Mark A. Campbell, Guest Blogger
Editors Note: Mark A. Campbell serves as the WTU Master Trainer/WTC Liaison for the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness- Performance and Resilience Enhancement Program (CSF-PREP). He joined CSF-PREP in 2007, and serves as a subject matter expert in applying mental skills training to the areas of injury, illness, and adaptive sports. The expressed comments and views of guest bloggers do not reflect the views of WTC or the United States Army.
Confidence is a topic that I get asked about quite a bit, especially in regards to injury and illness. It is one of the foundational lessons in our Comprehensive Soldier Fitness-Performance and Resilience Enhancement Program (CSF-PREP) Performance Education Model, and is a lesson I continue to learn from and apply to my own life. Confidence refers to “a sense of certainty about your ability that allows you to bypass conscious thought (analysis, judgment, criticism) and execute fully and without hesitation.”Confident people develop strategies that allow them to deliberately focus their minds on thoughts and memories that create energy, enthusiasm, and optimism.
Looking at the six domains represented in the Comprehensive Transition Plan (CTP), it is most likely true that we are all very confident about certain aspects of our lives. I am also certain that we all have areas in which we could be more confident. Perhaps you have complete confidence about your relationships with Family members, but would like to build more regarding your physical self.
Injuries and illnesses can definitely affect our levels of confidence. These can create major changes in our lives, and afford us opportunities to view things differently. That is not necessarily a negative thing. Retired SSG Ryan Kelly once said, “An injury doesn’t change who you are, it’s a time to define who you are going to be.” Building confidence in a new situation can be accomplished through a number of steps.
1. Maximize Your Strengths.
This seems like an easy concept, right? When is the last time that you sat down and truly took a good look at yourself, making a list of the things that you are really good at? If I had to take a guess, based on the thousands of people I have tried this with, it wouldn’t have been any time recently (if at all). We are not conditioned to think in this way. Think back to when you were a child. If you were like me, you heard one phrase quite often, “Go to your room and don’t come out until you think about what you’ve done wrong.” This is a common thought process in our society. Looking at our weaknesses can be a good thing, because it helps us to address what we need to work on, and builds our levels of competence. Confidence, however, requires us to look at those things that we are good at. Sit down with a piece of paper and list all six CTP domains (Physical, Career, Emotional, Social, Family, and Spiritual), then begin listing strengths that you possess in each one. If it is a slow process at first, that is ok. Try listing one strength every day for a month. Go to your room and don’t come out until you think about what you’ve done….right.
2. Using Self-Talk
The way we communicate with ourselves is very important in the process of building confidence. Self-talk is an ongoing stream of thoughts that run through your head every day. These automatic thoughts can be very effective, or ineffective, in how we view our levels of confidence about a situation. Think about a recent performance and how you used self-talk to either set yourself up for success or failure. I met with a friend last week who has recently experienced a serious physical injury. The way he talked about himself and his situation really caught my attention. It turns out that he was setting the stage for his current situation with a consistent theme of “I can’t do this.” He was judging himself rather harshly on challenges in one of the domains. After looking at a variety of strengths that he possessed, in each of the domains, he began to see himself a bit differently. I had him take a few of those strengths and build them into our conversation. The tone changed dramatically, and he began to focus more on what he could do, instead of what he couldn’t. Re-visit your lists of strengths periodically and build them into how you speak to yourself.
Experiencing an injury or illness puts us in unfamiliar, uncomfortable territory. It can also provide us a unique opportunity to appreciate what we have. To see this opportunity requires a deep curiosity. This is where looking at our self-talk and our strengths come in. With an open and curious mind, these strengths will surface and confidence will build.
To find out more about mental skills, an overview of the program, and additional resources, go to the CSF-PREP website.
