What’s the one thing that everyone who successfully completes their training program has in common?
You might assume they’re all just fast learners who are able to stay focused for hours—but learning abilities aren’t everything! What they actually share above all is great determination and motivation. In order to succeed, you have to be motivated, believe in yourself, and know how to maintain that confidence all the way to the end.
The good news is that there are practical techniques you can use to boost your motivation and self-confidence. Having a clear professional goal is one of them. That’s what we’ll be exploring together now!
Set Your Professional Goal
To get started, try answering this deceptively simple question: Why are you here?
I know there’s a reason—starting a new training program demands time, energy, and effort. If you’ve taken that plunge, it means you must be driven by an ultimate goal. Maybe you have dreams of changing careers, discovering a new field, getting a promotion or joining a new company. Try to identify the professional outcome you want to achieve after completing your training program.
Visualize Achieving Your Goal
Now, gaze into the future: If you reached your professional goal, what would your life look like?
So, imagine where you’ll be after you’ve finished your training program:
What kind of work will you be doing?
Who will you be working with?
At what company or type of company?
What will your working conditions be like?
What will a typical day of work look like?
Close your eyes and imagine how you’ll feel in this situation. Do you feel excited? fulfilled? Is it what you want to be doing?
I suggest that you make a list of all the benefits associated with this new situation, whether in terms of personal fulfillment, work-life balance, a stronger salary, etc.
Do you find it challenging to imagine the future? Don’t worry—it’s normal not to have the answers to all these questions yet. But as much as you can, try to visualize what your professional life will look like. That will help you stay on track during your training program, all the way until you earn your certification.
Over to You!
When you’re ready, write down your takeaways from this exercise in your start-of-training worksheet. Describe your professional goal in a few sentences.
Let Go of Limiting Beliefs
Even if you have clear objectives, obstacles can arise that prevent you from moving forward. The biggest obstacle tends to be a lack of self-confidence, which sometimes takes the form of impostor syndrome (when we feel we don’t deserve to be in the position we’re in).
Have you ever heard that little voice inside your head, the one that whispers, “You’ll never make it,” or “You can’t do anything right”?
Those are what we call limiting beliefs: false ideas you have about yourself that can prevent you from succeeding. But you’re not alone. We all have our limiting beliefs (even those who seem the most confident!), and it’s possible to overcome them. That’s what we’ll be doing together now.
1. Make a list of your limiting beliefs: When you think about starting your training program, what limiting beliefs come to mind?
For example, I’ve had students tell me things like, “I’m just not good with computers and that’ll never change,” “I’m too old to learn new things,” “I’m not cut out to go back to school,” or “I’m not capable of changing careers,” etc.
2. Prove the belief false by drawing on your own real-life experiences, inspirational examples from others, or resources that refute that belief.
For example, if you tell yourself “I’m too old to learn new things,” read what neuroscience has to say on the subject of aging and learning new concepts. You’ll find that there’s no age limit for learning, and that our brain is plastic—it can rearrange itself, creating new neurons and forming new connections, throughout our entire lifetime! In short, it’s never too late to learn new things.
For another example, if you think you’re incapable of changing careers, think about all the people who’ve done it before you, even though they started from a situation just like yours! I can assure you that there are many such people, and if they can do it, so can you.
3. Replace your “limiting belief” with an affirmation. It’s possible to condition your thoughts. Limiting beliefs are stubborn—they can sometimes come back in spite of ourselves, even after we’ve deconstructed them. But you can learn to keep them at bay by systematically replacing your limiting belief with an affirming thought. Going back to our earlier examples, you might replace the belief “I’m too old to learn new things” with “I know I’m capable of learning new things”—again, referring back to the evidence you researched. And don’t hesitate to repeat this affirmation to yourself, anytime you feel overwhelmed with doubt! You’ll see—over time, this will help you dismantle those internal obstacles.
Let’s Recap!
Determination, motivation, and self-confidence are all essential factors for success.
The clearer and more motivating your professional goal is, the more you increase your chance of success. That’s why it’s important to set your target now and keep it in mind throughout your training program.
To boost your self-confidence, you can deconstruct your “limiting beliefs”—those false ideas you have about yourself. First you need to identify the thoughts that are holding you back, then replace them with affirmations.
Now that you’re at peak motivation and self-confidence, I’m sure you’re eager to get to the heart of our topic: What will your training look like? That’s what we’ll be exploring together in the next chapter!
