In my lectures, one of my favourite topics to talk about is self-confidence.
What is it made of?
How do we acquire it?
And why do a few lucky individuals have so much of it?
First off, let’s define confidence.
Confidence is simply the belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities. It is having certainty that you can do certain things.
If you’ve attended my workshops, you’ll know that I distinguish between two types of confidence.
The first is contextual confidence. Contextual confidence is your level of confidence in specific contexts.
For example, say you’re naturally a good cook but you are a bad swimmer.
If I ask you to prepare your signature dish for an important VIP dinner party – you’d happily take on the challenge with confidence.
However if you saw a child drowning in the pool, you wouldn’t hesitate to call for a lifeguard than jump in and save the child yourself.
We all have certain things we tend to be more confident at than others.
Contextual confidence determines what we tend to pursue in life – our career choices, our hobbies, our major in college, who we date, etc.
On the other hand, there’s self-confidence.
Self-confidence is the overall ‘average’ confidence we possess, regardless of the context.
This usually boils down to the person’s worldview, approach to life and personality – especially their tolerance for risk.
Self-confident people tend to find more success in life because they willingly take on more challenges, cope better with rejection and have a healthier relationship with failure.
Have you ever heard of the term ‘renaissance man’?
It is a term used to describe someone who excels at a variety of things. These individuals simply excel in the art of having self-confidence.
Leonardo da Vinci was someone who embodied this term. He was an artist, inventor, astronomer, engineer, biologist, physicist, philosopher and musician, among other things.
How much self-confidence can a person have to be able to find success in so many different areas?
There is a MASSIVE amount of resources and research done on self-confidence, but experts still vary in opinion when we ask them the three questions at the start of this article.
What is it made of? How do we acquire it? And why do a few lucky individuals have so much of it?
To be honest, I don’t have the answers to these questions at this point.
I might in the future, but for today I’ll be sharing about 3 mindsets that form the pillars of self-confidence and can launch your success in any area of your choice.
3 Mindsets To Arm Yourself With Powerful Self-Confidence
Mindset #1: No matter what the world throws at me, I can take it.
Doubt is the biggest killer of confidence.
It is pretty much the antithesis, the opposite of confidence. Doubt is the lack of certainty.
Self-confidence is being able to suspend that doubt… and find certainty – not in our circumstances, but ourselves.
Understand that self-confidence comes from acknowledging that your mind is already equipped to help you overcome any challenge.
Afraid of making a fool of yourself? Your mind can handle it.
Uncertain if you have what it takes to succeed? Your mind can handle it.
Not sure if you’re ready to take on that challenge? Your mind can handle it.
Human beings are built to be problem-solvers. Even if you don’t acknowledge yourself to be one, your mind is ready to shift into high gear when it has to.
Even if you don’t have resources at your disposal, your RESOURCEFULNESS can help you find them.
So no matter what the world throws at you, remind yourself that you can take it – and let your mind do its thing!
Mindset #2: Showing up is more important than being perfect.
1 is better than 0.
Self-confidence is not about being at a perfect 10 all the time.
Self-confidence is in stepping up to try, even when there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed.
And that’s why I believe everyone can develop a high level of self-confidence.
It’s as easy as A-B-C: Action – Breeds – Confidence.
Leonardo Da Vinci was hailed as a genius and excelled in many different fields for this important attitude.
He said;
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.
Show up, repeatedly, because it’s part of traversing the learning curve.
Self-confidence transcends context because it’s about having an attitude of: ‘no matter what the context, I will still show up’.
Mindset #3: Wherever there is struggle, there is growth.
It is easy to feel dejected through periods of intense struggle.
But struggle is not a bad thing. Struggle can be beautiful.
Struggle is beautiful because where there is struggle, there is growth. Growth demands that you exert yourself in tiny, progressive steps.
Because of this, struggling is not something to shy away from, but to embrace with the expectation that your overall level of self-confidence rises a level or two at the end.
Self-confident people have an almost crazy sense of optimism when it comes to struggle.
It’s not that they feel any less frustration than you. It’s just that they accept frustration as a normal part of levelling up in life.
Ask yourself: if you could have a level of self-confidence unmatched by your peers, would it be worth it?
What could you achieve with that level of self-confidence?
—
Don’t just take these 3 mindsets as reminders.
Etch them into your mind and see yourself take on bigger, scarier challenges with a sense of unwavering self-confidence.
Summary
Confidence is simply the belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities. It is having certainty that you can do certain things. Self-confidence is the overall ‘average’ confidence we possess, regardless of the context.
Mindset #1: No matter what the world throws at me, I can take it.
Understand that self-confidence comes from acknowledging that your mind is already equipped to help you overcome any challenge.
Mindset #2: Showing up is more important than being perfect.
Self-confidence transcends context because it’s about having an attitude of: ‘no matter what the context, I will still show up’.
Mindset #3: Wherever there is struggle, there is growth.
Struggling is not something to shy away from, but to embrace with the expectation that your overall level of self-confidence rises a level or two at the end.
