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	<title>The Dream Doer League &#187; About Self-Confidence</title>
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	<description>YOU always FIND a WAY to DO what you DREAM when you STICK to your STRENGTHS.</description>
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		<title>Share Your Top Three Successes</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/586/share-your-top-three-successes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/586/share-your-top-three-successes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:07:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Confidence Building]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self-confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/586/share-your-top-three-successes/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s Saturday, so that means it’s success sharing time.&#160; In other words, how did you succeed this week?&#160; Here’s the cool part—you get to choose what counts as a success for you.&#160; If you’re still not sure what success looks like for you, ask yourself this question:&#160; what did you do this week that helped [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It’s Saturday, so that means it’s success sharing time.&#160; In other words, how did you succeed this week?&#160; </p>
<p>Here’s the cool part—you get to choose what counts as a success for you.&#160; </p>
<p>If you’re still not sure what success looks like for you, ask yourself this question:&#160; what did you do this week that helped you build your confidence or take a step closer to your dreams?</p>
<p>For instance, I started the official rough draft of my second novel, improved the way I communicate with you on this blog by coming up with specific topics for each day of the week and outlined a ‘confidence building crash course’ to help you use the confidence building formula to supercharge your self-confidence.</p>
<p>Okay…it’s your turn.&#160; Please leave a comment and share your top three successes now.</p>
<p>To your dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
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		<item>
		<title>I Have a Confession to Make&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/560/i-have-a-confession-to-make/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/560/i-have-a-confession-to-make/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gain self-confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Live Your Dreams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/560/i-have-a-confession-to-make/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After hosting the Children Into Champions Tele-Contest last month and listening to all the great advice from the Champion Contestants, I learned something about myself I’ve been a little too ashamed to admit to you until today. I’m still scared to tell you because it’s so embarrassing, but it’s time to swallow my pride and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After hosting the Children Into Champions Tele-Contest last month and listening to all the great advice from the Champion Contestants, I learned something about myself I’ve been a little too ashamed to admit to you until today.</p>
<p>I’m still scared to tell you because it’s so embarrassing, but it’s time to swallow my pride and just admit the truth…I’m not a Champion Dream Doer!</p>
<p>I know what it takes to be a Champion Dream Doer because I have been before. I did publish a novel, which was a big dream come true for me. Since then, however, I’ve been living like a coward, not a champion.</p>
<p>Here’s what I mean.</p>
<p>After my novel became an Amazon bestseller in June 2008, I started writing the sequel.</p>
<p>I worked on that sequel every day for months. I was doing something about my dream of being a writer.</p>
<p>But something nagged me as I wrote. I envisioned this exciting, action-packed, adventure-filled story. Only somewhere between the story I saw in my mind and the words I typed on the computer, the action and adventure turned into dull and boring.</p>
<p>I got frustrated with myself and my writing because I wasn’t willing to write a bad draft first. I wanted to write a great sequel, but I knew the draft I was writing was far from great. So I set it aside for almost an entire year.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean I quit or gave up or forgot about it. I set it aside knowing I would one day sit down and finish the story I started.</p>
<p>Which is why I kept thinking about my story even though I wasn’t actually writing any words to it.</p>
<p>When I finally did sit down and start writing again this past fall, I scrapped what I had already written and started over. I didn’t get very far before I realized something important was missing: confidence.</p>
<p>You see, I doubted everything I wrote. Would Alex really do this? Would Tyler really say that? Is this what the setting really looks like? Is this really what happens next? Are all the new characters really interesting enough to be in the story? </p>
