The Nitty-Gritty:

* How Victoria Klein questioned her choices and assumptions to try some decidedly unexpected things in her business and life* Why she decided to go back to school to study Japanese and how the decision gave her a fresh perspective on her business* What’s happened to her level of confidence as she’s experimented and questioned her assumptions* Why her business is better off today than before she took these unconventional risks

Assumptions, defaults, stories—I’ve had a number of conversations recently about the role unconscious choices play in how we run our businesses.

Maybe your inbox is out of control and your calendar is jam-packed, so you go with the flow and assume you need to hire help.

Maybe you tell yourself a story about keeping prices low so that more people will buy and sales will be easier.

Maybe you default to following someone else’s business plan instead of getting creative with your own.

Every single day—every hour, even—we’re presented with choices. But most of them never really look like choices to us because we’re so used to falling back on the default or playing to the story that’s already in our heads about what we’re supposed to do in that scenario.

The option of doing something different doesn’t even cross our minds.

We’re wrapping up our month on confidence with today’s episode and I think it’s worth taking a look back on what we’ve covered. Not in a “previously on What Works…” kind of way. But, instead, looking at the threads that have tied these stories together.

One thing I’ve noticed is how all of our guests made the decision to disrupt the stories about what life or business was supposed to look like…

…and embraced something personal, maybe even unconventional.

Jamie Varon picked up her life and moved to the south of France—and discovered a new a approach to life.

Hillary Rea realized that success doesn’t have to mean conventional growth and that her body of work is much more than the number of butts in seats.

Michael Karsh didn’t wait until he felt ready or experienced enough to sign big deals with Google or Facebook.

Victoria Clark chose to prioritize building her career in a way that meant she was getting paid for the hard work and long hours she was putting into practicing law.

Disrupting long-held stories, beliefs, and assumptions is really uncomfortable. It’s unnerving. While you’re there, being a leader, questioning something important… you end up questioning everything else too.

So maybe that’s another way to look at confidence.

Confidence is the skill, the practice of questioning everything.

It’s the power to be uncomfortable while you forge your own path and make your own decisions. It’s the habit of never assuming that the next step is REALLY the next step.

Today, for our final Candid Confidence Project conversation, my guest is Victoria Klein.

Victoria is an author, entrepreneur,