Wrapping Up 2023 - Lessons On Credibility Thus Far

Lessons on Credibility from 2023

With the year 2023 winding down to a close, I thought this would be a good time to help wrap up some of my biggest lessons on establishing credibility thus far. 2023 was a whirlwind for me with constant change, setbacks, and also great successes. 

I completed my degree bringing my journey through traditional education to a close and allowing me to focus on developing new ways to learn in the direction and paths of life that I would like to. Here are the lessons I learned through pursuing my degree:

• We are all going to do things we don't want to do in life. Don't do it for others; do it for you. I almost dropped out of school a multitude of times and in the final months of my degree, it became about finishing what I started. I'm not convinced I learned much of value when it comes to marketing as a result of attending university, but I learned a lot about myself.

• Procrastination will show itself in all aspects of your life. Don't let it overrun one aspect of it. Sleep habits and my approach to work since attending university has been to put it off until the last moment and turn in sub-par work. I was rewarded for this behavior countless of times in the education field and how did it serve me? Not very well; I have to make a conscious effort every time I sit down to do any form of work to approach it ahead of time as to not lose out on the reward. While it still gets the work done, I can do so much better and it is what has hindered my journey toward pursuing public speaking. In this effort, I am actively putting into practice the habits that will get me where I want to go and not waiting until January 1st to start bettering myself.

• Finally, sleep is important. If you find yourself doom scrolling in the evening, ask yourself why. By asking why enough times, I learned that I was simply allowing myself to scroll because it put off, just for a moment, all of the tasks I had to do the next day. The reality? It didn't actually get rid of the tasks the next day; I simply executed said tasks tired.

While the degree itself doesn't hold much value to me, the lessons I learned about myself are what I believe to be most valuable going into 2024. I got to go to Norway as a release and celebration of completing what is supposed to feel like a great victory. It was an incredible experience and I would not trade that for anything. It showed me that there is so much more to this world to experience, that I want to experience and to stop suppressing that desire. It's time I asked myself "how can I?" rather than casting my desires aside. After all, at the end of my life time, I would rather have many stories to tell and share rather than regret the opportunities I didn't take but enough of this subject.

As far as credibility goes, I have struggled to answer exactly how to establish professional credibility, however, here are some of the lessons for anyone reading (adapted fro multiple references such as Aristotle, Jordan Peterson, Chris Williamson, Alex Hormozi, and many more).

1. Just start. While this seems like a common answer, it is one of the, if not the, most important steps. This is more than half of the battle (as quoted any times). Pick a direction and go with it. You won't know if you never try. Don't get stuck analyzing all of the possible outcomes and things that can go wrong. Deal with those as they come. Give your focus to the present and let the rest happen.
   
   
2. Consistency is more important than result or outcome. In the education system, we are not taught how to think for ourselves or develop ourselves through the pursuit of education. Instead, we are taught how to get a grade. The curriculum is based around passing the test, passing the assignment, or how to best format the opinions held by our educators in a way that is pleasing to them and written in the desired way. Instead of challenging ourselves to give our best and that it is okay to fail, we cast that aside (and ourselves as a consequence) to attain the desired result: a passing grade. Learning to fail is the best thing we can do for ourselves as it is certain to fall upon us at one point or another. We get to choose what we do with it.
   
   
3. Credibility, good or bad, is built through trust; trust is a result of consistency. The key component of credibility is consistency. Everything I have read, watched, researched, etc. points back to this component (consistency). Consistency builds trust because trust is based on whether or not your words align with your actions. Actions will tell someone everything they need to know. If they can trust your actions, they learn to trust your words. Additionally, if they can trust both your words and action, if your focus is on providing value to your interactions, that value is trusted and likely will be offer to others as a valuable resource. Hence, your trust has now spread further than that one person and your credibility also improved as a result of consistent effort.
   
   
4. Mindset is everything. We have the power to completely change what we perceive simply by tuning our focus to the aspects that we want to see. If you have something about yourself that you don't like, how could you make it positive and add in an action step from it? For example, if you feel like you can't focus long term yet you can sit and play a video game for 6 hours, is it that you lack focus or is your focus simply placed elsewhere? Changing the approach and the bad aspect into a good one has helped me reframe the steps I can take towards establishing credibility (trust) with myself and others around me.
   
   
5. We are all consistent in something, we just have to learn to place that focus where we want to. In fact, learning to control our emotions, regulate ourselves, and conquer ourselves is the precipice of self-improvement and self-mastery. Aristotle noticed this same pattern and even stated, "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self." If we can control exactly what we give our focus to, delay gratification, and go after the things we want, wouldn't that, in essence, mean we would be brave? So the lesson is this: control yourself. Focus on your life so much so that you don't have time to focus on others'. In this way, we can build the lives we desire.

I am looking forward to 2024. By not delaying my desire to start my improvement until 2024 and starting today, I am actively pursuing the goals I have put off in 2023 and my trajectory towards becoming a speaker. I would love to inspire you to take some time to do the same for yourself today. What is it that you are looking forward to in 2024 and what small steps can you take today, if it isn't already 2024 where you live, that can put you on the trajectory upwards for 2024? 

Let me know down below and stay credible.

Collens W.