I’ve been quiet about Occupy Wall Street.

Until now.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the movement.

And I think Occupy Wall Street is a force for good. But I know not everyone agrees. So I’ve addressed that here, in this short video

What do YOU think about Occupy Wall Street? Share your views here, on the blog.

I think it’s time we all have a voice. Especially to hear what’s good.

Occupying good thoughts,

I love reading poetry. And this lovely poem, from my friend Tara Sophia Mohr, captures a vital facet of Kick-Ass Confidence, what Tara refers to as the “you-shaped hole.” In fact, just this morning, before posting her wisdom, I re-read it, and felt more confident, even in the face of some of the turmoil I’m experiencing about finding a new home and creating my new work.

I trust you’ll enjoy Tara’s wise words…

Sometimes the world feels inhospitable.
You feel all the ways that you and it don’t fit.
You see what’s missing, how it all could be different.

You feel as if you weren’t meant for the world, or the world wasn’t meant for you.

As if the world is “the way it is” and your discomfort with it a problem.

So you get timid. You get quiet about what you see.

But what if this? What if you are meant
to feel the world is inhospitable, unfriendly, off-track
in just the particular ways that you do?

The world has a you-shaped hole in it.
It is missing what you see.
It lacks what you know.

And so you were called into being.
To see the gap, to feel the pain of it, and to fill it.

Filling it is speaking what is missing.
Filling it is stepping into the center of the crowd, into a clearing, and saying, here, my friends, is the future.
Filling it is being what is missing, becoming it.

You don’t have to do it all, but you do have to speak it.
You have to tell your slice of the truth.
You do have to walk toward it with your choices, with your own being.

Then allies and energies will come to you like fireflies swirling around a light.

The roughness of the world, the off-track-ness, the folly that you see,
these are the most precious gifts you will receive in this lifetime.

They are not here to distance you from the world, but to guide you
into your contribution to it.

The world was made with a you-shaped hole in it.
In that way you are important.
In that way you are here to make the world.
In that way you are called.

- Tara Sophia Mohr

Tara Sophia Mohr is the creator and teacher of the global Playing Big leadership program for women, a pioneering program that blends inner work and skills training for leaders from business, the arts and the social sector. Tara earned her MBA from Stanford University, where here studies focused on leadership and innovation, and her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Yale University. She is certified as a coach through The Coaches Training Institute.

How do you get the kind of confidence Tara is talking about? Join me for a FREE teleclass, this coming Wednesday, October 12, at 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern. You’ll discover a new way to view confidence, and learn some of my best tools and techniques for feeling strong and powerful, no matter what. Learn to attract what you really desire into your life, with greater confidence. Sign up for the Creating Kick-Ass Confidence FREE teleclass by clicking here.

If there’s someone who’s modeled the value of “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again” persistence, it’s Kelly Lester. She radiates confidence, even when she’s weathering intense challenges. Often, when we’ve spoken, she’s been juggling six to eight big projects, all at the same time. I’m amazed at how she does everything she does. And so I asked her to write about confidence. I trust you’ll enjoy her wisdom…

From an early age, my parents encouraged me to “speak up” and to stand up straight. I’m not sure that I was confident, but I looked and sounded like I was! Great posture and and an ability to assert myself were the first steps. (When I was a child, my grandmother used to brag about me to other people like this: “She’ll get along great in life.”) But it’s when I started teaching myself skills and realizing that I could learn just about anything (with enough time and patience) that real confidence followed.

If I understand how to do something, I love to share my knowledge with others and I feel that I’m truly able to inspire people due to the fact that I’m sure of myself when I give them advice. It’s very rewarding when I teach people things, especially when I see my own confidence “rub off” on them. I’ve found that it’s true what they say: the more I give, the more I get back. That’s not to say I’m confident all the time, but I know that when to turn up my inner strength on a task. I always strive to give everything I’ve got when I approach a project. I commit to doing my best, even if I know the outcome might be some kind of failure or rejection.

