Lydia Fenet - Claim Your Confidence

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ChrisThis has been a year with the highest highs and the lowest lows.The one constant is my love for you.

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Beatrice, Henry, and EloiseMy brave, strong, beautiful children.You are my everything. I love you so much.

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Charles, Andrew, and HilaryThank you for watching out for me, watching over me, and trying to keep my feet on the ground. You are the best siblings in the world.

INTRODUCTION

CLAIM YOUR CONFIDENCE

W ant to know a secret? You already have everything it takes to be confident. Every single thing you need is already inside you. Its time for you to claim that confidence and believe you have what it takes to live life on your terms. A life in which you value your own opinions over those around you. A life you live for you and no one else. The life that you deserve.

Today is the day you begin to build up your resilience, positivity, and fortitude and prepare yourself for that life, confident you are ready for anything that comes your way.

Maybe there was a time when you felt more confident than you do now. You could stride into a room or try something new without fear of being wrong. But these have been unusual times and difficult years, and somewhere in the ups and downs of life you may have forgotten what it feels like to be confident. Your confidence might be buried so deep you stopped listening to your own voice. Instead, you find yourself seeking answers from others, asking people what you should do with your life, and listening as if you havent had the answers all along.

Maybe youve listened to other people for so long you dont remember you are the only one whose opinion matters. Or maybe you need someone to hold a mirror in front of you that reflects what deep down you already know: You have what it takes to walk into any room and believe that you are meant to be there. No matter your ageyoung, old, or somewhere in betweenyou still have time to grow, evolve, and act every single day to make sure that you are never in a place where others are in control of the narrative of your story.

Thats not to say that claiming your confidence is easy. There may be challenges along the way that blindside you and shake you to the core. And over the course of your life, there will be unforeseen events that might make you feel like the entire world is against you. But the lessons you learn in this book will prepare you for those moments and give you the road map you need to stay strong. When the unexpected happens, when you are challenged in a way that makes you feel like you cant go on, you will have built layer upon layer of resilience during the times when the stakes are low so that you have the strength to overcome even the most difficult times.

When life is uncomfortable or hard, when you are scared and want to run from an experience, moving through it and trusting yourself will change you and make you believe in yourself. Everything you live through prepares you to handle something bigger, to become more resilient. If you have claimed your confidence and believe in yourself, you will be fine no matter what happens. And in many cases, you will come back stronger.

How do I know? Because I have spent the last twenty years of my life standing onstage as an auctioneer in front of thousands of people raising money for nonprofits around the world. It has taught me to push myself out of my comfort zone time and time again, to face my fears head-on, get comfortable with the uncomfortable, and shed my imposter syndrome. Each time my confidence was challenged, I learned to dig deeper and trust that I was strong enough to handle it, even when I feared I couldnt. Most importantly, it taught me to never give up, but to pivot and try again. And because of this, when I was tested in a way that I could have never foreseen, I was able to come back even stronger than before. This is what I want for you.

You thought you were opening this book to find a secret recipe for confidence. The secret is that there is no secret. You already have what it takes to be confident, but you have to believe it, too. Its time to close the door on your fears, insecurities, and everything that holds you back. It doesnt matter if you want to be the CEO of a company, the CEO of your family, or the CEO of a dream that only you can see. You will own every part of your story and live the life that you want.

This is your life, and your life story to write.

Its time to go all in.

Claim your confidence. Its time to go after the life you want.

THE TEFLON SHIELD

T he bump of the wheels hitting the runway jolted me awake. Touch down San Francisco. April 2019. Two weeks after the launch of my first book, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You .

As we taxied to the jet bridge, I reflected on the craziness of the past few weeks. They had been, in a word, a blur. The days and nights ran together into a never-ending loop as I juggled time with the kids, my job, and book signings. The pace had been dizzying, but the exhilaration outweighed the exhaustion.

Two weeks prior, on a beautiful April evening, I had sat alongside my family, friends, and colleagues at a dinner celebrating the launch of my book. I felt like I was living in a dream as I looked out at the iconic Rockefeller Center building across the street. The ride home from my book party felt like the most New York moment of all New York moments, and the words of Frank Sinatra floated through my head: If I can make it there, Ill make it anywhere This was my made it moment.

Now, as I got off the plane, I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I was buzzing with excitement as if I had finished three cups of coffee instead of just waking up from a cat nap. I pulled my bag out of the overhead compartment on the plane and walked quickly through the airport, excited to be in one of my favorite cities and for the events of the next few days. As I passed a Hudson News bookseller, a flash of hot pink caught my eye. The Most Powerful Woman in the Room Is You was prominently displayed next to the cash register. My book! In the wild! In a major international airport! I couldnt believe it. How many times had I walked by newsstands in airports around the world and paused to peruse the books section?

I rushed over to the cashier and excitedly told him that it was my book on the counter next to him. He couldnt have been nicerhe immediately told all the women working in the store that it was my book, and each of them posed for pictures with me. He even let me sign the copies next to the register. I stood in the back of the store for a few minutes waiting to see if anyone purchased one, but everyone seemed to be going in and out so quickly they barely gave it a glance. In a sales situation like this you have two choices:

1. You can feel dismayed that no one is picking up your book or whatever you have created,

orand this I highly recommend

1. See it as a challenge. A room full of sales potential. Remember that no one will ever sell something that you created as well as you. If it is yours, take every single opportunity to promote, sell, and tell everyone about it. Lose the embarrassment. You created it. You need to tell everyone why they should buy it.

Never one to miss an opportunity to sell anything, I announced loudly to everyone in the store that I was the author of the book on the counter and would be happy to personalize it if anyone needed a gift. An older gentleman who was purchasing a bottle of water bought a copy for his granddaughter. I told him he should read it too. I couldnt contain my excitement. One more sale than I had when I walked into the store. Watch out, Danielle Steel!

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