In my lectures, one of my favourite topics to talk about is self-confidence.
What is it made of?
How do we acquire it?
And why do a few lucky individuals have so much of it?
First off, let’s define confidence.
Confidence is simply the belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities. It is having certainty that you can do certain things.
If you’ve attended my workshops, you’ll know that I distinguish between two types of confidence.
The first is contextual confidence. Contextual confidence is your level of confidence in specific contexts.
For example, say you’re naturally a good cook but you are a bad swimmer.
If I ask you to prepare your signature dish for an important VIP dinner party – you’d happily take on the challenge with confidence.
However if you saw a child drowning in the pool, you wouldn’t hesitate to call for a lifeguard than jump in and save the child yourself.
We all have certain things we tend to be more confident at than others.
Contextual confidence determines what we tend to pursue in life – our career choices, our hobbies, our major in college, who we date, etc.
On the other hand, there’s self-confidence.
Self-confidence is the overall ‘average’ confidence we possess, regardless of the context.
This usually boils down to the person’s worldview, approach to life and personality – especially their tolerance for risk.
Self-confident people tend to find more success in life because they willingly take on more challenges, cope better with rejection and have a healthier relationship with failure.
Have you ever heard of the term ‘renaissance man’?
It is a term used to describe someone who excels at a variety of things. These individuals simply excel in the art of having self-confidence.
Leonardo da Vinci was someone who embodied this term. He was an artist, inventor, astronomer, engineer, biologist, physicist, philosopher and musician, among other things.
How much self-confidence can a person have to be able to find success in so many different areas?
There is a MASSIVE amount of resources and research done on self-confidence, but experts still vary in opinion when we ask them the three questions at the start of this article.
What is it made of? How do we acquire it? And why do a few lucky individuals have so much of it?
To be honest, I don’t have the answers to these questions at this point.
I might in the future, but for today I’ll be sharing about 3 mindsets that form the pillars of self-confidence and can launch your success in any area of your choice.
3 Mindsets To Arm Yourself With Powerful Self-Confidence
Mindset #1: No matter what the world throws at me, I can take it.
Doubt is the biggest killer of confidence.
It is pretty much the antithesis, the opposite of confidence. Doubt is the lack of certainty.
Self-confidence is being able to suspend that doubt… and find certainty – not in our circumstances, but ourselves.
Understand that self-confidence comes from acknowledging that your mind is already equipped to help you overcome any challenge.
Afraid of making a fool of yourself? Your mind can handle it.
Uncertain if you have what it takes to succeed? Your mind can handle it.
Not sure if you’re ready to take on that challenge? Your mind can handle it.
Human beings are built to be problem-solvers. Even if you don’t acknowledge yourself to be one, your mind is ready to shift into high gear when it has to.
Even if you don’t have resources at your disposal, your RESOURCEFULNESS can help you find them.
So no matter what the world throws at you, remind yourself that you can take it – and let your mind do its thing!
Mindset #2: Showing up is more important than being perfect.
1 is better than 0.
Self-confidence is not about being at a perfect 10 all the time.
Self-confidence is in stepping up to try, even when there’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed.
And that’s why I believe everyone can develop a high level of self-confidence.
It’s as easy as A-B-C: Action – Breeds – Confidence.
Leonardo Da Vinci was hailed as a genius and excelled in many different fields for this important attitude.
He said;
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.
Show up, repeatedly, because it’s part of traversing the learning curve.
Self-confidence transcends context because it’s about having an attitude of: ‘no matter what the context, I will still show up’.
Mindset #3: Wherever there is struggle, there is growth.
It is easy to feel dejected through periods of intense struggle.
But struggle is not a bad thing. Struggle can be beautiful.
Struggle is beautiful because where there is struggle, there is growth. Growth demands that you exert yourself in tiny, progressive steps.
Because of this, struggling is not something to shy away from, but to embrace with the expectation that your overall level of self-confidence rises a level or two at the end.
Self-confident people have an almost crazy sense of optimism when it comes to struggle.
It’s not that they feel any less frustration than you. It’s just that they accept frustration as a normal part of levelling up in life.
Ask yourself: if you could have a level of self-confidence unmatched by your peers, would it be worth it?
What could you achieve with that level of self-confidence?
—
Don’t just take these 3 mindsets as reminders.
Etch them into your mind and see yourself take on bigger, scarier challenges with a sense of unwavering self-confidence.
Summary
Confidence is simply the belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities. It is having certainty that you can do certain things. Self-confidence is the overall ‘average’ confidence we possess, regardless of the context.
Mindset #1: No matter what the world throws at me, I can take it.
Understand that self-confidence comes from acknowledging that your mind is already equipped to help you overcome any challenge.
Mindset #2: Showing up is more important than being perfect.
Self-confidence transcends context because it’s about having an attitude of: ‘no matter what the context, I will still show up’.
Mindset #3: Wherever there is struggle, there is growth.
Struggling is not something to shy away from, but to embrace with the expectation that your overall level of self-confidence rises a level or two at the end.