Whether you’re lucky enough to have had self-confidence from a young age, or even if you’ve recently acquired it, don’t ever forget that feeling. Recall a time you’ve felt Kick-Ass Confidence, whatever that event might be — making a great recipe, saying just the right thing at just the right time, taking on a challenge that used to frighten you — and imagine you can keep that event in your pocket, so you can remind yourself of your capabilities. While we can’t be winners all the time – I’ve certainly had my share of tough times – the important thing is to not let setbacks break your confidence in your own abilities. Ultimately, that confidence resides in you, not in the outcome. So keep believing in yourself. Always.

KELLY LESTER is a mom of 3, the creator and CEO of EasyLunchboxes, and an accomplished actress and singer. She’s been seen on stages from coast to coast as well as on the small and big screen. She juggles family and business on an hourly basis, tirelessly alternating between having her hands on the computer keyboard and on the steering wheel of her minivan. She lives in Woodland Hills,  California, with her husband, actor Loren Lester and their family. Learn more about Kelly and EasyLunchboxes at www.EasyLunchboxes.com

Hey, it’s Dr. Susan again:  if you want Kelly’s kind of Kick-Ass Confidence, join me for a FREE teleclass, this coming Wednesday, October 12, at 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern. You’ll discover a new way to view confidence, and learn some of my best tools and techniques for feeling strong and powerful, no matter what. Sign up for the Creating Kick-Ass Confidence FREE teleclass by clicking here:

It’s a total joy to share this guest post by Lissa Rankin, MD. I’ve adored Lissa, founder of Owning Pink, since I met her. She has an unsinkable spirit and oozes creativity and, of course, confidence! Here are her wise words about stepping into your greatness, which surely requires confidence!

It’s so freakin’ easy to play it small. And no wonder! From the time we’re children, we’re encouraged to let the guy win so you don’t make him feel bad, to minimize your beauty so your friends won’t get jealous, to tone down your genius so others won’t feel threatened, to dim your light so no one feels dark in your shadow.

My five-year-old daughter thinks she’s brilliant, innovative, artistic, gorgeous, popular, and wildly lovable. And all of those things are true. But the sad truth is that sometime in the next few years, no matter what I do to try to counterbalance the pressures she’ll be subjected to from all sides, my superstar child will start dialing it down. She’ll shade her sparkle. She’ll get socialized to fade.

She won’t be alone, of course. Her friends will all be trained to do the same. They learn playing small in school, right along with the reading, writing, and arithmetic. And we tend to reinforce what they learn.

We dress up the tendency to play small with words like “humble,” “modest,” and “unpretentious.” Those who don’t play small get labeled with supercharged words of criticism like “arrogant,” “cocky,” “full of herself,” “conceited,” “egotistical,” and “narcissistic.”

Sheesh. None of us want to get saddled with that kind of baggage, so we dial it down and then wind up middle-aged, having lost touch with our pizzazz.

What nobody tells you when you’re twelve, learning how to be humble and unpretentious, is that we’re giving up one of our greatest gifts when agree to dim our light for the sake of being accepted into the world of unremarkable people.  I’m not suggesting you can’t be simultaneously humble and sparkly- just look at Jesus! But when we step away from our greatness in order to fit in, we dig our own coffins, especially when it comes to our professional lives.

I’ve learned the hard way how to navigate the loneliness of being a bright, shiny light (you can read about how I felt as a child here http://www.owningpink.com/blogs/owning-pink/dedicated-to-the-outsiders). But the older I get, the more fearless I am about stepping into my own greatness and embracing my light.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned along the way.