<p>I finally got so worn out doubting my characters and my story that I stopped writing altogether. Although I love to write and know I am good at it, I’ve lost my confidence in my storytelling ability.</p>
<p>Without believing in this core strength of mine, I’m blocked as a writer. So the prospect of writing my second novel scares me. I want to make it bigger and better than the first book, which is why Alex and Tyler are in a whole new setting with a whole new set of friends facing a whole new major challenge.</p>
<p>Thinking about the story and what these characters get to experience excites me; getting the story out of my head and onto the computer terrifies me.</p>
<p>So it’s a good thing I’ve discovered a formula for building self-confidence. (I’ll reveal the formula on Monday.) I’ve been testing the formula in my second job as a Starbucks barista and find that it works amazingly well.</p>
<p>Now I’m going to apply it to my life as a writer, as an athlete and as a coach.</p>
<p>I’m going to build confidence in myself as a writer by taking action and letting myself write a really bad first draft of my second novel.</p>
<p>I’m going to build confidence in myself as an athlete by challenging myself to do something I’m not certain I’m physically capable of achieving: running a six-minute mile. I’ve never run a mile anywhere close to that fast before, but I’m curious. Is that possible for me? I won’t know until I try.</p>
<p>And I’m going to build confidence in myself as a coach by challenging you push yourself and live your dreams.</p>
<p>That’s why I’ve made some major changes for the Dream Doer League. The League now has two teams: The Dream Doer Team and The Champion Challenge Team. The objective of both teams is the same: gain unshakable self-confidence, dream unbreakable dreams and live with unstoppable success.</p>
<p>The standing mission for both teams is also the same: find a way to do what you dream <i>every single day.</i></p>
<p>In other words, your mission is simply to do one little thing every day that you love to do and are passionate about. Fun, right?</p>
<p>For the Dream Doer Team (FREE registration opens Monday), I’ll share my Dream Doer progress with you through daily Monday-Saturday email updates and blog posts.</p>
<p>When I have a lousy day, I’ll tell you about it. When I have a great day, I’ll tell you about it. When I make a mistake, I’ll share it with you. When I succeed, I’ll share that with you, too. And I’ll always be sharing tips I learn as I learn them to help you gain confidence and live your dreams.</p>
<p>And since we’re teammates, I want to hear about your days in return. So use that comment section on the blog to share with me your successes and mistakes and ways you’re finding to live your dreams.</p>
<p>Since I’m your coach, you can also use the comment section on the blog to ask me your questions. I’m here to help you live your dreams, so please let me know how I can help you by communicating with me either on the blog or through email. (What I miss the most about playing sports and coaching sports is the people on my teams. Just because I’m no longer a college athlete or high school coach is no reason to give up being part of a team!)</p>
<p>For those of you looking for more of a challenge, I have also developed the Champion Challenge Team. (If you participated in the Children Into Champions Tele-Contest, you’re automatically upgraded to this team as your prize.)</p>
<p>On this team, you’ll be challenged to complete a short, specific mission each day. Then we’ll get together via telephone every Saturday to play the Champion Creator Game of the Week.</p>
<p>Our team project will be working together to write <u>The Dream Doers and the Champion Challenge</u>. In other words, I’ll seek your ideas and expertise as I write, edit and publish this second book in The Dream Doers series. This book can be great if we make writing it a team effort!</p>
<p>Oh, and as a team, we’ll vote on which charity we should donate the royalties to once it’s published. Plus you’ll be named as a contributing author in the published book.</p>
<p>Alex and Tyler have some intense challenges to face in the story, and as a member of the Champion Challenge Team, you’ll get to help them figure out a way to become Champion Dream Doers.</p>
<p>The best part is that you’ll learn how to be a Champion Dream Doer along the way.</p>
<p>Now before I can coach you, I have to first prove to myself that I remember how to be a Champion Dream Doer. So starting now, I have until noon on January 28 to write a complete draft of the entire book. (It’s going to be terrible; that’s why I’ll need you on my team to help make it great.)</p>
<p>When I hit that target, I’ll start allowing sign-ups for the Champion Challenge Team. Registration will close on January 30, and play will officially begin on February 1.</p>
<p>I’ll keep you posted on my progress and will be releasing more details about how to join the Champion Challenge Team over the next three weeks.</p>
<p>Until then, please enjoy being a part of the new Dream Doer Team!</p>
