Want To Crush Your Self-Doubt? Learn The Habits Of Confident Professionals

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inCourt Reporting, Legal Services, UncategorizedTags:, , , , , , , , ,
Ever notice how some people seem to radiate confidence effortlessly?  Here’s a little secret: it’s not magic, and it’s definitely not something they were born with. Confidence is a skill—one that you can learn, develop, and master.  But here’s the catch: like any skill, confidence requires practice. It’s a muscle that needs regular exercise to stay in shape.  So, whether you’re already feeling pretty good about yourself or looking to take your self-assurance to the next level, we have the proven expertise and tested strategies to boost your confidence and propel your steno career to new heights.  Want to unlock the secrets of unshakeable confidence? I will reveal five game-changing habits that successful steno leaders swear by!

Kickstart your confidence journey with these five game-changing habits that will help you build and maintain unshakable confidence:

Embrace The Yes-and-then-figure-it-out Mindset:  Say yes to opportunities, then figure out how to make it happen. This is how you grow and discover your true potential. New court reporters often get thrown to the wolves in a trial-by-fire exercise, mostly unintentional. You may find yourself in a depo where you are totally unprepared, such as in an asbestos case with 40 attorneys in the room. First step: breathe! You can get through this! Remember your sign changes trick that experienced reporters posted about on Facebook where you double stroke their name or identifying characteristic. Most of the time, only two attorneys will be talking and you’ll realize at the end that you psyched yourself out for nothing. You can call your mentor after the proceeding to figure out how to do all those appearances. Remember to introduce yourself, get a business card from everyone, and ask who they represent, and then get every word! If you need to stop and ask them to slow down or to repeat something, just do that, as you would normally do in a regular, easy depo. Act as if you’ve done it a hundred times, and keep telling yourself “You got this!”


Show Up, Even When It’s Scary:  Courage isn’t about feeling fearless; it’s about taking action despite your fears. Showing up is half the battle. The more you do the tough stuff, the easier it gets. The first time I reported a high-profile assignment with celebrities where the audience was packed wall to wall and the media was there was nerve-wracking and intimidating. My hands were even shaking when I started writing, and I felt like everyone was watching me. I kept my focus on my laptop, watching my realtime that was being broadcast to the judge and several attorneys. The nerves dissipated after a few minutes, and I was able to perform like it was any other day on the record. Now I look forward to those high-profile trials! You’ll be able to do any assignment that comes your way with finesse!


Focus On Progress, Not Perfection:  Small improvements are more important than flawless execution—baby steps forward are still steps in the right direction. When turning in my first YesLaw appeal electronically, as a primary reporter, with 20 volumes, it was rejected 3 times before it was perfect. But now I know all the little things to look for on the next appeal. Another area to focus on for small improvements is your realtime writing. It seems like a lifelong pursuit to have 100% perfect realtime. With each job, I work on a list of case-specific briefs and then I work on fixing one or two problem areas of my writing. I’ll put a word list in front of me, alphabetized, with the bfriefs, and I’ll include the two things I’m working on at the top of the page and I highlight them. For example, I had a couple of conflicts left to resolve, such as online/on line and weekend/week end. Every time those came up during the day, I would focus on writing it correctly. If I didn’t write it correctly, and I realized it after the fact, I would write it at the end of the paragraph when there was a pause in the proceedings; that way you are creating finger-brain muscle memory. Training your finger-brain muscle memory can happen any time during the day, not just as it is happening in realtime. Catch your brain making the mistake and correct it as soon as you are able to and write it correctly. You can erase it later. My writing is almost completely conflict-free now, after over a decade’s work at trying to resolve them all. Sure, I could have done it in a month, but it’s not a race.


Reframe Failure As A Stepping Stone To Success:  Failures are valuable learning experiences—every setback offers insights that bring you closer to success. Not many reporters pass the RPR or CSR on their first try. The fact is, only 10% who try actually succeed at passing these tests. I passed the CSR on my second go. After taking the RPR numerous times over 10 years, the NCRA finally eliminated the open time limit. I took the CRR over six times and failed. I finally started hypnotherapy to address my test anxiety, and found that it also improved my performance anxiety, such as when a jury is behind me watching me or when I’m writing realtime to attorneys and judges.
The importance of failure in achieving success is highlighted by its role in providing valuable learning opportunities and building resilience and perseverance. The psychology of failure reveals that it is not simply a setback or a negative outcome, but rather a crucial stepping stone towards personal development. Failure allows individuals to reflect on their actions, analyze their mistakes, and learn from them. Through failure, individuals gain insights and lessons that can be applied to future endeavors. Additionally, experiencing failure helps build resilience, as individuals learn to bounce back from setbacks and continue pursuing their goals. It also fosters perseverance, as individuals develop the determination to overcome obstacles and keep striving for success. Therefore, embracing failure as a learning opportunity is essential for personal growth and achieving success.

Never, EVER Give Up On Your Goals:  All dreams face obstacles, but consistent effort will eventually break through any barrier. Do you dream of one day achieving your RDR Certification? Dreams act as a powerful motivator, fueling your purpose and igniting your passion. The journey towards achieving them is just as valuable. It builds resilience as you overcome obstacles, teaching you valuable skills and shaping you for success. It gives you opportunities to meet other reporters who are pursuing their RDR and it helps you appreciate and admire and respect the reporters who have achieved their RDR or other accomplishments. Dreams provide direction and purpose, guiding you towards a fulfilling life. The road may not be smooth, but persistence is key; it brings you closer to your goals.  I hope that you will dream big!

Here are a few of my favorite inspirational quotes:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that count.” – Winston Churchill

“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson

“If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.” – Unknown

“Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” – Roy T. Bennett

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela

Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

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