean, cause pressure builds diamonds, we want to be in a situation where "hey, I've done this a thousand times".
  55. 3:05 I did my speech, and I practiced in front of a mirror: bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla.
  56. 3:08 Hey I'm sounding good.
  57. 3:10 And then I went in front of my kids, and my wife.
  58. 3:13 I said, oh gosh, I got a little nervous.
  59. 3:14 Then I'd get in front of Glenn Gould, Oh my goodness, I am a little more nervous!
  60. 3:17 By the time I get to the ACG, where 2,500 people, can't say anymore, right?
  61. 3:22 Twenty-five hundred people, where twenty-five hundred people are there, I won't have a single ounce of nervousness because of my ability to practice.
  62. 3:33 Right?
  63. 3:33 Over, and over, and over, again.
  64. 3:35 The problem with repetition is: how many of us bail after the first bit of failure?
  65. 3:40 How many of us bail after the first bit of adversity?
  66. 3:43 Edison was on that video, and it depends who you ask, there's anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 tries to build that light bulb.
  67. 3:50 1,000 to 10,000.
  68. 3:52 J.K Rowling should be on that video.
  69. 3:54 Do you know how many publishers she took her Harry Potter book to?
  70. 3:57 I believe the number was 12 or 13...
  71. 4:00 I am pretty confident but after two or three noes I'd be like: "damn it!".
  72. 4:03 After six or seven, I'm like: "maybe not!"
  73. 4:05 Definitely after nine or ten I'd be looking to be a soccer coach or something else besides an author.
  74. 4:11 Right?
  75. 4:11 I mean, twelve times somebody said no.
  76. 4:14 But, practice, practice, practice, and do not accept failure.
  77. 4:19 Maybe it shouldn't be repetition, maybe the answer should be persistence.
  78. 4:22 Because we all repeat something but very few of us really will persist.
  79. 4:26 So that's one way to build self-confidence.
  80. 4:29 Get out there.
  81. 4:30 Do what you want to do and do not accept no.
  82. 4:33 The other one is self-talk.
  83. 4:35 We all have a self-talk tape that plays in our head.
  84. 4:37 Anybody go shopping and put on a pair of pants this week?
  85. 4:40 If you're a woman, the first thing that always comes: "damn I look fat in these pants!."
  86. 4:45 And if you're a man, it's the opposite: "Oh god, I got no muscle, I'm so flabby!"
  87. 4:49 Right?
  88. 4:49 We all have this tape that plays in our head.
  89. 4:52 As a student, if they asked me the question, it was like: "Oh, gee please professor don't pick me, I don't know the answer."
  90. 4:58 I'd look down.
  91. 5:00 Right?
  92. 5:00 If you're in the b...when I, let me tell you something, and the VP of business adminis.
  93. 5:04 here, I shouldn't repeat this, but when they hired me as an Athletics director, I sat in an architect's meeting, and I am as dumb as a post when it comes to anything to do with numbers and angles.
  94. 5:14 And they are like: the fundibulator valve of the architectural, uh, what do you think doctor Joseph?
  95. 5:21 Uh, let me look into that for you and get back to you.
  96. 5:25 Right?
  97. 5:26 I was in a, oh god god, please don't ask me, please don't ask me.
  98. 5:30 We all have this negative self-talk that goes in our head.
  99. 5:34 Guess what?
  100. 5:36 There's enough people that are telling us we can't do it.
  101. 5:39 That we're not good enough.
  102. 5:41 Why do we want to tell ourselves that?
  103. 5:43 We know for a fact that thoughts influence actions.
  104. 5:48 We saw it there with the video Sheldon, Dr.
  105. 5:51 Levy showed.
  106. 5:51 We know that our thoughts influence actions, why do we want to say that negative self-talk to ourselves?
  107. 5:57 We need to get our own self-affirmations.
  108. 6:00 Muhammad Ali, what was his self-affirmation?
  109. 6:02 I am the greatest!
  110. 6:07 Who else is going to tell you?
  111. 6:09 There need to be quiet moments in your bedroom, quiet moments when you're brushing your teeth.
