📚 First Chapter: How to Punch Failure in the Face by Tracy Huff #FirstChapter #ChapterOne

Title: How To Punch Failure In The Face
Author: Tracy Huff
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 167
Genre: Self-Development

Are you struggling with your confidence? Have you ever wanted to go after something but don’t know where to begin? Do you need help believing in your ability to go after what you want? Are you afraid of taking the next step? How To Punch Failure in The Face is here to guide you and help you get crystal clear on the exact steps you should be taking right now to identify what is holding you back and the steps you will need to take to achieve your goals.

My goal is to invite you into our community to be empowered, inspired, celebrated, and supported to go after your dreams and get them. I am an expert at helping my students build their confidence and develop the leader in themselves. As a team, we create the space you need to get clarity, confidence, and balance without overwhelm or guilt.

If you are tired of being afraid, or tired of being uncertain and want to stop being so busy you don’t take the time to focus on what you want, then my 9 step process will help you. Let me help, you can do this. Take the first step today.

Release Date: November 2021

Publisher: Independent

Soft Cover: ISBN:979-8773327189; 167 pages; $14.99; hardback $24.99; eBook $7.99; FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VjpkSl

Pick up a signed copy: https://bit.ly/HTPFIFSignedCopy 

Chapter 1

   Believe It Is Possible

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha

The human brain is such a powerful tool. Most of us underestimate just how powerful because part of how we measure our value in the world is based on external factors. We forget how the brain works and that we believe what we think and our beliefs are the assumptions that we make about ourselves and others. We form our beliefs based on our experiences in the world; and they are usually created on an unconscious level. It is these beliefs that limit us and stop us from doing what we might perceive as possible.

So, the first step to punching failure in the face is to believe that you can. I shared with you how I felt discarded and thrown away when my family disowned me. We all have things in our lives that have impacted how we view ourselves. You might think that you aren’t worthy of success or going after your dreams isn’t realistic.

Nothing new will happen if you don’t believe that you can do it — period. Believing in yourself is the very first step that you must take. If you don’t mentally make the shift that what you want is now in the realm of being not just possible in the world, but also possible for you to create it, you will never make it happen but how do you begin this if you have been struggling to achieve success?

You must face how you feel about yourself and make a choice to change it. You must be ready to be honest with yourself. You must be willing to acknowledge all your unique skills and abilities, your perspectives, and how only you can communicate your message to the world. 

You thought I was going to talk about strengths and weaknesses, right? That is a part of this process, of course, but usually we get stuck in what we aren’t good at doing or being and never get to our uniqueness and what makes us special.

Accept Who You Are Right Now

One major misconception about worthiness, or self-worth, is that you build it from outside of you. This is not true –self-worth is built from the inside out. Don’t believe me? What do Robin Williams, John Belushi, Whitney Houston, and Heath Ledger have in common? They were rich, had amazing careers, millions of fans, and STILL died prematurely and with feelings of loneliness and unworthiness.

So, how do you build your self-worth? Self-worth, self-love, and self-esteem begins with loving who you are, accepting who you are, and appreciating your strengths. If you can’t appreciate who you are, you’ll never have positive self-esteem.

It’s time to make peace with yourself. To affirm and accept who you are. To put aside ideas of who you should be and embrace who you already are—you are amazing. Own what makes that true about you.

This was something that I struggled with when I was the only instructor in my martial arts school. I was frustrated with my results and not sure how to grow my school, and I was holding on to the belief that I wasn’t a good enough martial artist or instructor and couldn’t grow my school because I was a woman. You see, the most successful martial arts schools were either run by a man or a husband-and-wife team, where the husband was the chief instructor, and the wife ran the front office and did the administrative work.

But there were ways that I interacted with my students on the mat that were very different than my male counterparts, like teaching 3-year-olds, wiping noses, holding the kid’s hands (when they needed it), allowing the kids to have a bad day and redirecting them, to name just a few. I also coordinated and scheduled things in a way that was more convenient for the parents of my students than myself.