10 Tips For Stepping Into Your Greatness

1. Nobody can dim your light but you.
2. Dialing it down doesn’t really make anyone else feel better. It just makes you feel worse.
3. Confidence and narcissism are not the same thing. Narcissists lack true confidence and overcompensate to make up for the lack.
4. When you step into your greatness, you attract more people than you repel.
5. The confident know they will always land butter side up. Those people take more risks, fall down more often, and wind up shining the brightest.
6. All you have to do is your best. Stepping into your greatness doesn’t mean achieving some unattainable benchmark. When you do your best, you let your light shine.
7. Being confident means managing your fear. When your fears outpower your confidence, you dim your light. Stepping into your greatness requires facing your fears head on and making the choice not to let them rule your decisions any longer.
8. Within your vulnerability lies your strength. Stepping into your greatness doesn’t mean tooting your own horn. Sometimes your greatest strength lies in your flaws, frailties, and foibles.
9. It’s okay to brag. Yes, your vulnerabilities can be your strengths, but it’s also okay to shout your triumphs from the rooftops. Imagine if we all gave ourselves permission to say “I rocked it today!” What if we started every conversation by asking “What’s awesome in your life?” Wouldn’t life be grand?
10. You can’t claim credit for your greatness. Within this wisdom lies your humility. We are all vessels for the Divine to shine through us when we get our egos out of the way. Why would you want to dim your light when it’s merely Divine light shining through you?

Lissa Rankin, MD is a physician, author of two (soon to be three) books, a professional artist, a blogger, a Pink Medicine revolutionary, an online entrepreneur, a mother, a rollercoaster buff, and a lifelong student of stepping into her own greatness and encouraging others to do the same. Learn more about Lissa at OwningPink.com

One of the wisest women I know, Hollis Polk, has an important distinction to share with you about confidence. Does confidence really have to do with the outcome…or your input? I think you’ll find her words give you a new perspective on confidence, one that makes it easier to for you embody what confidence really feels like. By the way, I’ve got two FREE resources to help you kick up your confidence!  Click each link to get these: (1) The free Kick-Ass Confidence Email Series and (2) a free teleclass “Creating Kick-Ass Confidence” on October 12. Sign up for your freebies…I’m confident you’ll enjoy them!

“I’m confident” is rarely a complete sentence. Usually, it’s followed by something specific. You say, “I’m confident that…”, as in

• I’m confident that the sun will rise in the morning, or
• I’m confident that my mother will make a nasty crack about someone at tonight’s dinner party, or
• I’m confident that I can pass this exam, or
• I’m confident that I can win over this audience.

Where does confidence come from? Usually it comes from experience, from which you’ve deduced a pattern, and/or  some kind of external learning.

You’re confident that the sun will rise in the morning because it has for every single day of your life, as it has for every single day of the lives of everyone you know, and because astronomers have explained the earth’s rotation, relative to the sun. That is experience plus learning.

You’re  confident your mother will make that nasty crack because she’s done it at every other dinner party you’ve been at with her. That’s experience.

You’re confident that you can pass the exam because you’ve passed all the exams before and because you’ve done all the homework. That is experience plus learning.

You’re confident you can win over an audience because you’ve done it so many times before. This is the untold secret behind so may young stars. Crystal Bowersox, who came in second at American Idol in 2010 at the age of 24, was amazingly poised. Why? Because she began performing professionally at the age of 10. That is, she’d been a pro for 14 years by the time she got to American Idol. 14 years is a lot of experience — it’s a long time to both perfect your craft and to learn the patterns that it takes to win over an audience. That’s how you develop confidence at both the craft and the performing edge.

What do you do if you aren’t confident?

If you aren’t confident about something, it means you don’t have enough experience and/or knowledge. Which means that your task is to get that experience and/or knowledge.

If the subject about which you lack confidence is not within your control, like the sun rising or someone else’s behavior, then you must do whatever research you can. Something else you can do is to plan for different possibilites. Flexibility can make up for a lack of a sure pattern.

If you need confidence about something within your control, then your only answer is practice. When I was an engineering undergrad, and terrified about my grades in technical courses, which consisted only of exam scores, my father said, “The answer is simple: do every problem in every textbook you have.” Dad was right! I did all those problems and immediately began to ace all my exams. Then I became confident that as long as I did this admittedly prodigious amount of work, I’d succeed.