<p>So while I’m working on my really bad rough draft, what dream will you be doing something about?</p>
<p>Visit the blog and leave a comment to let me know.</p>
<p>To your dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. If gaining self-confidence, living your dreams and being successful doesn’t interest you, please don’t join The Dream Doer Team.</p>
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		<title>Shakable Confidence Stinks!</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/504/shakable-confidence-stinks/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/504/shakable-confidence-stinks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high school sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negative thinking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/504/shakable-confidence-stinks/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. Have you ever wanted something but only had a brief amount of time to choose to chase that dream to try to get what you wanted? Except by the time you chose to go after it, it was too late? I have. Now [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean</i>.</p>
<p>Have you ever wanted something but only had a brief amount of time to choose to chase that dream to try to get what you wanted? Except by the time you chose to go after it, it was too late?</p>
<p>I have.</p>
<p>Now I always have to wonder ‘what if?’ I’m never going to get another chance, and I’m never going to know for sure if I could have made it.</p>
<p>I’m talking about the chance I had in high school to play Division I softball in college.</p>
<p>I wanted to be good enough to compete at the top level of college competition. Looking back now, I know I could have been if I had just tried.</p>
<p>So why didn’t I?</p>
<p>The answer comes down to this: I didn’t have enough confidence in my softball skills to even attempt to play softball at a Division I college.</p>
<p>I knew I was a decent player, but I never let myself see how good I was. I was too busy pointing out my mistakes to anyone who would listen, secretly comparing myself to every other player on my team and trash talking to me about me.</p>
<p>Even when my coaches, teammates and parents would encourage me, I didn’t want to listen. I thought I needed to be negative and hard on myself to become a better player, so I didn’t want their praise or encouragement.</p>
<p>To be honest, I was downright grouchy and unbearable to be around if I played a bad game!</p>
<p>I realize how wrong I was now, but back then, I seriously believed the way to make myself better was to mentally beat myself up on a regular basis. And I believed the way to keep from being cocky and obnoxious was to focus on my mistakes, not praise my successes.</p>
<p>As a result of my negative mindset, I killed my own confidence. So as much as I wanted to play Division I college softball, I didn’t want to endure the embarrassment of not making a Division I team at the college of my choice.</p>
<p>I did want to play softball in college, though, so my goal was to find a small college that had a varsity softball program. That’s why I didn’t even consider attending a Division I school.</p>
<p>I chickened out on pushing myself to be my best because I had no confidence.</p>
<p>Part of me regrets that decision; the other part is glad I had the college experience I did. Still, I’ll always have to wonder if I could have made it at the next level.</p>
<p>Don’t lose your chance to be your best. If you want something, go for it no matter how scared you are.</p>
<p>Learn what it takes to be good, then practice DOING the skills you learn. The more action you take, the stronger your confidence will become.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
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		<title>What Happens to Your Dreams When Confidence is Missing?</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/499/what-happens-to-your-dreams-when-confidence-is-missing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/499/what-happens-to-your-dreams-when-confidence-is-missing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:03:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[girls basketball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[high school sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/499/what-happens-to-your-dreams-when-confidence-is-missing/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. My big dream in high school was to be a super star athlete in all three sports I played: volleyball, basketball and softball. I could see myself winning games for my teams at the last second, collecting all kinds of awards at the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean</i>.</p>
<p>My big dream in high school was to be a super star athlete in all three sports I played: volleyball, basketball and softball.</p>
<p>I could see myself winning games for my teams at the last second, collecting all kinds of awards at the end of each season and having dozens of college scouts offer me scholarships to their schools.</p>