I am not sure when it dawned on me, but one day I realized that all those things were actually my strengths. I chose to embrace my experience as a mother and a Mimi and be more of that on the mat. 

I stopped being concerned about it and just let what I do naturally be part of who I am as a martial arts instructor.

Once I did that, my school began to grow, and I truly began to see the impact I was making and how to continue to do it on a larger scale.

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”—Mark Twain

Working to Your Potential

Believing in your natural abilities and acknowledging your strengths plays a huge role in what we think is possible. Our judgement can become clouded regarding what we think we can achieve. We usually discount our own unique skills and abilities because they come to us naturally and they don’t feel difficult or like work, so we view them as nothing special.

According to Oxford Languages potential means:

po·ten·tial

having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.

Similar: possible, likely, prospective, future, budding, in the making, latent, developing, dormant, unrealized, undeveloped

latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness.

Similar: possibilities, promise, capability, capacity, ability, power, aptitude, talent, what it takes

the possibility of something happening or of someone doing something in the future.

After reading the definition of potential, does living in it and stepping into it seem less scary? Just know that your potential is what you are capable of being, doing, and accomplishing. In that order. 

You have to believe it and then be it first, then develop the qualities and skills to be that expert or master.

What I didn’t realize then that I do now is that I was already working to the best part of myself using my strengths. It was not until I started following Grant Cardone and heard him talk about working to your potential and not your quota did I begin to understand why I was having success. 

Adopting this philosophy allows you to tap into a source of inspiration that will keep you excited about what you are doing.

This allows you to work from a place of strength, not weakness. The truth is that the only weaknesses you should be concerned with are those that are interfering with your ability to achieve success. We are human beings — perfection is not a thing. However, striving to be exceptional and to become the best version of you is a something you can achieve.

How to Identify Your Strengths

The first step to working to your potential is getting clear on what your natural strengths are and how you are already using them in your life. The reason that your strengths are so hard to identify is because they are the skills, and abilities that are so natural that they don’t feel like work. Your strengths come so easy and natural you don’t even think they are unique.

The following questions will begin to get your brain started and help you to identify your strengths. Answer these questions now and analyze it. Don’t judge it. 

Don’t start deciding if you can make money at it or if your family will support you. The task right now is to identify what makes you great and to help you know that you are already amazing.

1. What do you do every day?  Most people tend to spend time on the things they like to do more than the things they don’t like to do. It’s often the struggle between the two that causes strife, not the actual activities. If you find yourself easily making time for activity A but avoiding activity B all the time, that tells you something. People gravitate toward things they’re naturally good at doing.

1. What do other people think you do?  The people around you likely have an opinion about what you are good at and what you’re not good at and usually, they have an idea in their minds about what they think you do all day long. Ask them. Ask friends, family, and even your customers. It can help you truly identify what others think of you and think you’re good at. Sometimes what people believe you’re good at is a little different from your own opinion. DON’T discount their opinions. Remember, you might not value your strengths like they do.

1. What do you like to talk about?  Usually, most people find themselves talking about the things they are good at doing and love to do. If something makes you feel especially good, then you’re likely good at it and like it. That’s a very important thing to note.

1.  What do you appreciate about yourself right now? Don’t make this one complicated. It can be anything — your laugh, your hair, your skin, the way you cook, or stay organized. List at least 10 things below.

Place your trust in what you can do or know (or are capable of learning), but first focus on what you know right now to seek real success in the present. Starting with what you know is the best formula for long-term success and choosing the right path to that success. Start by avoiding excuses.

If you become the type of person who takes responsibility for your actions, you can become the type of person who chooses success over excuses. In addition, you need to learn to believe in yourself and your abilities to succeed. The way you develop belief in yourself is much the same as you develop belief in others — through experiences you have. The more you actually experience feelings of success, the more you’ll believe you can keep experiencing it.

