Breakthrough

CHAPTER 2Q1: Hearing Who: Breakthrough Confidence

Dedicate the first quarter of your breakthrough day to answering the pivotal “who”—who are you?

A singular breakthrough idea can come from just about anywhere. The foundation for living the blueprint, however, is breakthrough confidence.

Most people, certainly most elite performers, believe they are confident. You can look over your résumé and accomplishments with pride. You can move through this world with a good deal of swagger and certainty, which are invaluable for driving incredible results.

But do you have breakthrough confidence?

I have spent years surrounded by athletes in their late teens and early twenties who've been told they are the most talented players in the world—young men who have been promised unbelievable wealth for their skills, who draw the attention of celebrities and reporters and fans across the globe. The swagger that gives them is an essential element for being stars on NBA courts and for winning games.

But if they want to build truly breakthrough careers, they have to pivot their swagger into a very specific type of confident self‐awareness. They have to maintain their pride in what they've accomplished and the talents they have spent countless hours cultivating, but they also need to dig into the parts of themselves they've buried. They need constructive ways to face the fears that they—and all confident people—expend a lot of energy avoiding and denying. They need the breakthrough confidence that ...