Seven ideas I’m taking with me this week.
A few ideas stayed with me this week — the kind that make you pause, reset, and choose a slightly better story for yourself.
For ambitious professionals building careers, confidence, relationships, and lives that actually feel good from the inside, here are seven thoughts to take into the weekend.
1. Tell yourself a better story
Is there an area of your life where your current story can no longer take you where you want to go?
Rewrite it.
Jim Loehr, a pioneer in sport psychology, observed that one of the most fundamental issues his clients faced was faulty storytelling — the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, what we are capable of, and what is possible for us.
To create a better story, ask yourself:
- Will this story take me where I want to go?
- Does this story move me into action?
- Does this story reflect the truth as honestly as possible?
Because sometimes the biggest shift is not changing your whole life.
It’s changing the story that is leading it.
2. You don’t have to do it perfectly
Do you ever pressure yourself with the thought, “If I can’t give this 100%, I shouldn’t do it at all”?
Let that go.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, did not build his success by waiting to feel perfect. He built it by showing up consistently — even on the days when he only had 60%, 70%, or 80% to give.
Sometimes confidence is not built by doing something brilliantly.
It is built by doing it anyway.
3. Build your confidence like a bank account
Every thought you repeat is either depositing into your confidence or withdrawing from it.
To think more like the best performers in the world, become more selective about what you allow to take up space in your mind.
Choose thoughts that create energy, optimism, and momentum.
Let go of thoughts that create fear, doubt, and hesitation.
Your confidence is not only built by what you achieve.
It is also built by what you rehearse internally.
4. Keep the best, leave the rest
One powerful way to build your confidence bank account is to mine your own memories for evidence.
Write down ten accomplishments that still bring you energy, pride, or encouragement.
Then do not just list them — re-experience them.
Remember who you were in those moments. What you did. What it required from you. What it proved about you.
When you reconnect with your past achievements, you remind your nervous system:
I have done hard things before. I can do them again.
5. Create a reset for the moments between points
Novak Djokovic once said that he probably has more negative thoughts than the average person — but he does not linger on them for long.
That distinction matters.
Confidence does not mean you never have doubt. It means you know how to come back to yourself quickly.
So for the moments when you get derailed by negative, unhelpful, or misleading thoughts, create a simple reset ritual.
Pause. Breathe. Name what is happening. Refocus on what you want.
The goal is not to never lose your focus.
The goal is to return faster.
6. Share your goals with the world — or at least with someone
Rich Roll recently spoke about why he shares his early morning 4am workout routine on social media. His point was simple: maybe nobody cares, but he does — because it keeps him accountable.
There is something powerful in that.
Research suggests that writing down goals, sharing them, and sending progress updates can significantly increase the likelihood of achieving them.
You do not need to announce everything publicly.
But you may need to stop keeping your ambitions completely private.
Sometimes accountability is the bridge between intention and action.
7. Be 1% happier, not 1% better
This weekend, instead of trying to become better, bigger, more impressive, or more productive — try simply to be more present.
Be where you are.
With your partner. Your friends. Your family. Yourself.
Let go of FOMO for a moment. Let go of the pressure to optimize everything.
Maybe the goal is not always to improve.
Maybe sometimes the goal is to actually enjoy the life you are working so hard to build.
So here is my question for you:
What changed for you this week?
What did you notice?
What did you outgrow?
What are you ready to move toward?
I’d love to hear what is shifting in your life and work.
Write to: welcome@standoutjane.com
Bon weekend.
Alamy, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev speak to the audience after a charity match prior to the start of 2025 Australian Open. Melbourne, Australia. 9th Jan, 2024.