<p>Those dreams sure were exciting. They filled me with hope and gave me a reason to go to practice every day. Too bad I wasn’t a talented enough athlete to be a super star and make those big dreams come true!</p>
<p>I was, however, a good athlete. I had enough talent to be a starter on my volleyball and softball teams all four years, and after playing a lot of minutes coming off the bench on my basketball team my first three years, I earned my way into a starting role by my senior year.</p>
<p>In other words, I had enough talent to be one of the better players on my teams. What I never had enough of, though, was confidence. Especially in basketball.</p>
<p>When I stepped onto a softball field, I believed I was good. I just never believed I was great. But I’ll share more in another episode about my shakable softball confidence and how that limited my softball success. Today I want to focus on my nonexistent basketball confidence.</p>
<p>When I stepped onto a basketball court, I believed I was lousy. I had no confidence at all in my ability to shoot or dribble the basketball, play defense or rebound. And because I kept telling myself I was a lousy basketball player, I never let myself gain the confidence I needed to become good.</p>
<p>Every time I took a shot, I was afraid the other team would block it. Or I was afraid I’d miss the rim entirely and shoot an embarrassing air ball.</p>
<p>Every time I caught a pass or had to dribble, I was afraid the other team would steal it.</p>
<p>Every time I had a player to defend, I was afraid she would dribble by me or shoot the ball and hit a shot in my face.</p>
<p>Every time I went for a rebound, I was afraid someone bigger and stronger would push me out of the way and take the ball from me.</p>
<p>I spent a lot of time being afraid and not a lot of time building my skills so that I wouldn’t have to be afraid to step onto a basketball court any more.</p>
<p>I’ll always have to wonder how good I could have been as a high school basketball player. I lost my chance to be good. Don’t lose yours. If you want something, go for it no matter how scared you are.</p>
<p>Learn what it takes to be good, then practice DOING the skills you learn. The more action you take, the stronger your confidence will become.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
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		<title>How I Lost My Self-Confidence</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/475/how-i-lost-my-self-confidence/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/475/how-i-lost-my-self-confidence/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[building confidence in kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/475/how-i-lost-my-self-confidence/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. Ever realize how much easier it is to be negative than it is to be positive? Or how much easier it is to talk about things you’re bad at than recognize things you’re good at? Here’s the really strange thing. When I was [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean</i>. </p>
<p>Ever realize how much easier it is to be negative than it is to be positive?</p>
<p>Or how much easier it is to talk about things you’re bad at than recognize things you’re good at?</p>
<p>Here’s the really strange thing. When I was in middle school and high school, I taught myself to believe that being negative and talking about how bad I was was a good thing.</p>
<p>Weird, right? Well, that’s because I didn’t like cocky kids. It bothered me when they bragged about how smart they were in school. Because if they bragged about their grades and I didn’t score as high on the test or paper or homework, I would feel stupid.</p>
<p>Since I played a lot of sports, I also didn’t like it when my teammates or someone I was playing against bragged about how good they were. Because if they bragged about things like how hard they could throw or how far they could hit a ball, I would feel invisible and useless. I would feel like I wasn’t any good and didn’t belong on the team.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to make other kids feel stupid or invisible or useless, so instead of bragging about myself, I would do just the opposite. I would think about and talk about all the mistakes I made on my school work or in the sports I played.</p>
<p>And the more I focused on all the bad results I was getting in school or sports, the more confidence I lost in myself. I began to believe I couldn’t get great grades or be a great athlete.</p>
<p>Since I didn’t believe in myself, I didn’t believe in my dreams, either. I believed I couldn’t have what I wanted to have or be who I wanted to be.</p>
<p>I taught myself to believe I couldn’t do a lot of things, and I was right.</p>
<p>I wasn’t right because my dreams were impossible; I was right because I never tried to live my dreams…until I learned I could always find a way to do what I dream when I stick to my strengths.</p>
<p>I learned I could be positive and confident about the things I was good at without being cocky.</p>
<p>I learned that the more confident I am in myself and my dreams, I’m happier, I’m more fun to be around and I’m better able to help you find your confidence and live your dreams.</p>