  112. 6:13 That we need to reaffirm: "I am the captain of my ship and the master of my fate!"
  113. 6:19 That is my affirmation.
  114. 6:21 I came from a school of one thousand people, I lived in a town of one thousand people for fifteen years; there's no reason that I should be in charge of an Athletics department, building maple leaf gardens.
  115. 6:32 But I am the captain of my ship and the master of my fate.
  116. 6:35 If I don't say it, if I don't believe it, no one else will.
  117. 6:41 How do you build self-confidence?
  118. 6:43 Get away from the people who will tear you down.
  119. 6:46 There's enough of that.
  120. 6:47 Muhammad Ali, I am the greatest!
  121. 6:50 There is no one better than me.
  122. 6:53 There's a difference between hubris, and ego, and false pride.
  123. 6:57 It's just reminding yourself in quiet silent moments, I put it down on a list, it's right beside my mirror, right?
  124. 7:05 about all the things that make me who I am.
  125. 7:07 Because I make enough mistakes, and the newspapers will recognize it, and people around me will recognize it; and they'll tear me down, and pretty soon I'll begin to believe it.
  126. 7:17 There was a time when my confidence was really low.
  127. 7:21 There was a time when I took this job when I came from Iowa, I don't know if I could do it.
  128. 7:27 I had to bring out my self-confidence letter.
  129. 7:30 A letter I wrote to myself when I was feeling good.
  130. 7:33 Ivan, congratulations on getting your PhD before 40.
  131. 7:36 Congra...I am 40, under.
  132. 7:42 Congratulations on winning a national championship.
  133. 7:44 Good job on raising three good kids and marrying the right woman.
  134. 7:48 I wrote a letter to myself, it was my own brag sheet.
  135. 7:52 My own letter about the things I was proud of.
  136. 7:55 Because there are moments, and we'll all experience them in our career, in our lives, in our job hunting, in our relationships; when we are not feeling good about who, and what, and where we are.
  137. 8:06 And I had to bring out that letter and read it time and time again, for a period of about two weeks, to weather me through that storm.
  138. 8:14 It was important.
  139. 8:17 Stop the self-talk, the negative self-talk.
  140. 8:20 If you watch you'll see some athletes that have a little bandage, or a little brand around them.
  141. 8:25 Lance Armstrong is a perfect one.
  142. 8:27 What's his self-affirmation?
  143. 8:29 Livestrong isn't a brand, it was to remind him of who he was.
  144. 8:33 Live strong.
  145. 8:34 Then it became a brand.
  146. 8:36 He would move that from one arm to the next arm, when doubt and fear came into his mind.
  147. 8:42 Live strong, put it on there, let's go.
  148. 8:45 We'll all have it, we place it.
  149. 8:48 Two ways to build self-confidence.
  150. 8:50 I'm worried about my time I'm gonna tell you of one way you can build self-confidence in others.
  151. 8:54 We are coaches and educators, we are teachers, we are people who will create value in the world; and in doing that, we are critical by the nature of what we do.
  152. 9:03 I am a coach, I want you to score a goal.
  153. 9:06 The ball went over high.
  154. 9:07 "Dang it!"
  155. 9:08 The ball went high!
  156. 9:09 "Thank you coach, I know that.
  157. 9:11 Feedback tells me that."
  158. 9:12 So what do we do?
  159. 9:13 I need you to put your elbow here, I need you to put your knee over the ball, I need you to follow through.
  160. 9:18 Boom.
  161. 9:18 Land.
  162. 9:19 Great.
  163. 9:19 Notice, I never made it as a professional.
  164. 9:22 What can we do?
  165. 9:23 We fix mistakes.
  166. 9:25 When I'm fixing that mistake: "Johnny, this is terrible, you need to bend your knee, you need to do this, this."
  167. 9:30 What have I done to Johnny's self-confidence?
  168. 9:33 Bend your knee, then do this, then do this.
  169. 9:35 Next thing you know, Johnny's crushed.
  170. 9:39 Ignore what Johnny does wrong and find Bob or Sally or Freda over here.
