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Heather Monahan does it all: she’s an author, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and a champion for those looking to find their confidence.
Facing her fair share of trials and tribulations, Heather Monahan has worked hard to achieve the success she’s found today. Breaking the glass ceiling as Chief Revenue Officer for the Beasley Media Group, being named Limit Breaking Female Founder by Thrive Global, and founding #BossInHeels are just a few of her accomplishments in recent years.
Following the success of her first book, Confidence Creator, Monahan released her second book, Overcome Your Villains: Mastering Your Beliefs, Actions, and Knowledge to Conquer Any Adversity, on November 16th. We spoke with Monahan about the inspiration behind the book; her Beliefs, Actions, and Knowledge (BAK) framework; and the confidence she discovered within herself while writing.
A bonus: she’s included an excerpt from Overcome Your Villains, discussing the BAK framework in-depth, at the bottom of this page.
Q: First of all, congratulations on the book! What was your favorite part of writing it?
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A: Thank you! My favorite thing about writing it was that it wasn’t my first time! This is my second book so I feel a little more confident this time having done this before. I know a little bit more about what to expect so I am not as scared. I also like that I pushed myself further this time. Each time I step into fear is an opportunity for me to grow, which I am proud of!
Q: The title “Overcome Your Villains” was inspired by your past “villain” of a boss. How did you come to settle on this as THE title?
A: I didn’t! I wanted the title to be “Leapfrogging Villains” but Harper Collins Leadership had different ideas. In my first book one of my chapters was named Leapfrogging Villains and people would tell me how much they loved that chapter so I thought it made sense to shine a brighter light on it and make it the title. What I have learned is traditional publishers test and try everything first. They went to market to test many different titles and when I saw the data it was clear that Overcome Your Villains was the winner by a landslide!
Q: Is this book a sequel to your previous bestseller, Confidence Creator? If so, how does Overcome Your Villains follow Confidence Creator’s message?
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A: This book is not a sequel to Confidence Creator. My first book is a compilation of my life’s lowest moments, how I leveraged them to create confidence, and how the reader can too. My new book picks up on the day I was fired from my CRO role in corporate America. It shares the tips and strategies I used to go from fired to where I am today. The reason I wrote it this way is because that was the question I have been asked the most: how did you bounce back so fast from termination and how did you achieve success again?
Q: I read an excerpt from the book regarding the BAK (Beliefs, Actions, Knowledge) framework, and I loved the concept. How did you come up with the BAK framework? Was it while reflecting on your own experiences, or as a tool you found useful in helping others?
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A: My BAK framework is the structure for the entire book! It is a powerful and proven 3-step process to overcome any adversity in business and life. One of my mentors reached out to me two years ago and challenged me to distill my success into a simple process that anyone could use. It took me a while to figure out what it was that I did instinctively, but now that I have mapped it out I am so glad. I now use it daily with success!
Q: Many people say they learn more about themselves as they write. Did you find anything within yourself – perhaps a different form of confidence – when writing this book?
A: I definitely did! As I leaned more into sharing my whole story, including really difficult times to relive, I grew as a person and an author. I have become a more powerful version of myself over the last couple of years and that comes through loud and clear in this book. So many people ask about the difference between my two books and you only have to look at the cover to understand. I was in the dark during my first book. I had just been fired and had no idea what I was going to do. I was also still hiding from shame. My new book is in the light! I have claimed my shame instead of letting it claim me, and doing so has helped me to find my way.
Q: What is the most important message you hope people will take away from this book?
A: Everyone faces adversity, but everyone has the same opportunity to overcome it or let the adversity overcome them. The choice is yours. It really is that simple once you have the process.
Read This Excerpt From Heather Monahan’s Book, Overcoming Your Villains
If you found a secret that gave you the ability to overcome any adversity and finally reach your potential, would you share it with your friends? They will definitely thank you if you do.
If you decide to keep it a secret, they will ask you a lot of questions.
What has changed with you?
What have you been doing differently?
You have the same challenges we all do but you don’t get stuck anymore?
How have you become so resilient lately?
When you uncover the powerful 3-step process to overcome any challenge, you change the game for yourself.
Everyone will keep asking how you do it.
It’s up to you to share it or keep it a secret.
What will you do?
Here’s a peek inside:
Chapter 2: Create Confidence in 3 Easy Steps
This book is built on the solid foundation of my powerful BAK process, which takes us back to a time in our lives when we were full of happiness, believed in ourselves without question, and were willing to take risks without fear of failure.
You don’t think that is true for you? I promise you it is.
As children, we didn’t second guess ourselves before attempting to crawl or walk—we just did it. And if at first, we didn’t succeed, we picked ourselves up and tried again—and again, and again. Until we achieved our goal. We embraced the challenge in a fearless and joyful way, full of self-confidence and always optimistic for the future. Take a look at a baby learning to crawl or walk. They aren’t nervous about what others are thinking. They aren’t waiting for someone to give them permission. They have an urge to move and they go all-in.
That is where we are going to get you BAK to.
There are three parts to the BAK framework: Beliefs (the self-talk and other internal messages we have accepted as truth), Actions (the things we are currently doing—and plan to do in the future—to find success and happiness), and Knowledge (the information and skills we need to be more effective people in every aspect of our work and personal lives). Together, BAK will provide you with a powerful and easy-to-implement framework for creating the confidence you need to leapfrog the villains at work, in your career, and life.