So developing confidence is simply a matter of increasing your knowledge and gaining experience. Ask yourself:

• How can I learn about this subject?
• How can I practice the skills I need?

When you have the answers to these questions, do the work suggested by those answers.

Hollis Polk (www.BestPsychicByPhone.com) is a life & relationship coach, who has been helping adults deal with divorces, break-ups, new relationships & how to find the right mate for over 15 years. To do this, she blends neurolinguistics and hypnotherapy techniques, decision science, clairvoyance, and the commonsense learned in over 20 years of business experience. Her education includes an engineering degree from Princeton and a Harvard MBA. Hollis hosts “Your Life, Your Relationships”, a call-in advice show, on www.ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com.

Today, I’m buzzing with excitement to introduce you to Daphne Cohn, the Pleasure Nutritionist. She’s has such wonderful ways to share inner wisdom. She gets right to the point about finding your Kick-Ass Confidence. Read her wise words. Then, share how they move you. ~ Dr. Susan

I could share with you a story of a time when I felt really, really confident. But it probably wouldn’t mean a whole lot to you.

I could tell you about someone I know who seems to be really, really confident, but that would probably mean even less.

So instead I’m just going to cut to the chase and tell you my very best method for creating confidence.

Listening.

Most of us don’t listen. We follow.

We follow what someone tells us to say and do. What someone says to eat and how much to move. What someone thinks we’re good at and what another someone thinks we stink at. And we spend our lives not listening.

But true confidence comes from listening. To oneself.

Taking time to tune in and find out

• What makes my heart sing?
• What do I want to do tonight?
• What does my body want to eat?
• Do I feel like going to bed?
• Do I want to make love?
• What clothes feel good on me?
• When do I feel beautiful?

Because true confidence only comes from within. And the one who really knows is always, not just sometimes but always, you.

Today take some time to listen.

Stop what you’re doing. Take 2-3 deep breaths. And ask your beautiful, wise self, what s/he wants. And then listen for the answer. When you hear one, honor the answer.

It only has to take a minute.

And it’s a surefire way to feel kick-ass confident.

Go ahead. Try it right now. Ask yourself what you want. Listen. Share with us: What do you hear?

Yes, yes, yes, Daphne! You’ve named two key elements of confidence that I’ll be sharing in the Kick-Ass Confidence program — Presence and Preferences. When we sense these, we can do anything! Join a free preview of the Kick-Ass Confidence program on Wednesday, October 12. Sign up to learn how you can radiate confidence, from the inside-out.

A bit about the amazing Daphne Cohn, aka The Pleasure Nutritionist:  Daphne is a Whole Health Educator, Raw Foods Specialist and Intuitive Eating Counselor. She has taught courses on nutrition locally and around the United States. Daphne has created several online health and wellness courses. Her new book, “Screw Weight Loss,” is due out in fall 2011.  Check out her heartful, body-loving, delicious programs at http://thepleasurenutritionist.com

Today’s guest post is by artist Marianne Hale. What a joy she is. I love how open Marianne is with her life, including the ups and downs. She shows great confidence…and courage, which is much like confidence. I’m thrilled to share her wise words on courage. Oh, and check out the lovely photograph of courage…that’s Marianne’s original artwork.

Courage: 1.the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc.;  fearless; bravery.

Old French, equivalent to cuer or heart: as in, 1. the center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion.   2. the center of emotion, especially as contrasted to the head as the center of the intellect. 3. capacity for sympathy; feeling; affection + -age: a suffix typically forming mass or abstract nouns from various parts of speech, occurring originally in loanwords from French (voyage; courage).

Thus, Courage is being…

In the center, acting from intuition, feeling & affection.

“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage”.

~Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Letters to Lucilius

What is courage?…   For sure, you, the reader, perform great and small acts of courage everyday. This photo, taken on the Sonoma Coast in Northern California, speaks courage to me. There were two other potential words for this week: Grow and Faith. The photo of “Grow” would have required me to give something up. You see, it is not the most beautiful of my photos although the word itself speaks to a new period in my life. “Faith” is an oldie but goodie, and again, although, striking in its’ own right, it lacked the pizazz that felt required for this particular weekly photo that I post. How many of us these days need to stand firmly in the center of ourselves, with Spirit, and act from a place of intuition, feeling and affection? To follow the deepest callings and longings of our spirits to soar in whatever way we were meant to in this lifetime? I am having, once again, the spiritual 2′ x 4′ from the Universe en*couraging me to get on with what I know I am here to do in spite of the fear, anxiety, and yes, what the past has been. Courage may be saying no, standing up, sitting down or simply waiting for the answer to come. And most often, as in my case today, fear and anxiety doesn’t go anywhere, it is simply feeling it, blowing it a kiss and replacing it with love and inspired acts from the center of my being, getting on with it.

And that, my friends, is courage! Here’s to all of the courageous acts of your one precious life!

“Courage is Love. Definitely.” – Peter Willetts, a very wise man.

Artist, photographer, creative facilitator and muse, Marianne Hale loves to create. Whether that creation is a collaboration with nature to produce art and a photo, creating community in her “Playshops” or launching new products to bring more joy to life.  You can find her work at: www.mariannehaledesigns.com

Hi! It’s Dr. Susan here. My dear friend, Tarra Christoff, displays tons of confidence. She’s not brash. Her confidence is quieter, more serene. That deep flowing self-confidence has empowered her to transform a 4-week trip to Bali into a 4-month adventure. I love what she’s sharing with you today…

Confidence is a by-product of how we act in the world. The mistake many people make is in believing that it is a goal to achieve. But it is not.

Confidence is what emerges when we treat ourselves like a flower that we know will bloom. Sometimes it starts as a seedling, but when that seedling is nourished, it grows. We allow our lives to bloom when we trust our inner wisdom and are willing to pull the weeds of our life in order to grow.

When we nourish our dreams and intuitions, we are in fertile soil, naturally growing in confidence each day. Playing in the fertile soil of our own intuition allows us to live a life more beautiful than we could have imagined.

For example, I recently followed an inner prompting to live in Bali. Within weeks, I created a life that included community, dance, creative expression and the ability to work with women across the world and be a “global citizen.” I could have ignored the voice that encouraged me to travel. In trusting it, my life bloomed. It’s not always this dramatic.

But it is always the leap of faith that carries us into the future that is waiting for us. When we ignore that little voice, our confidence shrinks—and so do we. Composting the difficult times of our lives is also necessary for our beautiful gardens to bloom. Often, our confidence grows even more through how we show up for the difficult times in our lives, the times when we feel fear, doubt, despair or hopelessness.

Our willingness to surrender during these dark nights of the soul opens the ground for something new and greater to unfold. This is often not a pretty process, but the end result is that we are more confident and more alive – we have bloomed.

Tarra Christoff, Ph.D (c) is a career coach, workshop leader, and facilitator of career transformation programs for women. She works internationally with women called to make their contribution in the world. Her passion is creating community and supporting women to create work they love the feminine way. She divides her time between Ubud,Bali, Indonesia and the San Francisco Bay Area. Her website is www.workthatmakesadifference.com.

So, what are you doing to feel more confident in the world?

Curiously yours,

What would YOU like to feel more confident about? I’ve decided to write a whole month of blog posts on creating Kick-Ass Confidence, from mid-September to mid-October. Each day, I’ll be sharing stories, ideas, and practices for cultivating feel-it-in-your-bones, deep-rooted, self-confidence. Get the whole series delivered to your email box, for free! Plus other fun goodies to help you boost your confidence. Subscribe now by clicking here.