Even if you’re scared, start small. Take the time to visualize how success looks, rather than focusing on any roadblocks getting in your way. Most roadblocks are mental, anyway. You can overcome them in order to get to the point of success if you stay focused on your strengths instead of weaknesses. The main trick is to just get started. Everything else later will be easier than getting started.

Stop Being Afraid

There are many reasons why we are afraid. No one wants to be seen as a failure, or to be ridiculed, or to be judged… or we are afraid to break free from other people’s expectations of who we should be. All those reasons are why it has taken me over 15 years to write this book and put it into the world.

Why now?

Because now I believe that helping just one person is worth it. I can have a bigger impact on my community and help more families, and that makes it worth it. 

My mind began to change as I opened my eyes to the impact I was already having with my students. As I continued to grow and help more people, I started to ask myself different questions.  And the answers surprised me. The questions were simple:

1. What do I want to achieve?
2. What will happen when I achieve it?
3. What do I want to avoid?
4. What happens if I avoid it?
5. What is the next step?
6. What can I do first to make sure it happens?

Answering these questions changed my whole perception and made me willing to just take action toward writing my book and do it in spite of my fears. It allowed me to remember what it felt like to be that 18-year-old girl and to ask myself, “What if I didn’t have the support, job, mentors, my husband (then boyfriend), who believed in me…where would I be? I”

“You become what you believe”– Oprah Winfrey

In that moment I was willing to step through my fears to help someone else who may not have those things or didn’t have them when they needed them the most and still carry the loss, guilt, and shame with them.

What about you? Where are you willing to take action? What is that thing you have been feeling  you should do it for a while now? What would the world be like when you achieve this?

Steps to Believe in Yourself:

1. Face where you are right now.
2. Love yourself — warts and all.
3. Identify your unique skills and abilities.
4. Identify the fears that are stopping you.
5. Ask yourself empowering questions.
6. Write down what you want to achieve.

Resources for this chapter:

Identifying Your Strengths

Belief Model

All resources can be downloaded at howtopunchfailureintheface.com

Book Your Free Strategy Call at www.defeatfailure.com

 

Students Who Have Punched Failure in The Face:

James Hopper

James was my son longer than he has been my student, which kind of made him my guinea pig when developing this system. See, James was a high school football player, and we always had a chance to work on his mindset. The most memorable moment for me was his senior year in high school. We had invested in a program to help him get a scholarship to pay for college. If any of you have been on this journey with your kids, it involves a lot of weekends at training camps and combines. I am not sure when this idea was planted in James’s head, but he came home and told me that he was too short to play Division I football. I was confused, because this had been what we have been working toward for a few years. So, my immediate response to him was, “Who’s rule is that?” He paused and said he was not sure. I asked him if he thought he could play at that level and if he still wanted to play Division I, ball and he said, yes. From that day forward, we focused on what he needed to do to get there and what actions he would need to take to get there…he did it. I didn’t allow him to buy into other people’s beliefs, and he accomplished two milestones: being MVP of the 4A High School Championship Game and getting a full ride scholarship to Virginia Tech.

About the Author

Tracy Huff is a wife, mother, mimi, a Vet of the armed forces, a 4th Degree Black Belt in Tang Soo Do, an author and a business owner. She is the author of  How To Punch Failure in the Face. Her many roles in life have led her to acquire the skills and knowledge that have made her business a success. Tracy has a passion for motivating and helping others build their confidence by identifying their gifts and creating a plan on how to use them now. She is dedicated to helping as many women as she can live that life for themselves. 

After serving in the U.S. Armed Forces for four years, she finished her education in her current home of Fayetteville, NC. She is combining her life experience along with the skills and motivation she has developed as an entrepreneur and Master and sharing that with other business owners. 

She is passionate about helping professional women and entrepreneurs build their confidence and achieve their goals. She’s an in-demand speaker and an expert on developing confidence and leadership skills and is available for workshops and speaking events. 

Visit her website at www.defeatfailure.com or connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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