What is Confidence?

What is Confidence? Confidence is the belief and assurance that you can rely and count on someone or something. Self confidence on the other hand, is the belief and assurance that you can rely and count on yourself.

The purpose of building confidence is NOT just to feel good about ourselves or to boost our self-esteem (though it is handy in these areas as well).

Having a strong sense of self-confidence means believing in our ability to bring about change in our lives, as well as believing that we can bring about the outcome we want. Confidence empowers us to take action, and continue taking actions.

Conversely, the lack of confidence causes us to stop in our tracks, despite having taken the first step. This is evident where a sudden inspiration or motivation causes us to start something, but after some time, the lack of self-confidence causes us to give up.

"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not." -- Anonymous

Confidence is a state of mind, an emotion or even a feeling. It can be summoned if you know how to control it, regardless of what’s happening externally.

It is possible for someone to stare at the face of Death and still say, “I’m confident I will not die.” Ever witness the anti-hero of a movie that shows arrogance even in the face of death? That’s confidence – well, one form of it.

And similarly, it is possible for someone to tell themselves “I don’t think I can do it” even though they have the power, knowledge, experience, skill, ability, capability, competency, and potential to succeed.

[Related Post: How to Build Confidence]

Confidence unlocks the many of the great elements within us:

• Instead of worrying about a new day at work, you’ll wake up feeling excited about life and you’ll also feel motivated to solve all problems that you encounter - You’ll see them as interesting learning opportunities.

• Instead of a feeling trapped in a negative mindset, you’ll feel there’s nothing that cannot be done and there’s no tasks that cannot be accomplish. You’ll also have all the motivation to start taking action, and finish what you started.

• You’ll also begin to perceive everything in a new way; you’ll start seeing yourself in a positive and more optimistic light.

• You’ll be able to keep a clear mind even under stressful situations. And this enables you to make the right decisions and avoid the common mistakes that people make under pressure.

While confidence has its merits, we should also take note that over-confidence has its dangers. A person that is overly confident can under-prepare, under-plan, under-practice, under-execute.

Confidence is not being arrogant or egotistical. Remind yourself that confidence will not guarantee success, it merely kick-starts your journey – you’ll still have to act on your goals to turn them into reality.

“With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

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