<p>The great news is that you don’t have to spend your middle school and high school days focusing on negative things and losing confidence in yourself. Because no matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today!</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! To help you live your dreams now, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>What Happens When You Focus on Your Mistakes?</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/467/what-happens-when-you-focus-on-your-mistakes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/467/what-happens-when-you-focus-on-your-mistakes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:06:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boost kids confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[confidence in sports]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/467/what-happens-when-you-focus-on-your-mistakes/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. Have you ever tried NOT to make a mistake but ended up making that mistake anyway? I have. Lots of times. Way before I learned how to be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer. When I was growing up, I was very good [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean</i>. </p>
<p>Have you ever tried NOT to make a mistake but ended up making that mistake anyway?</p>
<p>I have. Lots of times. Way before I learned how to be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer.</p>
<p>When I was growing up, I was very good at telling myself NOT to make mistakes. For instance, I remember an all-star softball tournament I was playing in one year when I was about 12 or 13.</p>
<p>It was the championship game, and we were up by one in the last inning. I was playing first base, and the other team had the bases loaded. But we had two outs on them. All we had to do was get one more out, and we would win the state tournament.</p>
<p>As the pitcher got ready to pitch, I bent down and got ready to catch the ball if she hit it to me. But all I could think was, “don’t miss it, don’t miss it, don’t miss it.”</p>
<p>The pitcher pitched the ball.</p>
<p>The batter hit it.</p>
<p>Right to me.</p>
<p>An easy ground ball.</p>
<p>As I watched the ball roll toward me, I kept thinking, “don’t miss it, don’t miss it, don’t miss it.”</p>
<p>Can you guess what happened?</p>
<p>That’s right.</p>
<p>I missed the ball.</p>
<p>It went right through my legs.</p>
<p>Two runs scored.</p>
<p>We lost the game and the championship.</p>
<p>The other team celebrated.</p>
<p>I cried.</p>
<p>You see, the more I told myself not to miss the ball, the more I hurt my confidence. Instead of being confident in the fact that I could catch the ball, I trained myself to be confident that I couldn’t.</p>
<p>Please learn from my mistake. If you want to boost your confidence, be positive. Train yourself to think of what you CAN do instead of what you CAN’T do.</p>
<p>To this day, I wonder what would have happened if I had said to myself “catch the ball, catch the ball, catch the ball.”</p>
<p>So how can you boost your confidence today? Think of something negative you’ve been telling yourself, then turn it into a positive. Focus on the positive point of view, and your confidence will begin to soar.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>What&#8217;s Your &#8216;One Thing&#8217;?</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/454/whats-your-one-thing/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/454/whats-your-one-thing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:16:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[how to gain confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self-confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/454/whats-your-one-thing/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. Average. Normal. Ordinary. Invisible. Unnoticed. That’s the way I felt all through middle school and high school and college. I felt that way because I never truly excelled at anything I did. I wanted to, though. I wanted to be extraordinary. I wanted [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean.</em></p>
<p>Average. Normal. Ordinary. Invisible. Unnoticed. That’s the way I felt all through middle school and high school and college. I felt that way because I never truly excelled at anything I did.</p>
<p>I wanted to, though. I wanted to be extraordinary. I wanted to be recognized, to be noticed, to be great.</p>
<p>I remember being about 14 or 15 and standing in my bedroom feeling frustrated and depressed. I can see the exact spot in my room where I was standing the moment this thought entered my mind for the very first time: “I wish I could find that one thing I’m great at, that one thing I’m better at than anyone else.”</p>
<p>I wanted to be dainty and fashionable and popular, but I wasn’t any good at being ‘cool.’</p>
<p>I wasn’t a nerd either. I made good grades, but I wasn’t the best student. Other kids in my class were smarter and made better grades without studying as much as I did.</p>
