“It’s true what they say about winning being a habit. Once you open up that Pandora’s box of doubt, all kinds of nasty things come flying out. I can’t stress how important it is to train yourself to seek clarity at moments of doubt. You have to stay calm and have complete faith your abilities. It takes a strong mind.” From “Mind of a Champion” by Pete Sampras, 14-time Grand Slam Champion, ranked the No. 1 Tennis Player in the world for 286 weeks.
I don’t think that there’s much else that anyone could add to the simple and straight forward advice Pete Sampras delivers in his memoirs “Mind of a Champion.”
While it might seem a bit overwhelming coming from a 14-time Grand Slam tennis champ, the fact is, laser-focused faith and confidence is the key ingredient in landing a job.
Think about it: There’s one extreme called desperation, which rarely works and the other extreme which is arrogance, which is a for-sure deal killer.
But the sweet spot in the middle is simply known as confidence: that permeating and infectious energy that plays to your best, your strongest and most accurate strengths, qualities and abilities.
Your experience, your expertise, your accomplishments, results and your own recognition and ownership of your individual expertise and “…faith in your abilities” provides you with the ingredients Sampras refers to as confidence.
If you are having trouble getting your job search jump-started, go back to the basics and “…seek clarity.”
Take out a blank sheet of paper and reflect on your true skills and abilities.
What are the skills you have the most confidence in? What are your greatest strengths? How are they defined? Under what scenarios and situations did your experiences and accomplishments demonstrate those strengths?
Under what scenarios do you find yourself harboring doubt about your skills? What can you do differently to seal shut that “Pandora’s box of doubt?”
Whether you are a champion tennis player looking to win a Grand Slam match or a job seeker trying to ace the job of your dreams, the mental strategies are very similar and can make all the difference in the result.
