What does it mean to cannonball with confidence

so today

we are going to start with a little bit

of self-reflection

so i want you to think back to when you

were 10 years old

and it’s a hot summer day now you might

remember

heading to the swimming pool or to the

lake

or to a rock wall that you were going to

jump off

for me when i was 10 i headed to the

swimming pool

and i can remember kicking off my

flip-flops before i

even got in the door i was so excited

to be there with my friends and i would

head over immediately

to the diving board i would do that i

don’t know if you remember

between a run and a walk the one that

the lifeguard always had to say

slow down because i was so excited

to be there as i was waiting in line

there were two diving boards you could

choose from a low board

and a high board i chose the high board

all of a sudden it was my turn

and i grabbed those ends of those

railings and i started to climb up

i remember that feeling of that metal in

my hands and that

metal on the bottom of my feet it was a

little warm i actually skipped over a

few rungs to get to the top

and when i got to the top

i ran off and made this

impressive splash

a cannonball do you remember those

and when i came to the surface i looked

around

and i wanted to make sure that everybody

was watching that my friends

saw that incredible cannonball

well now i want you to bring your mind

to where you are

right now your story your circumstance

and it’s a hot summer day and you’re

heading to the pool maybe by yourself

maybe with the kids maybe with your

grandkids

and you see that diving board

and you head over and you think

you know what this is great i used to do

this i have that i have that fearless

exhilaration i had when i was 10 year

old i think i’m going to try it again

and you get in line and your heart

starts racing

and it gets to be your turn

and you start climbing and at the third

rung

you’re stopped in fear

lack of confidence you’re stuck

why is it that we lose our confidence

as we get older

can any of you relate to what i was just

talking about in that story

of feeling as though you’re stuck

and you just can’t quite take the next

step

well statistically speaking you may find

it relatable

because believe it or not 70 percent

of people have felt stuck or are stuck

in their lives right now

and only 3 out of 10 people are

satisfied

where they are in their life 3 out of 10

confidence the definition of confidence

is trusting in your abilities

being able to take on challenges day to

day and feeling successful

at times when we get older

our confidence may begin to slide

our bodies change i check that box

our relationships change i check that

box

we face life altering experiences

like loss of loved ones health issues

retirement i want you to think of these

three words and reflect on these

do not resign

it’s not a time to throw in your

resignation

but rather it’s a time to explore

it’s a time to rediscover and a time

to reinvent well

amy how do we do that how do we do that

when we’re feeling as though we’re

losing our confidence

in three different ways the first way is

through self-reflection

secondly self-reliance

and lastly self-affirmations in our life

right now think of where you are in

your journey the decades of service

that you’ve given the lessons you’ve

learned the mistakes

you’ve made the knowledge that you’ve

acquired

when you think about where you are in

your journey

right now it inspires you

because you look back at what you

accomplish and you think wow

i did that remember

so when this friend of mine went back to

those job requirements

and self-reflected they said oh yeah

that’s right

in 1997 i managed that budget

of a million dollars i checked that box

and remember in 1999 i was heading up

that team of people for that project

those experiences translate

i want to challenge you to think about

your accomplishments

i like to call this developing your

highlight reel

we all have them but we tend to forget

i’m not just thinking about thinking

about what you did last week

last month in the last year

but actually taking time to reflect

on those experiences those stories those

mistakes that you’ve made

over the last 10 15 maybe 20 years

and use that experience to propel you

forward

your highlight reel you know it’s a

challenge

because a lot of times we want that

instant gratification oh i did that last

week perfect i’ll put that on there

that’s what i want you to do to build

confidence

is to take the time to self-reflect

and create your highlight reel

self-reliance let’s talk about that

self-reliance is trusting in yourself

in your abilities being brave

it takes courage to build confidence

it takes courage to not compare yourself

to others

and that’s a challenge these days with

social media

and everything at our fingertips

to not compare yourself to others and

not try to keep up with others

but be brave and pull your safety net

out

if you need to about eight years ago

i lived in germany and as part of that

journey and that experience

every february there was something

called a ski break

i know it sounds crazy doesn’t it i

still pinch myself

when i think of those trips but every

february and if you’re european you will

be able to relate

there was a week holiday where you were

able to travel

and ski each year we went to a different

place this particular year

we went to italy we traveled with other

families

there were about 12 of us and about day

three

i was tired i have to be honest

i’ll put it out there full disclosure i

was

the weakest link i was i was the weakest

link of the group

i ski i’m a little bit more of a blue

green

apple strudel hot chocolate kind of

skier

and that morning at breakfast i heard

some rumblings

a lot of the group wanted to go to this

particular part

of the mountain that was challenging