<p>I wasn’t great at anything musical. I couldn’t sing well and I never learned how to play an instrument, so being great as a singer or musician was out of the question.</p>
<p>I secretly wanted to be a great actress, but I was too timid to try out for any plays in high school. Besides, I played sports year round and took the toughest classes available to me, so I didn’t have time to act anyway.</p>
<p>That seemed to leave sports as my chance at finding greatness. But on every team I played for, at least one teammate was better than me. I wanted to be a great softball player, but I just didn’t have the talent to go where my dreams wanted to take me.</p>
<p>That’s why I felt frustrated that day. I knew in my heart of hearts that although I was a good athlete, I wasn’t great and that no matter how hard I tried, I would always be just good, ordinary and average. I played with people better than me, and they didn’t try near as hard. I gave everything I had, but that was never enough.</p>
<p>So I wanted to find that one thing. That one thing where I could be the best. I prayed for God to show me what that was so that I could stand out and be recognized and noticed.</p>
<p>I wanted to know what it felt like to be in the spotlight. To have people come to me for advice. To have people come to me for help. To have people look up to me.</p>
<p>I didn’t discover that one thing until years later. That’s because the one thing I have the chance to be great at came so naturally to me that I didn’t even realize I was more talented than the majority of people in that area.</p>
<p>I just assumed everyone was as good at it as I was because it seemed so easy, so normal and so usual to be able to do.</p>
<p>I overlooked my talent, so I got a late start developing it. I haven’t reached a level of greatness yet, but I will. It’s just going to take a lot of practice, a lot of learning and a lot of confidence.</p>
<p>My one thing is writing. You have one thing, too. You have the chance to figure it out now, to start developing it now. So by the time you are my age, you will have already reached a level of greatness and will be on your way to superior excellence.</p>
<p>Think about it. What do you do better than anyone else around you?</p>
<p>It can be anything. The way you make friends. Sports. Music. Writing. Acting. Dancing. Design.</p>
<p>You have a gift, a natural talent, one thing you’re great at. Find out what your one thing is, then challenge yourself to become better and better at that.</p>
<p>That’s how you develop and build your unshakable confidence.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
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		<title>Is Your Confidence As Shaky as Mine Was?</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/453/is-your-confidence-as-shaky-as-mine-was/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/453/is-your-confidence-as-shaky-as-mine-was/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:07:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[confidence in sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self-confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/453/is-your-confidence-as-shaky-as-mine-was/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. As a kid in middle school and high school, I wasn’t popular. I wasn’t super-smart. I wasn’t a good singer. I didn’t know how to play any kind of musical instrument. I was too timid to try acting in any high school plays. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean.</em></p>
<p>As a kid in middle school and high school, I wasn’t popular. I wasn’t super-smart. I wasn’t a good singer. I didn’t know how to play any kind of musical instrument. I was too timid to try acting in any high school plays. So I really wanted to be great at sports. Especially softball, volleyball and basketball.</p>
<p>I’d been playing softball since I was old enough to hit the ball off a tee. Then when I got to high school, I played volleyball and basketball.</p>
<p>I loved the competition. I loved working hard and learning new skills or improving the skills I already had. I loved being part of a team and being fit.</p>
<p>What I really wanted was to be a super-star. I wanted to be the best spiker on the volleyball court. I wanted to be the top scorer on the basketball court. I wanted to the top home run hitter on the softball field and the best strikeout pitcher on the mound.</p>
<p>Only I didn’t have the talent I needed to be any of those things. In volleyball, I was a setter. I set the ball to my teammates so they could spike it and get all the glory.</p>
<p>In basketball, I had a great offensive night if I scored two points and only got playing time because I could play decent defense.</p>
<p>In softball, I hit one over-the-fence home run in all the years I played. I mostly got base hits and the occasional double. As for pitching, I never threw very hard and had to rely on throwing different pitches to keep the batters off balance. Which meant I never struck out a whole lot of batters.</p>
