Becoming a Big Fish in a Small Pond and Building Confidence

I read Neil Pasricha’s latest book, You Are Awesome, in two sittings. I’ll cut right to the chase: this book is one of the best (and most vulnerable and entertaining) books on resiliency out there. If you’re looking to become more resilient, you should pick this one up.

A thought became very clear once I began digging into the book: I absolutely had to interview Neil on the podcast. Luckily, he agreed. (You can listen to our conversation at the bottom of this post.)

There are so many nuggets of insight from our conversation that I think you’ll find enjoyable, but one of my favorite ideas that we chatted about, which you can implement immediately, is about some questions we can ask ourselves each morning to boost how resilient we are. Neil suggests beginning each day with three reflections:

• Today, I am grateful for _______.
• Today, I will focus on _______.
• Today, I will let go of _______.

Daily gratitude reminds us of how lucky we are. Choosing a focus lets us set a purposeful direction for the day. And choosing something to let go of allows us to remind ourselves that not all of our baggage is worth carrying.

In our conversation, we also chat about the stories we tell ourselves, and how we can question whether or not they’re true. When you find that the dialogue in your head has gotten heated, and you’re not sure whether you should believe it, it’s worth asking yourself three questions:

• Is this just a story I’m telling myself?
• Will this matter on my deathbed?
• Can I actually do something about this?

When it is just a story, if it won’t matter, and if you indeed can’t do anything about it, it’s not a story worth buying into.

If I’m honest, resiliency is not something I’d thought a lot about, until I picked up this book. I’m sure that, should you decide to dig into this interview (and the book!) you’ll find the exact same.

Enjoy!

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