lots of black diamonds lots of

challenging courses

i remember overhearing

somebody say well i really want to do

that today but i’m not sure amy can do

it

and to be honest i had to rely on myself

on my instincts i had to realize that

you know what i know i can’t keep up

with you today and that’s okay

because you need to go and enjoy that

and i’m going to go do something

different i’m going to rely

on myself to be brave step out of my

comfort zone

so i kid you not i walked over to the

reception desk

and each day they had a list albeit in

it it was in italian

there was a list of activities that you

could participate in

i went over to the reception desk and

and there is this beautiful bowl

this beautiful ceramic italian bowl

filled with biscotti

well of course i had to grab one and i

was going to turn around

but this gentleman said bonjourno

i looked on either side of me and there

was no one standing there it was just me

he said hello i’m giuseppe i kid you not

his name was giuseppe

you can picture it in your mind and he

said you know what come join me today

come join me today on this snowshoe

adventure

why not right everybody else was doing

something that they enjoyed and were

confident about

why not i’ll give it a try and that

picture right there in that slide that

is me

that is me standing about i don’t know

seven kilometers in

to a hike in snowshoes which i had never

done before

crazy but so much fun

rely on yourself be brave trust your

instincts

the incredible rbg

once said ask yourself

how do i add value to my organization

and society

do i have a purpose that motivates me

to be my best self

about nine months before i turned 50 i

was sitting

in my house and it was quiet

i never have a quiet house i’m a wife

and a mom of three but at this point in

my life

two of mine had flown the nest and one

was in high school i was sitting there

and i was feeling stuck i didn’t know

where to go i was

asking myself these questions who am i

where am i

it was almost as if i was standing on a

road

with a map and i didn’t know where to go

i took that time to become my

own historian history

that word alone has the word story in it

you’re the keeper of your stories be

your own historian self-reflect

i created my highlight reel i used the

experiences i had

as a journalist early on working in pr

and my experiences as a wife

a mom a daughter a sister

because remember those experiences

translate

and it was right there i knew what i

wanted to do

i wanted to challenge myself i wanted to

rediscover and reinvent

and explore new opportunities i wanted

to embrace that feeling of being a

novice

so i launched a podcast crazy as it

sounds

this not so tech savvy woman said

you know what i’m going to do it i had

never listened to a podcast in my life

i honestly was more of a book on tape

check it out from the library type of

woman

but i did it and after many trips to the

genius

bar many youtube tutorials

and the power of google just think what

you have right now

at your fingertips how many times do you

google during a day

i was ready to launch my podcast

i was ready i remember the day like it

was yesterday

i sat in my office and i took a deep

breath and i went for it

it was a solo cast so that’s just me

talking

and at the end i so wish you could have

been

in the office with me because i was

high-fiving myself i was given a little

happy dance

i was thinking i just recorded the next

emmy

winning podcast episode i just know it

until i went back to check where the

file was

on my computer and you know what

i never hit record

no this woman this 50 year old woman

that was going to take on the world

by starting a podcast and and sharing

her message

couldn’t even remember to push record

fear it’s ever present

it takes up bandwidth in our mind every

day

but we can’t be stopped in fear

right we have to trust in our abilities

we have to be brave

and you know what we have to take that

cannonball that plunge

into that water and trust our abilities

you can’t talk defeat

and expect victory

i heard that two years ago in a

conference i attended

and i love it it’s so powerful you can’t

talk to feet and expect victory

our words inspire our actions

think of the incredible muhammad ali

he said i am the greatest of all time

he said that before he even knew he was

and he knew he had to believe it or no

one else would

we have enough people telling us we’re

not good enough

we need to shift that mindset with

self-affirmations

right treat yourself

as you would your guest of honor

when you have people to your home when

you welcome them to your house you

welcome them with love

and kindness and generosity and respect

start talking to yourself as you would

your child

or your best friend

i am healthy i am strong

i am beautiful whatever those

self-affirmations are for you

write them down put them on a piece of

paper

put them in your nightstand in your

purse on your mirror wherever

you can reflect on those in quiet

moments

you are the hero of your story

you are the historian of your life

do not resign

explore rediscover

reinvent

and now i want you to go back for a

moment with me

to the beginning of my talk

and i want you to picture yourself

at that swimming pool on that hot summer

day whether you’re there alone with your

kids

with your grandkids with your friends

i want you to walk over to that high

dive

and get in line and your heart’s going

to be racing because you’re so excited

and you look up at that ladder and you

climb to the very top

and when you get there you run

to the end you

wrap your arms around your legs like

you’re hugging yourself

uncomfortable heck yeah

pretty no but you’ve got to start ugly

and make that impressive splash that

cannonball

with confidence

and when you come up to the surface

take a deep breath and simply say

look at me now

thank you