<p>See, I was an average athlete with an average amount of talent. I was good enough to be good but not good enough to be great.</p>
<p>If I had understood my role on each of the teams I played on and focused on becoming great at my role, I would have had much more success and helped my teams be more successful.</p>
<p>Instead, I destroyed my self-confidence by comparing myself to my teammates. I was never as good as Sue in volleyball, Sarah in basketball and Mary in softball. (Not their real names, but there was at least one girl on every team who was better than me.)</p>
<p>But I wanted to have the talent that they had. I wanted to be as good as they were. I wanted my coaches and the fans to notice me the way they noticed the teammates who were better than me.</p>
<p>Only I was so focused on what talent I didn’t have that I didn’t maximize the talent that I did have.</p>
<p>Don’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t miss out on how great you are by comparing yourself to people with different kinds and levels of talent.</p>
<p>Find out what you’re great at, then challenge yourself to become better and better at that one thing. That’s how you develop and build your unshakable confidence.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
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		<title>How to Gain Confidence From Your Mistakes</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/452/how-to-gain-confidence-from-your-mistakes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/452/how-to-gain-confidence-from-your-mistakes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public speaking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self-confidence]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/452/how-to-gain-confidence-from-your-mistakes/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. Ever had a secret dream? But when you had a chance to live that secret dream, you froze? I had one of those moments in the sixth grade. It started when I had to memorize the Hippocratic Oath and recite it in front [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean.</em></p>
<p>Ever had a secret dream? But when you had a chance to live that secret dream, you froze?</p>
<p>I had one of those moments in the sixth grade. It started when I had to memorize the Hippocratic Oath and recite it in front of my sixth grade class.</p>
<p>When I got the assignment, I was so excited about the chance to stand up in front of my class and speak. That was my secret dream: speaking and performing in front of people.</p>
<p>I had that Oath memorized backwards and forwards. I practiced and practiced and practiced so that I could recite it without even thinking and make something that uninteresting be entertaining so my audience would want to listen.</p>
<p>The day of the speech finally came. I was nervous, but I knew I was ready. I stood up and stared at the dozens of pairs of eyes staring back at me. Then quiet little me started speaking.</p>
<p>I delivered it perfectly, just like I had practiced. Everyone clapped when I finished, and I loved that feeling. Even my teacher was smiling.</p>
<p>A few days later, the entire sixth grade class in the school gathered for ‘Greek day.’ I’m not sure how many kids there were altogether, but between the three or four different classrooms, there had to be close to a hundred.</p>
<p>Anyway, as all the kids were gathering in the gym dressed in their togas, my teacher told me that because I did such a good job with the Oath, she wanted me to recite it in front of everyone. Right then. Right there. In just a few minutes.</p>
<p>Being an obedient student, I nodded, affirming that I would do it. But I wasn’t prepared to speak in front of such a large audience. I wasn’t mentally ready. Perhaps if she had given me some warning the day before, I could have practiced and been ready to face everyone my age.</p>
<p>Shortly after everyone took their seats, I went up to the podium after my teacher introduced me, looked out at the crowd and started speaking. I got through the first line. And the second. Then my mind went blank. Completely, totally, 100% blank.</p>
<p>I couldn’t remember the next word. Or the next. Or any other words of the oath. I stood there, frozen, not saying anything. Not blinking. Not breathing. Nothing. When I realized the speech was lost to me, I looked at my teacher, told her I forgot the words and sat down, completely embarrassed and humiliated.</p>
<p>The worst part was that I let my teacher down. She believed in me enough to give the quiet girl in her class the chance to live her dream, and I blew it. From then on through college, I hated standing in front of a live audience because I was afraid I would freeze again and not remember what I was going to say.</p>
<p>I kept beating myself up over that one moment and convinced myself I was a horrible speaker who hated getting up in front of crowds. Deep down, my dream still existed, but I kept it buried to save me from further embarrassment.</p>
<p>What I should have done was learn from my mistake so that I could be better the next time. That’s how I would have gained confidence.</p>
