About a week ago I read this great post by Brian Clark at Copyblogger: The Power of Confident Writing.  It’s an inspiring article and I’ve been pondering it all week.

About the same time, I was struck by something I saw in the news that was completely unrelated.  The University of Oklahoma Sooners released their 2010 football schedule.

I’m reasonably new to Oklahoma, so I’m not a die-hard Sooners fan but I am a fan of great football and great football traditions.

So I took note when I saw that the official OU Sooner 2010 football schedule includes the Big 12 Championship game planned for December 4, 2010 in Arlington, TX.

I asked a friend – a Sooner booster – about listing the championship game on the schedule and he confirmed that it’s included every year.  His words: “I don’t know if that’s faith or arrogance, but it’s always on our schedule.”

A case could be made that it’s faith because that word implies that action will follow.  OSU and Texas fans might say it’s arrogance.  But more than anything, I think it’s a sign of Confidence.

Just like the sign from Brian Clark’s story that says, “See you tomorrow,”  the Sooner football schedule says: “We will play in the Big 12 Championship this year.”

That simple addition to the schedule tells the coaches and players to plan on it and to do what has to be done to ensure it’s true.  It tells the fans to plan on it and to arrange their vacation schedules accordingly.  It tells the school administration to plan on it and to provide the program with the resources needed to make it happen.

It works.

I just looked up these stats:

• All-time Points Scored:  30,897 / No. 1 in the nation
• Seasons with 11+ wins:  19 / No. 1 in the nation
• Seasons with 10+ wins:  31 / No. 1 in the nation
• Conference Championships (including Big 12):  42
• Big 12 Championships in last 10 years:  Six
• National Titles since 1950:  Seven

My point isn’t necessarily how great the OU football tradition is, but what amazing power Confidence has when we follow it up with action.

What confident actions are you taking to make your goals happen?

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I’m reading Dave Navarro’s ebook, 7 Steps to Playing a Much Bigger Game, and saw this line today:  “You may not see yourself as a 10 on the old sliding scale, maybe you’re a 5 …”

Dave goes on to coach you (me) through the self-imposed speed bump of not being a 10 at whatever it is you are working on.  I’m not a 10 in the workshop business.  I’m definitely not a 10 for my age group in running a marathon.  But those are both things that I’m working toward.

What really caught my attention in this paragraph, though, was how closely it jived with this remark by Omniture’s Josh James in a recent Inc. Magazine interview:

“At one time or another, I had seven different majors. There was a lecture series where entrepreneurs spoke. I’ll never forget thinking, I’m smarter than half these guys. I may be dumber than half, but I’m definitely in the range. So, really, all I have to do is take the risk.”

Josh James saw himself as a 5 when he started Omniture, though he certainly improved from there.

The kicker?  Josh James just sold his company to Adobe for $1.8 billion.

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