This book has been specifically designed around the BAK framework—enabling you to quickly and easily identify and read the chapters that focus specifically on whatever it is you need most: working on your self-beliefs, taking action, or expanding your knowledge. I want to give you a sense of what that means in this chapter and then I need you to jump to the part of the book that resonates most with you. For example, I am an action person. I feel most comfortable with the idea of taking action, so that is the part of the book I will start with. However, I know plenty of people that are more drawn to self-reflection and would rather start with the Belief part. You decide what is right for you—there are no wrong answers.
When you start with Part I: Beliefs, you are jumping right into examining your own self-talk and inner beliefs. What I have discovered is that for years I had been telling myself a story that was not true. I have a feeling that you have also been telling yourself a self-limiting story that is inaccurate. Can you think of what that story possibly could be? The one story in your head that holds you back from achieving your goals and dreams, time after time? Let’s decide today that this story is inaccurate—it’s just not true. What would that mean to your life?
Here’s an example from my own life: I grew up being called the “social” one while my sister was called the “smart” one. She had perfect grades and flawless SAT scores, she graduated at the top of her class, and she became an accomplished lawyer. I, on the other hand, had always assumed I wasn’t smart. Not because anyone called me dumb, but because I saw her as the smart one, which I thought meant that I wasn’t.
Throughout my life, I told myself the story that I was not smart. That meant that I sat out of meetings if the person coming in had gone to Harvard or some other prestigious university. It meant that I opted out of opportunities where I could have advanced because I was holding onto the story that I was not intelligent.
Fast forward to last Christmas when I met my sister at Walt Disney World with her kids and my son, Dylan. We were sitting talking when my sister shared that she had just taken her kids in for an IQ test. I laughed—who does that but my sister?! Of course, she had done that, and they are probably geniuses just like her.
She asked me if I had taken Dylan in for the IQ test. I told her no and laughed again. She told me she didn’t understand why I didn’t get him tested. Then she asked if I had remembered taking the test as a child and I did not. She told me that the school had directed my mother to bring my sister in for an IQ test. There was no sitter available, so I had to join them. Since I was there, they offered to test me too.
My sister told me that her scores came back off the charts—in the top 1 percent, a genius for sure. Then she also told me that, while my score was not as high as hers was, I also rated in the genius range.
Mic drop moment. This was news to me. I had never heard this story before. I couldn’t believe I had spent the previous 45 years believing I wasn’t smart, and then behaving in ways that reflected and reinforced this false belief.
Make the decision today to stop telling yourself the story that is holding you back. It just isn’t true.
What story are you telling yourself that is currently holding you back?
If this resonates with you, then jump right to the Beliefs part of this book and let’s get to work on changing those fraudulent beliefs.
Of course, Action is my jam. I would always rather do something than self-reflect or evaluate and access knowledge. Maybe because I have loved sports and working out my whole life, or maybe because I understand the power of momentum. If you are like me, you will want to start with Part II: Actions.
Let me give you an example: Owning your own voice and speaking up takes practice, but with time becomes second nature. Twenty years ago, when my confidence was low, I never felt sure if my ideas were good ones or not. That meant that, if I was in a meeting, I avoided raising my hand to contribute for fear that someone else would say it was a terrible idea. It takes practice but speaking up can be learned. Speaking up is an action step. Challenging yourself to speak up one time a day and starting off small will work. Baby steps.
I also realize now that people are invited to a meeting or to be on a team because of their potential contributions. By not contributing, you are actually not holding up your end of the bargain and not warranting your seat at the table. That is a problem.
I have also seen countless times when a more experienced person doesn’t speak up or contribute their great idea because they are afraid it will be seen as antiquated. Conversely, a junior person won’t share their great idea for fear that others will say that they don’t understand the business or that they missed the mark completely. Both have the potential to add value, but in order to do so, they need to take action and raise their hand. Do your job: speak up and contribute. What is the worst that can happen?
While some people gravitate to Beliefs and some to Actions, you may be pulled more toward Knowledge. If you are most comfortable listening to podcasts or reading books or relying on mentors to learn, then you will want to jump forward to Part III: Knowledge. I have learned so much from my time in corporate America, my time in the C-suite, and my time in therapy and studying psychology in college. I am excited to share what I have learned with you.
Here is an example:
Fear is a liar.
This is one of the most powerful statements I have learned in my entire life. Accepting that fear is a liar and nothing but false ideas that I have made up in my own mind has changed everything for me in my life. Some say it’s an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. Whether it’s fear that something could happen to my son, or fear of what could happen to screw up my next presentation, or fear of what someone might say to me, the story created in my mind is always worse than any reality.
When I was a kid, I learned that if I felt fear, I should run home and hide. Somehow, I hung on to this concept all through my life. What that did was cripple me in my personal life and in my career. I have since learned that when I feel fear, I shouldn’t run away and hide. Instead, I should run toward it and embrace it.
Fear is a green light that means go and go faster!
I own the power to dissolve the fear I feel by accepting that it is not real. These days, when I feel fear, I go running right to it. That is the only way to prove it is a liar and it always pays off for me. It can and will pay off for you too.
Don’t overthink this. Just go to the part of the book that you feel is right for you.
Can’t decide? Then just turn the page…
Key Takeaway
Key takeaway: Confidence doesn’t have to be elusive. Your confidence is a combination of your beliefs, actions, and the knowledge you surround yourself with. Pay attention to the beliefs you embrace, the action you take, and the knowledge you expose yourself to and you will have everything you need to grow your confidence.
To get Overcome Your Villains NOW and unlock that secret click below.
If you do it today you also get a $500 bonus bundle for FREE. Think of it as a $500 gift with purchase of Overcome Your Villains.
Will you share your secret? Get it now! https://overcomeyourvillains.com
Are you reading Heather Monahan’s new book? Do you have any book recommendations of your own? Share them in the comments below!
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