<p>Confidence in something you’re good at comes from repetition. I let one bad experience keep me from living my dream.</p>
<p>Don’t do what I did. Don’t give up on your dreams just because you don’t succeed right away.</p>
<p>You have to start somewhere, and most people start being really bad at something before they have a chance to be really good.</p>
<p>When you learn what you’re better at than anyone else, that is the foundation of your unshakable confidence.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
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		<title>Have &#8216;Grade Wars&#8217; Destroyed Your Confidence as a Student?</title>
		<link>http://www.dreamdoerleague.com/451/have-grade-wars-destroyed-your-confidence-as-a-student/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Jean Schaefer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[About Self-Confidence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivating Stories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[building confidence in kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[confident student]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean. Ever compare yourself to other people? How’s that working out for building your self-confidence? If you feel better about yourself when you compare yourself to someone else, you’re building false confidence. If you feel worse about yourself when you compare yourself to a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Welcome to another edition of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories with Bonnie Jean.</em></p>
<p>Ever compare yourself to other people?</p>
<p>How’s that working out for building your self-confidence?</p>
<p>If you feel better about yourself when you compare yourself to someone else, you’re building false confidence. If you feel worse about yourself when you compare yourself to a person, you’re destroying your confidence.</p>
<p>I was always good at the second one: destroying my confidence. For instance, I was good at destroying confidence in my intelligence.</p>
<p>Now I’m an athlete and I love competition, but competing for the best grades in the class was not a good strategy for me. When I got a test or a paper or a homework assignment back, I wanted to know what everyone else got because I wanted to beat their grades. I wanted to be the smartest one in my class.</p>
<p>I certainly wasn’t the most popular, and since I couldn’t be the best ‘cool’ kid, I wanted to be the best smart kid. Only I wasn’t. A handful of kids always seemed to do just a little better than me.</p>
<p>My grades were never quite good enough to compete and win. If I got a 97, the smarter kids got a 98, 99 or 100. If I got a 100, the smarter kids got a 101, 102 or 105.</p>
<p>It frustrated me so much. I wanted to be the smartest, but I just wasn’t. I would beat myself up for making A’s because my A’s weren’t as high as my classmates.</p>
<p>I reached a breaking point in the tenth grade. In order to save my own sanity, I decided not to share my grades or ask my classmates what their grades were. I decided that the way to improve my grades was to compare myself with one person: me.</p>
<p>I would try to beat myself. I became my greatest rival. I wanted to do better than me. After all, what Jane or Jack made on their tests didn’t go on my transcripts.</p>
<p>Their grades didn’t reflect how much I knew about the subject; mine did. Their grades didn’t show how much effort I put into studying and learning and paying attention in class; mine did.</p>
<p>I became a much more confident student once I strove to improve myself. I learned to accept that others were smarter than me. And that was okay. If they were smarter, they were responsible for using their knowledge to get better grades than me.</p>
<p>That didn’t mean I was stupid. It just meant I needed to do the best with the intelligence I had. So from the tenth grade on, I kept my grades to myself, even through college. I made A’s and B’s throughout my school career because that was the best I could do.</p>
<p>YOUR job is to do YOUR best in school. Whether you make A’s or C’s, you need to know you got that grade because that is the best YOU could do, not because it’s better or worse than anyone else.</p>
<p>In school, do YOUR best; don’t try to gain false confidence by belittling others or destroy your confidence by comparing yourself to people smarter than you.</p>
<p>Learn to believe in who you are, and that starts by discovering your strengths.</p>
<p>That’s where unshakable confidence comes from.</p>
<p>To Your Dreams,   <br />Bonnie Jean</p>
<p>P.S. Please don’t wait as long as I did to <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">find your unshakable confidence</a>! Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today! To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts, which includes the entire audio book of <u>The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets</u>. To claim your FREE gifts, visit <a href="http://www.thedreamdoers.com/">TheDreamDoers.com</a> now.</p>
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