Heather Hansen

Trust Yourself in 2019 – Here’s How

New Year’s Resolutions are dangerous. They are enticing…….”when I’m done partying and eating my face off I will eat less, move more, get up earlier, drink more water and meditate.” But you need to be very careful what you promise yourself. Because if you make yourself a promise and you break it, you lose your own credibility and trust. And that is NOT the way you want to start the year. You have got to be able to trust yourself.

In my book, The Elegant Warrior, I talk about credibility. If the jury doesn’t find me credible, I cannot win. Full stop. I can lose an argument, lose an objection, or lose a point but if I lose the jury’s trust, I should take off my stilettos, put on my sneakers and walk myself home. Trust is that important.

And the same is true in life. Your friends, family, clients, colleagues and customers all need to find you credible if you want to win. They have to trust you. But NOTHING is more important than trusting yourself. 

In my work with individuals and businesses, we focus on credibility. We drill down on how they set expectations, then meet them. We explore how they make promises, and then keep them. And we make sure that we embrace vulnerability, so that if they can’t meet an expectation or keep a promise, they are willing to be honest about it, sharing the what, why and how they’ll fix it.

As you ease into the New Year, you are likely recovered from your champagne hangover. But too many, too aggressive resolutions can leave you hungover as well. And they can lead to a loss of your own trust. So think long and hard about the expectations you are setting for yourself in 2019, and the promises you are making to yourself. It is far better to make smaller promises and keep them, and then make a new promise on February 1st. When it comes to credibility and trust, it is best to underpromise and overdeliver. It works in the courtroom. It works in business. And it will work for you.

Heather Hansen

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