  171. 9:44 Great goal Freda, I love how you kept your knee low, you followed through, and you landed like this.
  172. 9:50 Great job!
  173. 9:52 Johnny: "Oh?"
  174. 9:53 Great!
  175. 9:54 Johnny's not demoralized.
  176. 9:56 His confidence isn't shot, and what I've done is, I've built up Freda's.
  177. 10:00 Imagine how we could change the way we parented kids.
  178. 10:04 Instead of: "get that glass off the counter, what's wrong with you?"
  179. 10:08 If we catch the mother, good.
  180. 10:10 Great job!
  181. 10:11 Great job.
  182. 10:12 Thank you Alice for taking your glass to the counter.
  183. 10:14 It sounds simple but we forget about it.
  184. 10:17 Or as educators, or as somebody as a team, if we manage to praise the positive behaviour that we wanted to reinforce.
  185. 10:24 We forget it.
  186. 10:25 It sounds so simple.
  187. 10:26 Catch them when they're good.
  188. 10:29 We forget it.
  189. 10:31 It's simple.
  190. 10:32 Here's what they did.
  191. 10:32 There was a study in Kansas that did this.
  192. 10:34 They did video, and we all do video.
  193. 10:36 And we show the video of them doing the run of the play: "Um, this goal happened because the basket wasn't protected, we didn't rotate here, right?
  194. 10:43 We needed to do this and then cover the slot."
  195. 10:46 And, if that's the baseline, improvement of the Kansas State team went like this.
  196. 10:52 Then, they said they ignored all of that and they just showed them the times they did it right.
  197. 10:58 The times they did it perfect.
  198. 10:59 That presented no goals, spoke to the same points, improvement went like that.
  199. 11:05 It changed and revolutionized the way we as coaches interact with our student athletes.
  200. 11:09 We can apply that to the business world, we can apply that to our student group works, we can apply that to our management teams.
  201. 11:15 Easily: catch them when they are good.
  202. 11:20 Last and certainly not least.
  203. 11:22 My son is really good at this.
  204. 11:24 Self-confident people interpret feedback the way they choose to.
  205. 11:30 I ask my son who is by the far a terrible, terrible athlete, gets it from his dad.
  206. 11:36 The game's...
  207. 11:37 How's the game?
  208. 11:38 Oh great!
  209. 11:39 I scored three goals, I got two assists.
  210. 11:41 I'm like: "I did not see him touch the puck!"
  211. 11:44 But he has his own perception of how he did!
  212. 11:49 I love it!
  213. 11:51 Right?
  214. 11:52 I'm the...I'm that guy!
  215. 11:54 I'm like: "I remember when I was taking when I met my wife, it was in the commons.
  216. 11:58 "Paulie, would you like to go to the movies?
  217. 12:00 Ladies?
  218. 12:01 Tingly, tingly, tingle."
  219. 12:05 And she goes: "Ah, no."
  220. 12:09 I asked her again.
  221. 12:10 Cause I think that she just hasn't seen me in the right light.
  222. 12:13 Maybe, that's not the wrong shirt on.
  223. 12:15 Right?
  224. 12:16 Cause I'm interpreting that the way I want to interpret it.
  225. 12:19 Finally I asked her out again.
  226. 12:21 She gave me this one comment, right?
  227. 12:22 Or, she sent it to her friend.
  228. 12:24 Cause that's the way you did it back then.
  229. 12:25 "She wouldn't date you unless there was the last person on Earth, hell was freezing over, there was a small chance we had to save the planet Earth.
  230. 12:33 Some people, it's like, there's no chance.
  231. 12:35 I'm like: "You're saying there's a chance."
  232. 12:38 Right?
  233. 12:39 Because that's how I'm gonna interpret it.
  234. 12:42 If I could give you one thing to take from this, it is: no one will believe in you unless you do.
  235. 12:50 Listen to the words of that video, here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes.
  236. 13:00 We're supposed to be different, folks.
  237. 13:03 And when people look at us, believe in yourself.
  238. 13:07 Thank you.

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