FivestarMan

Growing up in Oklahoma, my sport of choice was wrestling. I was fortunate to have a very good coach; one who conditioned us physically, instructed us on the strategies of a match, and also mentored us in life. He taught us how to conduct ourselves before, during, and after a match.

Following are six behaviors that increase self-esteem, enhance your self-confidence, and spur your motivation. You may recognize some of them as things you naturally do in your interactions with other people. But if you don’t, I suggest you motivate yourself to take some of these important steps immediately.

Human nature being what it is, we tend to rest on our laurels. When the risk is removed, our drive is often removed as well. When it comes to tenure, what started out as well meaning, has gone horribly wrong – to the point that I believe the entire tenure system needs to be yanked.

You are your most important critic. There is no opinion so vitally important to your well being as the opinion you have of yourself. I believe this self-talk, this psycholinguistics or language of the mind can be controlled to work for us, especially in the building of self-confidence and creativity.

She was falling. Fast. Smoking weed, drinking and hanging out with the wrong people. Cheyenne McKinney went from someone who was doing a lot at Booker T. Washington High School to someone who no one thought would graduate. Then she met Keith Reed.

As a leader—whether in ministry, work, sports or any worthwhile endeavor—your goal should be to actively develop a culture of encouragement. Another way of stating this is that we want to build a “Barnabas Culture.”